Judging from the hand-wringing by pundits and advertisers leading up to last Thursday's premiere, you would have thought that the whites would be out to lynch the blacks, who in turn would be trying to sell crack to the Asians, who'd be karate-chopping the Latinos, who would be souping up a Chevy, attempting to high-tail it off of the island.

Everybody worried that race-based Survivor would, as the Wall Street Journal accused, "play up race politics in a crude and potentially rancorous way," or, as the Hollywood Reporter denounced, exploit "America's obsession with race for personal gain."

Survivor creator Mark Burnett used the tried-and-true ratings-grab formula for a show that's lost its steam: Release details of a provocative racial experiment, sit back and watch pundits, press, bloggers, and anyone else who cares beat to death the gimmick before seeing the show, track ratings as viewers flock to their sets to see what all the fuss is about.

You have to wonder what high-profile companies like General Motors and Coca-Cola must be thinking now after pulling their advertising once the controversy started to simmer. It's funny how they scampered when race was part of the storyline, but never gave a second thought to supporting TV shows that celebrated a lack of diversity (can you say Friends?).

Maybe I'm in the minority here - on Survivor, I'd be part of the African American Hiki tribe - but to me, the show is less about perpetuating stereotypes and more about being forced to have a conversation that most Americans dismiss.

Unfortunately, conversation about race is often reduced to a series of code words thrown out to block honest discourse. Racial politics. Politically correct (or incorrect). Or the incendiary and always misused race card, which CBS3 anchor Alycia Lane spouted in the network's promo last week: "Survivor plays the race card."

Fact is, race-divided Survivor does mimic reality on the surface. For the most part, people do separate themselves socially along racial/ethnic lines. And when we're among ourselves, we do crack jokes that would be deemed insensitive in mixed company, like when one of the black castaways referred to their crudely built hut as "low-income housing."

On last week's premiere, the Asian tribe members were concerned about not perpetuating stereotypes, chastising one of the older players for cracking jokes about small stature and needing to eat rice. The Latino castaways boasted that the tropical island setting should be to their advantage. The black players said they felt the pressure to represent for their people and their culture. The white team members seemed oblivious to the racial implications and stressed that the name of the game was how well team members worked together.

It will be interesting to see how Survivor plays out. Odds are that as the players dwindle, teams will naturally integrate anyway. Could it be that whites will be in the minority on a reality show, for once? Will they have to adapt to the ways and the rules of the dominant team? Will team members align themselves by race or sex or with the contestant they think has the best chance to win?

Stayed tuned. Whatever happens, you'd be hard-pressed to think of another TV show that features as much ethnic flavor as this season's Survivor.

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