Amazon Drama 'Black America' Counters HBO's 'Confederate'

Amazon announced plans Tuesday to unveil alternate history show "Black America," which will serve as a response to HBO's "Confederate," according to Deadline.

The alt-history series, created by Will Packer ("Girls Trip") and Aaron McGruder ("The Boondocks"), will reimagine a world where former African Americans slaves obtained Southern states as reparations for slavery. New Colonia, the slaves' newly formed nation, is expected to have a difficult and often violent relationship with the United States.

"Black America" has reportedly been under development at Amazon for over a year. A week after HBO's "Confederate" was plagued with backlash on social media, Packer believed it was time to confirm the news and clarify the show's storyline.

Read: Everything We Know About HBO Series ‘Confederate’ So Far

Packer informed Deadline Tuesday that the television show will explore what modern America would look like if slaves received reparations following the Civil War. However, he declined to comment on HBO's counter-program "Confederate" out of respect for "Game of Thrones" alums David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who serve as the show's creators.

"It was something that was personally intriguing for me as a black American," Packer told Deadline. "You would be hard pressed to find many black Americans who have not thought about the concept of reparation, what would happen if reparations were actually given."

He added, "As a content creator, the fact that that is something that has been discussed thoroughly throughout various demographics of people in this country but yet never been explored to my knowledge in any real way in long-form content, I thought it was a tremendous opportunity to delve into the story, to do it right."

Amazon announced the series in February, according to Entertainment Weekly. However, details of the project — including the online streaming show's name — were kept under wraps at the time.

Compared to "Confederate," "Black America" was welcomed to an overwhelmingly positive response from social media users.

One user wrote in a tweet, "Actors and actresses getting in formation to audition for Amazon's new Black America series." Another tweeted, "Things I hope @willpowerpacker will do with Black America 1. Hire Black Women Writers/Directors 2. Open a spot for new to industry writers." A third user added, "The Timing of Amazon Black America countering HBO's Confederate is great. Like McGruder's other stuff, this should be good."

Read: Twitter Criticizes Game Of Thrones Showrunners' Upcoming HBO Slave Drama Confederate

The announcement of Amazon's "Black America" follows HBO's confirmation of "Confederate" last week, which launched criticism and protests against the show on Twitter. According to Variety, April Reign — the mastermind behind #OscarSoWhite — also created the #NoConfederate trend that circulated Twitter July 28. She wrote in a tweet, "We believe the time to speak up is now, before the show has been written or cast. Before @hbo invests too much money into #Confederate."

Reign also announced Tuesday that there will be an official campaign launched against the show. She wrote, "We will have a targeted campaign again this Sunday at 9p ET."

"Confederate" showrunners told Vulture July 20 that they were prepared for the backlash, but they stand by the show regardless.

"What people need to recognize is, and it makes me really want to get into the show: The s— is alive and real today. I think people have got to stop pretending that slavery was something that happened and went away. The s— is affecting people in the present day," executive producer Malcolm Spellman said.

HBO issued a statement of its support to EW Monday, saying, "We have great respect for the dialogue and concern being expressed around Confederate. We have faith that Nichelle, Dan, David, and Malcolm will approach the subject with care and sensitivity."

A representative for Will Packer, Aaron McGruder, Amazon and HBO did not immediately return International Business Times' request for comment.

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