Beulah Goes Gardening: The Mammy Stereotypes

The Beulah Show, airing on ABC in the early 1950s, is the first sitcom to star an African American actress who plays as a maid to the Henderson family (Bronstein). In the episode “Beulah goes Gardening”, the Henderson discuss Beulah’s demanding workload―housework and gardening―after realizing Beulah did all of their gardening. Beulah tells Oriole, her friend, about her rosebush problem, and the next morning, Beulah sasses Bill, her boyfriend, into helping her. While the show may seem revolutionary with an African American actress and an innocent representation of a 1950s family, this show in reality demonstrates the harmfulness of the lack of diversity and misrepresentation on television. Tropes like “Mammy” and the “sassy black woman” are

unknowingly used to marginalize African American women. As a result, this representation of African American women on television illustrates the racial and gender inequality ingrained in American culture.
Television shows like The Beulah Show and Amos ‘n’ Andy kept African Americans trapped in these stereotypical roles, causing many African Americans and white Americans believe in these stereotypes. However, these depictions are the from the white male’s perspective. These depictions offer no insight to the diversity and complexity within African American culture and African Americans. Television shows need “to have deep minority representation within individual shows” in order to bring light to “racial controversies” and bring attention to the problems minority groups face (Poniewozik). Television establishes norms and can accurately represent all groups of humans. In contrast, it can show there is only a diverse group of white people and everyone else is just part of the background.
Beulah is depicted as a large, independent, unattractive woman who is happy to serve the Hendersons―the Mammy is an uneducated African American woman with a lot of common sense who happily serves her white family―with many characteristics of a “sassy black woman” to show that she was not being oppressed by the Hendersons (Bronstein).

The Mammy stereotype however comes from the Deep South to make slavery appear as beneficial for blacks and demonstrate that blacks enjoy being subservient to whites (Bronstein). Not only does this stereotype have racist connotations, it further shows how deeply ingrained slavery was in American culture and the inequality that existed during this

time.
As the “Sassy Black Woman”, Beulah is able to make sarcastic and rude comments to appear as if she is equal to Harry Henderson and his family. However, Beulah is given lines like “This was prepared by a field hand not a cook” and “I’m not gonna serve my family no cold cuts...” to add comedic effect and reinforce her stereotype. These lines do not show any positive development for Beulah. Beulah will not be anything more than the housekeeper in this show. This becomes apparent while Beulah is talking with Oriole, another maid. Beulah complains about the garden and not being able to go out. However, she never mentions wanting to quit or leave the Hendersons; she never says anything bad about them despite the Hendersons never directly apologizing to Beulah. She only discusses the need to solve this problem. Beulah’s character is harmful to African American women because she reinforces the false notion that African American women can be content with being inferior to the ideal white American housewife. Similarly, this demonstrates the reinforcement of “the dominant order… [or] white supremacy” in the United States (Bronstein). While Beulah may be happy serving the Hendersons, the relationship between the Henderson and Beulah supports the underlying racism these stereotypes were created under.
Furthermore, Beulah is used to highlight the perfect housewife: Alice Henderson. Beulah does everything a housewife should do, and all Alice has to do is shopping and social engagement. This reinforces the ideal American housewife image as a female who is “healthy, beautiful, educated, [and] concerned only about her husband, her children, [and] her home” (Friedan, 4-5). In contrast, Beulah is neither beautiful or education; she is made to be unappealing. When women are portrayed in these roles, the ideal housewife and the mammy, the sexism that existed during the 1950s becomes apparent. This also makes African American women appear less appealing, further supporting the racial order in America.
Even though Beulah lives in the Henderson’s home, she does not get the same treatment as the Hendersons nor does she fit the typical white American family.

To further show the injustice African Americans experience, African Americans and several other minority groups were barred from buying houses in desirable neighborhoods because African Americans, single white women, and elderly couples did not fit the ideal white middle class suburban family image (Haralovich, 76). The Hendersons are nicely dressed up for dinner―Alice is wearing a fancy dress and Harry is in a suit― in the pleasantly decorated dining room. Meanwhile, Beulah and Bill are less put together and less perfect; they are depicted eating in the plain kitchen wearing ordinary clothes. In addition, this recreates the slave and slave owner relationship from the Antebellum period. Indirectly supporting segregation, this shows the discrimination African Americans faced despite the massive efforts by various organizations to fight for equality. Beulah will never be shown eating with the Hendersons because her role is to be the maid: she is their employee, not their friend. However, because she is the Mammy, she will never pose a threat to the father’s masculinity or the family’s authority over

her.
In conclusion, The Beulah Show can be viewed in a positive light and hide the negative aspects of the show. However, it can also be used to discuss the stereotypes that are oppressive and do not accurately represent people. Beulah and the Hendersons are all static characters with Beulah happy to serve them while being underappreciated. This show illustrates the lack of awareness of the discrimination many African Americans experience, but it can demonstrate that there is a greater knowledge of these problems in the twenty-first century.