I listened to “Amos ‘n’ Andy”, the one that first came out on January 30th, 1949, called “Antique Piano”.
Before I listened to it, I knew/heard that:
- “Amos ‘n’ Andy” was a popular show on American radio in the forties and on television in the fifties.
- The show lasted from 1928 to 1966.
- Amos and Andy were black characters played by white men. The characters come from Zip Coon and Jim Crow of the old minstrel shows.
- Like the minstrel shows, it presented a stereotyped view of blacks for laughs.
- The Sapphire stereotype is named after the wife of either Amos or Andy.
Radio: In the forties radio was like television only without pictures. Not just as a machine but even in the way it was used. Companies like CBS and NBC had shows on every night. It was not just all news and music like it had become by the seventies.
In 1949 “Amos ‘n’ Andy” appeared every Sunday night at half past seven. It was a comedy that was 30 minutes long. Half-way through they sang a song. It was the ninth most listened to show in the country. Back then nearly all American households had a radio, but few (less than a tenth) had television.
From all the bad things I heard about it, I had no desire to listen to “Amos ‘n’ Andy”. But for August 2017 I am on a 1949 media diet, so it became one of my main stops on my grand tour of 1949 American media.
It was not as bad as I expected. I even laughed a few times. It did have some good jokes.
Stereotypes:
- Sapphire stereotype (black women as overbearing) – Sapphire Stevens did appear, but she was not playing to any stereotype.
- Coon stereotype (black men as shiftless and brainless) – Amos and Andy all the way!
It most reminds me of “Martin”, a show that appeared on American television in the early nineties, which also featured black men as buffoons.
But “Amos ‘n’ Andy” is much worse: Imagine “Martin” but instead of black actors, have white actors in blackface. Have them speak in Mock Ebonics (“I is”, etc). Make their command of English something to laugh at. And make the Black male characters even more brainless than they are on “Martin”.
After you have done all that, then kill “The Cosby Show” or any other show that puts blacks in a good light – without, that is, having to play a loyal servant. Make sure the show is the main thing most white people know about black people week after week apart from servants and porters. That is “Amos ‘n’ Andy”.
Misrepresentation matters because of under-representation: In a black-majority country, Amos and Andy’s lack of intelligence would likely be seen as personal, not racial. But in a white-majority country like the United States it is poison. It strengthens white people’s sense that they know better than black people, that they need to be in charge. It is a pillow under the head of White paternalism.
– Abagond, 2017.
See also:
529
Another great post. White folks in America have always been known for making “black jokes.” This is an infamous legacy that whites have kept alive. White radio talk shows certainly have kept the Amos ‘n’ Andy parody alive, white rappers have kept it alive, etc. We must remember that it was from black jokes and minstrel characters like Jim Crow that evolved into anti-Black laws. I take black jokes seriously just for that reason – because one day a white person can crack a “black joke” and the next day those same black jokes can become laws that can restrict me and my family of freedom and happiness.
LikeLike
For those people who had radios in the old days Amos and Andy were quite funny. I never met anyone who ever really related them to actual black people.
I lived in the north; so, perhaps I did not know people acted differently. Most of the southern whites I came across in the military in the 40s either treated black with respect or attempted to dominate them.
I do not think any white gave a second thought to that program the way blacks see it today.
Most of the blacks I met had far more dignity and strength in those days and did not care about such stereotyping.
If there were blacks who fit the characters such as Amos and Andy they were looked down upon by the blacks that I met, the same as today.
A problem I see today is an imaginary vision of older blacks, that today’s blacks have. They do not understand the character strength of their grand parents.
They prefer the “house n version’.
LikeLiked by 1 person
@Michael L Cooper I believe you are a bit mixed up. Long before there was Jim Crow there was slavery and mistreatment of blacks.
It is the nature of people to mistreat someone. Only some white people mistreat or look down on blacks. Since all of the native Americans have been either place on reservations or integrated into the white race the blacks and the people from the far east plus of course the Muslims are the only people left to be stereotyped.
Race laws are not being written, they were brought to this nation by the English, French and Spanish (white Europeans) from the beginning.
Failure to elect Mrs. Clinton has introduced us to the Trump Administration, which will become the new return to the “past’ not some individual telling jokes.
Pay attention to the Trump Cabinet leaders and the programs they are starting. While Trump create a big cloud of smoke, the cabinet is taking your right away from you!
LikeLike
This reminds me of Bamboozeled.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Radio: In the forties radio was like television only without pictures. Not just as a machine but even in the way it was used. Companies like CBS and NBC had shows on every night. It was not just all news and music like it had become by the seventies.
How many people had radios in the twenties, thirties and forties. Is it a fact that most people had radios in the fifties. Depression 1928 – 1940 people could hardly buy food. WW II 1941 – 1945 thought were on the war. Europe was burning up 1930 to 1945.
Any laugh would have been welcome.
Finally: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_show#Decline
Keep up the presentation; however be factual and not one sided.
LikeLike
@ Allen Shaw
Based on your experiences, how do you compare the racism in America in 1949 with that of 2017? If racism was a 10 in 1949, what is it now? How has it changed?
LikeLike
Thank goodness the NAACP was on the case with the television version of Amos ‘n’ Andy. They worked for years to shut down TV broadcasts of that scurrilous show. They succeeded with the first run version, but then had to fight the re-runs.
The site, American History for Travelers, describes the long battle against the TV show:
It is no surprise that there are still websites that sell taped or digital versions of the series to mostly White fans.
