If the approach is "heavy-handed", it's because racism was and is heavy-handed for Black America. There are no significant number of Black people anywhere in this country who don't see white supremacism as a defining factor in their lives, or who think of their early years as nothing but a time of innocent laugh-packed fun.

What the remake tells us is how sheltered and privileged the perspective of the original Wonder Years was- the story of the original Kevin's family was a story of being completely out of touch with reality.