The Boondocks Stereotypes

A. Research Problem:
The Boondocks is an animated cartoon series that premiered November 2005 and ended June 2014. The Boondocks is centered on the lives of two young brothers, Huey and Riley. The two brothers move away from their birth city to live with their grandfather in Woodcrest, a predominantly white upper middle class suburb. Huey, the older brother is very politically and socially motivated and is named for Black Panther Party co-founder, Huey Newton. Huey spends most of his time reading and getting involved with political ventures. He despises all stereotypes associated with his black culture. On the contrary, the younger brother Riley understands the stereotypes around him, yet he indulges himself in the gangsta rap and hip-hop

culture.
The Boondocks use their presence on Adult Swim to direct their critiques at underlying injustices such as political, social, and cultural systems that remain governed by white interests. “Huey spends many episodes trying to thwart the efforts of B.E.T. to destroy black people by perpetuating African-American stereotypes.” (Ezelle, P. 78). B.E.T. and Huey challenge both each other and common racial stereotypes throughout the episodes that I viewed. Furthermore, I think The Boondocks use language, visuals, and pop culture to challenge minstrelsy, especially that associated with Dave Chappell’s Racial Pixies (Taylor & Austin p. 2)
How are racial stereotypes reinforced throughout this show?
What are some examples of black minstrelsy and racial spectacles throughout the show?
B. Historical and Institutional Context:
The Boondocks is an animated cartoon series that aired in the early 2000’s on Adult Swim.

Adult Swim is a programming block of the American cable network Cartoon Network that operates at night from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Cartoon Network's primary target audience includes children between the ages of 7 – 15, but they are normally asleep when most of the adult swim shows air. Much of Adult Swim's general content is very racy and unsuitable for younger audiences. Adult Swim is the top-rated cable network in total day ratings among viewers between the ages of 18 and 34. This is just the audience they are looking for because they stay up to date with current events and can relate to most of their

episodes.
The Boondocks generally focus on controversial topics in the media in order to strike the interest of these younger to middle aged viewers. They make skits out of real life events to change the way people view the government, police, or the perception of African Americans. As The Boondocks continued to air, they made it their top priority to focus on social issues that are important at the time of airing. For instance, “In the show’s first season alone McGruder will cast Martin Luther King Jr.as a modern-day racial pariah, contemplate kidnapping Oprah Winfrey and make fun of R&B singer R.Kelly. We don’t look at Aaron so much as politically controversial but as pop-culturally controversial." (November 6, 2005 Sunday. NYT). They use their platform as one of the most watched late night television shows to advance the awareness of some of the racial stereotypes that are still prevalent in today’s society.
Things haven’t always been easy for the satirical animated series. “Cartoon Network pays Sony Pictures Television, producer of the series, an estimated license fee of $400,000 per episode. Add to that the millions the network has spent on marketing, including many billboards in New York and Los Angeles trumpeting the show's premiere on Nov. 6 in the late-night ''Adult Swim'' block, and ''The Boondocks'' becomes the most expensive show the network has made.
''We don't have a lot of money, so we decided that for this year, we're going to put every dime we have into 'Boondocks,''' said Mike Lazzo, senior vice president of programming and production at Cartoon Network (OGUNNAIKE, October 2005). With these large sums of money on the line, McGruder does his best to generate as much outside interest as he can to make the show a success. Often times this means incorporating many controversial topics into episodes in an attempt to grab headlines. Although they only aired four seasons worth of content they were able to challenge many of the sociocultural norms we currently have in place.

C. Textual Analysis:
In order to fully understand the dynamics of The Boondocks, I viewed three episodes over the span of three seasons: “The Hunger Strike”, “The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show”, and “Smokin with Cigwetts Part 1”. I wanted to get a sample from various seasons to see what similarities remained as the show matured. In order to analyze this show I focused on appearance, dialogue, and some of the social issues that the show focuses on.
Throughout the episodes I viewed, I noticed many stereotypes being casts on these characters. Huey, with the exception of his large afro, dresses in mostly moderate clothing. He is rarely seen wearing flashy or expensive looking clothing, which aligns with his pessimistic and cynical personality. In “The Hunger Strike” episode, Rev. Rollo Goodlove tries to take Huey under his wing and indulge in some of the amenities associated with being famous. These luxuries included fancy clothing, fine dining and beautiful women yet Huey remained set in his ways. On the other hand, Riley depicts the stereotypic hip-hop/gangster commonly seen wearing fancy clothing and jewelry. In two of the episodes I viewed, he has his signature cornrow hairstyle along with a sagging pair of jeans and a white tank top. To The Boondocks credit, they didn’t create these characters with minstrel features such as bug eyes, exaggerated lips, and tooth baring.
However, Uncle Ruckus portrays each one of these minstrel stereotypes to the extreme.

