As someone who has not finished the series quite yet, but who's been reading some of the reviews, I would like to clear up some of the negative perspectives..
"This is a horror anthology series that's based in realism. It centers around the great migration of blacks from the south to the west and the racism they faced trying to make a better life. Families did group together to protest like you saw whenever a black family moved into their neighborhood. A mixture of racism blended with horror provides a unique perspective on the subject."
1) Although there are many similar films using an idea such as this, (Jordan Peele's Us and Get Out being 2 of them), this show explores things that neither of those movies did. Get Out took place in present time, 70 years after Them. (Hence all the Obama and post-Obama presidency comments). Us on the other hand took place in 1986. Neither of those Jordan Peele films went into the same historical events that this show, set in the 50's, spends time on.. such as 'Black-face'. Yes, there are many other films that are set in this time-period which address these subjects. But they are typically not from the horror genre. So this series is kind of a middle point of bringing those things together.
2) There are many things out there already that are talking about blacks with a positive, hopeful tone. This is not meant to 'entertain' in that way. During a time like this especially, teaching people stories through visual art is an important thing. You can't move on from something until you've confronted it. And from my understanding, this series sort of shows the effects that harsh treatment on a group can and will have after a long period of time. The events in the show only continue to worsen.. just as the state of the black community did throughout the 1900's up until now, due to all of the negative events that took place. It's not a waste of time simply because it's hard to watch or you disagree with it. And clearly making something like this will not 'fix' racism or America's tension within a heartbeat.
If people ever want things to get better, there has to be an effort to address and respond to the effects of our nation's past actions. And by continuing to teach people what the effects of hatred can have, we as people looking back from the present, can fully understand and then acknowledge the importance of ridding hatred from our society. Continuing to bring up race issues is not meant to be a 'punishment' or war between the 'good' and 'bad' side. The 'white on black violence' shown is not a new idea meant to paint all Caucasian Americans as horrible people. Everyone already knows that awful things happened during that time. But if people were able to genuinely acknowledge this nation's past mistakes, we could eventually move on from them. And this show is just another way of telling those stories from the past. Just with a few twists.. Some of those twists being fictional.
Overall: Would I have created this film, or come at this situation in this way? Absolutely not. I think the documentaries of real people and footage of real life situations are much more powerful and insightful in terms of teaching/acknowledging history. This seemed more dramatic, (not in the way they painted how people felt, but in the production and extra story-lines), than it needed to be. At the same time, it's a show, meant to capture the audience. I do, despite my first comment, agree that more positive stories should be released. This just clearly was made to leave a message about the past, and wasn't directed towards people looking for a 'happy-happy, joy-joy' film.