Beyond the Gates, a new daytime soap opera, is set in a fictional posh Maryland suburb called Fairmont Crest and centres on the Dupree family. The show is inspired by the exclusive Country Club at Woodmore and its attached gated community, which is home to one of America’s wealthiest African-American communities.
Located in Prince George’s County, Maryland, the country club and its surrounding area are synonymous with “black excellence” among locals. To live there, residents must have significant wealth, as Patricia Gafford, a member and non-resident, explains.
The setting has inspired a sense of community pride, with many residents feeling like they belong to a special family – the Woodmore family. The soap opera’s creator, Beyond the Gates, aims to showcase this exclusive environment and the black families that inhabit it.
Historically, Prince George’s County was once home to the most enslaved African Americans in Maryland. Today, the county is one of the wealthiest majority-black counties in the US, with an average median household income over $214,000.
The show’s premiere comes at a time when diversity and inclusion efforts are under attack. Beyond the Gates was born out of a collaboration between CBS and the NAACP in 2020, following the Black Lives Matter movement. The soap opera is now being seen as a rare moment of representation for black Americans.
As one resident, Hope Wiseman, notes, “Everybody wants to be behind the gates.” The show’s title, Beyond the Gates, reflects this desire to glimpse into the exclusive community that exists beyond the gates of the Country Club at Woodmore.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8r0513n5vo