Amos 'n' Andy
Based on Thomas Cripps’ article and your viewing of Amos ’n’ Andy this Thursday, how did the television show portray middle class African Americans? Discuss why the sitcom became the center of a hot public debate as well as the arguments offered by each side.
To me, initially, the fact that Amos ‘n’ Andy, a show centered around African-American characters, was even broadcast in the 1950’s, was slightly mind-blowing. Yet, it makes some sense that white, middle-class Americans (i.e. the owners of most television sets at the time) would be interested in watching something like the show at home. The show follows a classic marketing tactic: segment the market, target your demographic, and position your product to them. Shows like The Goldbergs, Mama, etc. were all focused on certain demographics, but no show seemed to be as unfair to its subject as Amos ‘n’ Andy.
ReplyDeleteBeyond all of the injustice and inequality they faced in the real world, African-Americans were singled out yet again when the CBS broadcast began. The network seemingly decided to exploit the medium of television to reinforce commonly held stereotypes. It is absolutely true that if the real “everyday” life of any family (race, religion, ancestry aside) were broadcast, it would be incredibly boring. However, at times it felt like the show went out of its way to push stereotypes of African-Americans into the script, by portraying them as less educated, swindling, poor-grammar using members of society.
The sitcom was, understandably, the center of a very public debate, largely incited by a divide amongst African-Americans. One group believed that the show and its enforcement of stereotypes was a huge step back from the efforts made in the wake of World War II, while others saw it as an “opening wedge toward greater opportunities and bigger things” for African-Americans. While I don’t personally gravitate towards either of these two extremes, I do think that Amos ‘n’ Andy perhaps simultaneously helped and hurt the image of African-Americans in the eyes of the public.
Amos 'n' Andy became the center of public debate because much of the shows humor depends on its depiction of stereotypical African-American traits, which some of the public considered to be prejudiced. In particular, African-American activists and the NAACP found the show to portray middle-class African Americans in a negative manner, and one that perpetuated negative stereotypes. On the other side of the argument, African-Americans in show business and other groups felt that the shows use of African-American actors created opportunities for them throughout the media industry. Cripps points out one journalist's' feeling that African-Americans being able to "look at people of their own color performing, for people of every color," which contributed to some dissension within African-Americans regarding the show.
ReplyDeleteOne point that Cripps makes that I found especially interesting was how the show, if you take away the racial material, seems like many others with its formula of characters facing a problem throughout the episode, and which is solved by the end of the evening. When I think about the particular episode we watched in class, I can easily see the general plot playing out with any race, and I don't think that the general situations or actions of the characters--in comparison to the dialogue--are dependent on the main characters being African-American, or on the characters acting as stereotypical middle-class African-Americans. I think this leads to the question: if these situations can still be shown without using negative stereotypes, then why continue to use them? Personally, I don’t think the show would have suffered by toning down the stereotypical acting of the main characters.
Amos ‘n’ Andy was a very controversial television show that was the center of many debates over the portrayal of the African American middle class. After viewing the one episode we watched in class, I now understand why this was. Middle class African Americans were portrayed as being lazy, stupid, and uneducated. The humor from the show came from the mistakes that the characters made or when one was trying to ‘out smart’ the other.
ReplyDeleteCripps brought to the reader’s attention that this show was like the other ethnic shows, with the same humor and how they poked fun. The difference though, was that this show was dealing with a group of people that had a history with these stereotypes that they were trying to break out of. African Americans were being categorized into one social group of ignorant, shouting, fighting, and rowdy people. They also didn’t like that their images rested on the actions of the two white men who played Amos and Andy. They were characters whose behaviors were exaggerated, who wore off center clothing and rural dialects. An example of this behavior in the episode we watched from class what when Kingfish was trying to sell a very expensive nickel for cash and in order to call the purchaser he used the nickel to pay for his call. At the end of the episode Andy does the same thing, only somehow out smarts Kingfish to get the nickel back to himself. The entire episode is about picking fun at one another and seeing who is not as smart.
On the other side, many blacks were happy to see that their race was being represented on television. Before the War African Americans weren’t even being represented, but afterward they were being recognized more in society and with television growing, the famous Amos ‘n’ Andy radio show went to television.
For me personally, I can see both sides of the debate over the show. But I believe that it had a huge impact on African American culture.
Amos ‘n’ Andy was a very controversial television show that was the center of many debates over the portrayal of the African American middle class. After viewing the one episode we watched in class, I now understand why this was. Middle class African Americans were portrayed as being lazy, stupid, and uneducated. The humor from the show came from the mistakes that the characters made or when one was trying to ‘out smart’ the other.
ReplyDeleteCripps brought to the reader’s attention that this show was like the other ethnic shows, with the same humor and how they poked fun. The difference though, was that this show was dealing with a group of people that had a history with these stereotypes that they were trying to break out of. African Americans were being categorized into one social group of ignorant, shouting, fighting, and rowdy people. They also didn’t like that their images rested on the actions of the two white men who played Amos and Andy. They were characters whose behaviors were exaggerated, who wore off center clothing and rural dialects. An example of this behavior in the episode we watched from class what when Kingfish was trying to sell a very expensive nickel for cash and in order to call the purchaser he used the nickel to pay for his call. At the end of the episode Andy does the same thing, only somehow out smarts Kingfish to get the nickel back to himself. The entire episode is about picking fun at one another and seeing who is not as smart.
On the other side, many blacks were happy to see that their race was being represented on television. Before the War African Americans weren’t even being represented, but afterward they were being recognized more in society and with television growing, the famous Amos ‘n’ Andy radio show went to television.
