Portrayal of African Americans on television is frequently a controversial topic. Throughout its rather brief history, television, in its programming, has skewed predominantly white, (Pringozy, 2007). This was clearer in the 1950s and early 1960s, and it even remained true throughout the 1970s, when television shows with mainly all African American casts became hits, (Strausbaugh, 2006). The success of The Cosby Show in the 1980s helped to improve race relations somewhat, or at least on television, (McNeil, 1996). Still, controversy continued, and still does to this day, as to which shows present negative stereotypes of African Americans and which ones do not, (Strausbaugh, 2006). Therefore, when talking about the history of African Americans on television, it is best to begin with the show that is widely considered to be the epitome of negative stereotypes of African Americans on television: The Amos and Andy Show, (McNeil, 1996). This paper will examine the portrayal of African Americans through two shows from two generations and the impacts both shows had on Black America; The Amos and Andy Show (1928) and The Cosby Show (1984).
The Amos and Andy Show began life as a radio show in 1928, (Rice, 2009). Two white dialecticians, Freeman Grosden and Charles Correll created the show, (Rice, 2009). Set in Harlem, The Amos and Andy Show was the story of Amos Jones (voiced by Gosden) and Andrew H. Brown (voiced by Correll), (Rice, 2009). The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) reportedly paid Gosden and Correll one million dollars each in exchange for the rights to the show (Rice, 2009), and they planned to make it into a television show. However, Gosden and Correll were both white, and the cast of the television show had to...
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... come full circle. If African-American groups, and television executives, are not careful, everything old may be new again.
Bibliography
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The movie 'Ethnic Notions' describes different ways in which African-Americans were presented during the 19th and 20th centuries. It traces and presents the evolution of the rooted stereotypes which have created prejudice towards African-Americans. This documentary movie is narrated to take the spectator back to the antebellum roots of African-American stereotypical names such as boy, girl, auntie, uncle, Sprinkling Sambo, Mammy Yams, the Salt and Pepper Shakers, etc. It does so by presenting us with multiple dehumanized characters and cartons portraying African-Americans as carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, savage Brutes, and wide-eyed Pickaninnies. These representations of African-Americans roll across the screen in popular songs, children's rhymes, household artifacts and advertisements. These various ways to depict the African ?American society through countless decades rooted stereotypes in the American society. I think that many of these still prevail in the contemporary society, decades after the civil rights movement occurred.
Throughout “The Jefferson Show,” there were criticism and complaints about the show, because it showed “negative,” stereotypical and ethical realism of African
Since its start, the television industry has been criticized for perpetuating myths and stereotypes about African-Americans through characterizations, story lines, and plots. The situation comedy has been the area that has seemed to draw the most criticism, analysis, and disapproval for stereotyping. From Sanford and Son and The Jefferson’s in the 1970s to The Cosby Show (1984) and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in the 1990s, sitcoms featuring black casts and characters have always been controversial. However, their significance upon our American culture cannot be disregarded. During the 1950s and 1960s, 97% of the families were Caucasian. In the first five years of the 1990s, nearly 14% of the television families were African-American (Bryant 2001). These statistics obviously show the substantial impact our American culture has had on African-American television families.
Buford, Larry. "Motown, Civil Rights - Blackface and the Civil War." EURweb. 18 Dec. 2013
Marlon T. Riggs’ video, Color Adjustment, offers the viewer an exciting trip though the history of television, focusing on the representation, or lack thereof, of African-Americans. A perfectly chosen combination of television producers, actors, sociologists, and cultural critics join forces to offer insight and professional opinion about the status of African-Americans in television since the inception of television itself. As Color Adjustment traces the history of television shows from Amos n’ Andy and Julia to "ghetto sitcoms" and The Cosby Show, the cast of television professionals and cultural critics discuss the impacts those representations have on both the African-American community and our society as a whole. Color Adjustment continually asks the question: "Are these images positive?" This video raises the viewer’s awareness about issues of positive images for African-Americans on television.
Besides, in cultivation theory, George Gerbner proposes that heavy users of media treat the content of media as a primary source to perceive the world and assert what they see in media is very similar to the reality (Bryant, Thompson and Finklea, 2013), so there is a high possibility that audience will bring the perception of stereotyped portrayals of African-American from media into the real world. Based on the above unhealthy situations, this paper is going to illustrate how the racial stereotypes in media negatively affect people’s perception, attitude and behavior toward African American in the reality....
Woll, Allen L and Randall M Miller. Ethnic and Racial Images in American Film and Television: Historical Essays and Bibliography. n.d. Print.
Chafe, William, Raymond Gavins, and Robert Korstad. Remembering Jim Crow. New York: The New Press, 2001.
Paul S. Boyer. "Television." The Oxford Companion to United States History. 2001. Retrieved November 24, 2011 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-Television.html
Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930's-1960's acting' was an essential technique to African American survival.
In The Marrow of Tradition, author Charles W. Chesnutt illustrates examples that signify the thoughts that whites had of and used against blacks, which are still very much prevalent in public opinion and contemporary media. Chesnutt writes, “Confine the negro to that inferior condition for which nature had evidently designed for him (Chesnutt, 533).” Although significant strides have been made toward equality, the media, in many instances, continues to project blacks as inferior to whites through examples observed in television shows, music videos, films and newscasts.
With the turn of the century, society and technology evolved and so did the minstrel shows. The introduction of the television gave the shows a new platform to broadcast their content to more American audiences. While not as harsh as the shows in the 19th century’s shows, the modern minstrel shows were “vestiges of their racial stereotyping and performance aesthetics that persisted for decades in various performance mediums. ” (7).
In Stuart Hall’s “What is This “Black” in Black Popular Culture?” the historical implication of popular culture in the U.S is examined and the influence that blackness has in it is deconstructed. According to the text, the departure of European concepts of culture after WWII sparked a hegemonic shift as the United States emerged as a world power. Due to this, the U.S. became the epicenter of global culture production. However, since America has always had a large ethnic population due to slavery, the true face of American popular culture was black American vernacular traditions. Even today, slang that emerge from black ghettos and communities become highly popular with people of other races. In fact, much of black culture is not just our culture,
———. The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch. New York: Viking Press, 1937.