Lovecraft Country reveals a hidden history of Blacks facing white supremacy

The Root

"Yes, Lovecraft Country is a true story," says Michael Harriot. "One of the most striking themes of HBO’s genre-hopscotching series Lovecraft Country is the juxtaposition of the existential threat posed by racism in a world where actual monsters exist. In the first four episodes, the protagonists manage to vanquish poltergeists, vampire blobs, zombies, and other assorted supernatural horrors with logic, intelligence and research. But white supremacy is the inescapable, ever-present ghoul that haunts the show. The show’s not-so-subtle subtext is that trauma inflicted by white people is infinitely more dangerous than any metaphysical menace we can imagine. While the monsters in Lovecraft Country are reportedly based on racist writer H.P. Lovecraft’s science fiction novels, many viewers aren’t aware of how the show references real history to illustrate the horrors of white supremacy (A character named 'Bobo' makes cameos in two episodes, a reference to Emmett Till, who would have been a 12-year-old living in Chicago during this time)." Harriot some other true stories of white supremacy that were subtly referenced in the show. ALSO: Showrunner Misha Green felt a mandate to go "big" on all the genre spaces: "I wanted to make a TV show to reclaim the genre space for people who have been typically left out of it."