For me personally, I can see both sides of the debate over the show. But I believe that it had a huge impact on African American culture.
I somewhat agree with the points that Morgan has brought up. On the one hand, when you do remove the race, Morgan was right, there is almost no difference between the things that the characters go through that other television show characters might face. Although the instances are dated because this was a show back in the 50’s, many television shows used to prey on the gullible stereotype with a friend who was constantly trying to outsmart him. I think what is important here is to remember the context that the television show was in. During the time period, there was rampant racism against African Americans, with Brown vs the Board only to come in 1954, half way through the decade. White flight was essentially creating urban ghettos in which people of color were being shoved into less than ideal homes and segregated from jobs, leading to a self fulfilling prophecy by white Americans. With this in mind, I believe that although these shows may not have been different from the white television programs, the meaning behind them was vastly different. Race meant something entirely different to the whites, and while they might have shouted that this was giving equal playing time, the stereotypes only further perpetuated the attitude toward African Americans. Set in today’s society, maybe the reaction might not have been so strong, especially if they adapted it to today’s stereotypes, but this does not make it any less wrong. But Morgan did bring up a very valid point.
ReplyDeleteFor the middle-class African Americans of the early 1950’s, the images of the television show Amos ‘n’ Andy depicted them as incompetent, plotting, and verbally segregated from the rest of the characters in the show. For instance, the character Kingfish is driven the most by African-American stereotypes, as in the episode we watched in class in which he tricks Amos (or was it Andy) to steal a nickel out of his pocket. Also, all the characters with their southern drawls stand out amongst the rest of the characters in the show who speak with clear and clean northern accents.
ReplyDeleteThe sitcom became a hot public debate due to the involvement of the NAACP and their public outcries to take the show off of the air. However, their attacks on the show had a limited effect on audiences, as large portions of the African-American audiences were grateful for the show’s existence. The NAACP saw the show as a setback for African-Americans who had finally earned some ground in white society after World War II. However, many African-Americans in the entertainment industry saw the show as a stepping-stone for further involvement in the mainstream media. There had never been a show before that gave the opportunities to African-American actors like Amos ‘n’ Andy. The NAACP attempted to slander the show, saying it was meant to demean the entire African-American population, but Cripps makes the argument to suggest that it was only against the black middle-class. This comes from the fact that many of the secondary characters of the show are more proper in their speech and dressed more finely than Amos, Andy, and Kingfish. For instance, in the episode we watched there are the judge and police officer characters that as Cripps would explain, “balance out” the demeaning nature of Amos, Andy, and Kingfish. Today, the NAACP’s argument struggles to stand in that Amos ‘n’ Andy is considered a groundbreaking television show.
“Amos ‘n’ Andy” was revolutionary in its acts of portraying middle class African Americans on television, and as such in a culture charged with racial tensions, it was the target for much criticism and much praise. Cripps presents both sides of the argument – that it was an innovation in the industry that opened up a variety of new opportunities for African Americans in entertainment, and that it poisoned the advancement of African American equality and stunted the banishment of de facto racism in the United States. To this day people are divided over it’s depiction of black America and whether or not it should truly be viewed as a piece of anti-equality propaganda or harmless comedy, because of its portrayal of all African American characters as stupid, conniving, grammatically challenged caricatures.
ReplyDeleteI’ll admit that from my perspective watching “Amos ‘n’ Andy” was pretty cringe-worthy, as it seemed riddled with racism by today’s standards. Be that as it may, if you take away the commentary on race, the show resembles many others of its time, as Cripps suggests. A popular staple in television shows of that era was dumb, loveable idiot characters. We saw that ourselves last week in the ‘Burns and Allen Show’ – with Gracie Allen being basically brainless and clueless throughout the episode. Similarly, the concept of idiot-characters was incredibly popular in the comedies on stage and radio. So it seems relatively fair to assume that the inherent racisms in the show wasn’t intentional, but rather a result of the cultural pressures of having a cast of idiots in a sitcom-type comedy show and the unfortunate circumstance of the country projecting these characters personalities on the entire population of middle-class African Americans. Certainly the show creators and writers were at fault, but I believe moreso at fault were the viewers.
Amos and Andy was introduced when post-World War II racial activism grew into an all out social movement. Much of the humor in the show was based on negative stereotypes of African Americans. This sitcom became the center of a hot public debate when African Americans had differing opinions about the show.
ReplyDeleteAmos and Andy relied heavily on racist stereotypes that are harmful. In the show, blacks were seen as not very intelligent, reinforcing the unintelligent African American stereotype. Blacks are also depicted as lazy and commonly unemployed. These negative stereotypes of African Americans were further reinforced in Amos and Andy.
The public debate that Amos and Andy caused was actually between two different groups of African Americans. Many African Americans in show business and others saw the show as a positive for the race because it put blacks in the spotlight and created jobs for many African Americans. However, other African Americans and those involved with the NAACP saw the show as simply perpetuating the negative stereotypes that they were trying to disassociate from.
While I can clearly understand the argument each side brings to the debate, I personally think the show did more good for African Americans than it did bad. I think it was revolutionary to have African Americans in the spotlight during a time of civil inequality. The fact that the networks put blacks on the airwaves demonstrates a small step of improvement for equality amongst races. While the negative stereotypes that are perpetuated throughout Amos and Andy were undoubtedly harmful to many African Americans, even today, stereotypes regarding races still exist. This demonstrates how we as people still have room for improvement.