Black Cheerios Dad Speaks Out

Charles Malik Whitfield

With all of the media attention geared towards Cheerios' bi-racial family ad, actor Charles Malik Whitfield, who portrays the sleeping dad in the spot, thanked supporters of the ad and sees an opportunity for opening a dialogue with its detractors.

"Let's not pretend racism doesn't exist. Let's not pretend that we've come so far. Let's be conscious of and appreciate the noise, and the negativity, because there's so much work to be done," he said in an interview with the AP.