He is a very large man in stature that is always seen with one eye wide open while the other is barely open. He has a very large nose, exaggerated pink lips, and is generally seen with a dumbfounded look on his face, which only plays more into his minstrel appearance. Furthermore, in the episode titled “The Uncle Ruckus Show”, Uncle Ruckus portrays the textbook definition of a coon. He claims to have a disease that started turning his skin color from white to black and that’s the only reason why he doesn’t appear to be a white man. Uncle Ruckus is the one of the only characters in the show that associates with a true minstrel

identity.
Another subject that I analyzed was the dialogue used throughout the show. Each character has a very distinct way of talking that represents their personalities. For example, Huey is very intelligent and well spoken. He often times speaks about political issues and hot topics in the news. There have been many times when he wrote emails and letters to public officials in order to make his voice heard. In the “Hunger Strike” episode he joins Rollo Goodlove on CNN and other new networks in order to speak out about the hunger strike. Huey wants to change the world by speaking out and exposing all the injustices in the world. On the other hand, Riley is very influenced by rap and hip-hop music. He uses a very colorful vocabulary while lacking basic grammar skills. He speaks in very short sentences with a little bit of attitude. Similar to Huey, he likes to speak his mind but they don’t have the same intentions. Riley focuses more on enjoying himself and having fun while Huey is more selfless.
Lastly, Uncle Ruckus is a very intense and naive man. Like Riley, he has a very colorful vocabulary. Ruckus’ dialogue is very interesting though because in the episode, “The Uncle Ruckus Show” he starts the show off speaking from the part of a white supremacist due to his believed whiteness. He talks down on black people and denies them of certain privileges. He blames black men for all the violence and lack of education in the world. Toward the end of the episode, he takes a test and finds out that he’s actually a black man. After this realization he tries to fit in with the black community by saying negative things about white people he starts to blame them for everything. He buys into the stereotype that all black people like rap music and speak in dialect or slang. Uncle Ruckus is a minstrel giant, in the sense that he signified so many different stereotypes and beliefs in just one episode.
There are many social issues present throughout The Boondocks, but the one that stood out most was the role BET played in the plot. To us, BET stands for Black Entertainment Television, but it means something far different in the show, Black Evil Television. They blame unemployment rate, teen pregnancy, incarceration rate and many other issues on the success of BET. They focus on screening shows that stop the progression of black people in society. The creator of The Boondocks, Aaron McGruder has always been a vocal adversary of BET and he blames them “dumbing down black people and their pop culture.” He likes to show the relationship between blacks and whites, as well as blacks interacting with other blacks. These can be very taboo topics, especially when they’re nationally broadcasted, but McGruder understands the line between comedy and offence.

D. Audience Reception:
Given the realm that The Boondocks operates, they receive an overwhelming amount of backlash. They focus on topics that aim to draw attention to them, so it’s only fitting that they receive negative feedback. Most of the targeted audience loved it because of the use of sharp satire and the focus on relevant topics. Most of the fans enjoy the approach the McGruder takes on hot topics because he adds a comedic relief to some very serious topics. He’s not afraid to take on unpopular opinions about race and ethnicity and most fans find that very admirable. On the other hand, most of the media took offence and felt disgusted. “Newspapers such as New York's Newsday and the Daily News refused to carry the 9/11 strip, while The Dallas Morning News opted to take "The Boondocks" off the comics page and put it in the paper's Living section. In 2003, The Washington Post also chose not to carry "The Boondocks" when, in a series of strips, Huey and his dreadlocked best friend, Caesar, concocted a plan to get Condoleezza Rice a boyfriend, thinking that would change her support of the war in Iraq.” (ABC News Nov. 3 2005).