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"Millionaire" Draws First Black Contestant
Steven Maurice Clark, a 41-year-old Harvard-educated surgeon and father of three from South Carolina, took home $32,000 (before taxes). He had a shot at $250,000, but missed a question about what country the U.S hockey team defeated to win the gold at the 1980 Olympics (Finland).
He also ended an embarrassing streak of sorts for ABC.
Until Sunday, only about 17 percent of the ABC game show's contestants had been women and none African Americans. Millionaire has been so dominated by white men that Philbin even appealed to women and minorities earlier this year to dial the toll-free telephone number for a quiz to qualify for the show. Producers even changed the qualifying process to de-emphasize speed.
Despite the lack of minorities, Clark says he doesn't believe Millionaire is racist. "To me, it shouldn't be an issue and I think if I had been on in November, it wouldn't have been an issue," he tells Associated Press.
"There are some people on the show who would not be picked--who would never get past the screening process [on other game shows] because of their appearance," Clark adds in the Washington Post. "I'm not in any position--I don't look like Tyson Beckford--but this is a show where Joe Blow from Anywhere who weighs either 80 pounds or 350 pounds, is physically attractive or ugly, [can compete]. You don't have that on other game shows."
Clark also says a conversation he had with Philbin in which he said the show was criticized unfairly was edited out before broadcast. "I am so sick and tired of hearing people say that minorities can't compete, that the playing field has to be tilted so the results can be equal," he says.
Although he doesn't know why more blacks aren't contestants, he says some of his smart, accomplished friends haven't tried out because they didn't want the attention of being on national television.
Clark plans to use his $32,000 to pay off education and car loans.
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