LikeLike
I feel I just read an excerpt from a 1949 encyclopedia entry.
LikeLike
Your post here convinces me more than ever that the show HBO is planning called “Confederate,” is just wrong, wrong, hella wrong. It’s supposed to depict an alternate, alt-right future showing a present where slavery still exists.
The harm done by ignorance is bad enough. The harm done by the misrepresentation of black people by white people who know so little about us and refuse to learn is overwhelming.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It shows that white people will turn to white-based media faster and more often than actual black people. In modern times, you will see some cite rap videos and the local news as references as to how black people are with assurance that they are reliable sources.
LikeLike
abagond “Based on your experiences, how do you compare the racism in America in 1949 with that of 2017? If racism was a 10 in 1949, what is it now? How has it changed?”
Like pain I do not give number between 1 and 10. Donald Trump is president and many blacks help put him in office, so I do not know if he is a racially motivated or what is his problem.
I do not believe the question has an adequate answer. I do not live in the south where black are concentrated. I do not live in a major metropolitan area where blacks are concentrated.
Black men today seem to have a difficult time; however I read that poor whites also are suffering.
Racism is in the mind of the individual and each individual has a different view.
My understanding from reading this blog is that today all white people are just plain bad. I have not had that experience; therefore, I must have lived a different life then most of your commentator.
With the exception of the first four years 45 – 49 when I was in an all black military unit I have never worked with many blacks. I retired as an E-7 from the military and I managed to progress to the level of a Manager of a department in a bank and retired before I was 55. After that time I was a landlord in a black community and did not have much opportunity to deal with white individuals, except as my maintenance contacts and a few professional contracts that I worked on. All of those experiences were and continue to be positive.
While I retired as an E-7, many of my peers retired as E-9 and the black officers have been promoted to 4 star Generals.
Was my life unique or have others experienced similar lives?
See the struggle that was taking place: Download from Amazon
Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965 Kindle Edition
I am rereading the entire 800 plus pages for the first time. I have read the preview which leaves out pages. I also have various articles I have saved over the years, yet do not have time to research them for examples.
LikeLike
@ Allen Shaw
So in YOUR experience – I understand you are neither God nor a Black Hive Mind nor a sociologist – racism has been pretty much dead since at least 1949? And that white people have been pretty much the same since then too?
LikeLike
@ Allen Shaw
Also, do you have any thoughts on the word “racism” itself? I notice it was not common in 1949, but there could be various reasons for that.
LikeLike
@ abagond You failed to read the reference I gave you.
LikeLike
@ Allen Shaw
Which reference do you mean? The 800-page Integration of the Armed Forces, 1940-1965?
LikeLike
@abagond Yes it is all about the racial problems that existed in the period you are discussing.
You go to Amazon and download the book free.
It contains a very good description of the efforts being made by the many different individuals and the black organizations that were dealing with the social problems of that time. (Not just the military). It describes the resistance to change by the military and the civilian population to the integration or desegregation of that time. It will give a person a platform to stand on to help evaluate where we are today.
You cannot just have some Donald Trump 120 word tweet about this subject.
You cannot expect a person to experience anything other than their life.
All other knowledge comes from reading facts and ignoring rumors and gossip.
Living in the southeastern part of the United States or a neighborhood in a metropolitan area in an almost totally black environment will make a person much more likely to live a separate life than if they live in other part of the nation.
For you personally I ask the following questions:
Are you a black person?
Why do you feel racism so much?
What has held you back?
What limits do you actually have?
How many time have you been arrested?
What contact have you had with the law?
Have you failed to receive an education because you were black?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_African-American_population
Not one state has more than 38% black population which means that there are 62% more whites in each state. Each state controls its destiny.
Who has the money?
Finally, what are the goals of the blacks in any of the states, and who is racist.
You continue to address subjects that are important. You have pictured many subjects that existed; however, you only touched the surface of the social changes that were occurring. Go to back issues of the black publication of that day. I believe one was the Amsterdam News in New York, Cleveland Call and Post, there may have been a Detroit black paper, the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier. A black paper in San Francisco. No doubt there was a black paper in Los Angeles. If you are going to discuss this subject “do your homework” and be complete. I am sure that Birmingham, Alabama had a black new paper.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_newspapers
I only have a passive interest in the subject because I continue to live in the present. I have lived the past and am glad it is over and gone. When I was young I had to worry about being lynched, I do not have that fear anymore.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Allen Shaw said: “BLACK MEN today seem to have a difficult time; however I read that POOR WHITES also suffering.” Not just Black men, Black people (as a collective) are having a difficult time. Unfortunately, those same suffering poor Whites really believe that a tycoon-turned-president will be bring them out of their poor conditions. LMAO!!! They’ll get poorer and poorer.
I’ll end my brief comment with this – Drugs have played a major role in the victimization of Black men (Black women as well) and poor Whites. The fundamental difference between ‘BLACK MEN’ and ‘POOR WHITES’ is that Black men became the wanted product of the prison industry and poor Whites became the product of drug rehabilitation programs.
LikeLike
@Michael L Cooper: “Allen Shaw said: “BLACK MEN today seem to have a difficult time; however I read that POOR WHITES also suffering.”” Where did I say that and in what reference did I say it if I said it?
Any student of history will understand that the “poor white” has had a very bad life. Going back as far in our history as you can go they have been belittled, starved and used as cannon fodder in wars. They had no value during the period of slavery, which made the black a more important individual. After the civil war and between wars they have had very bad lives.
I do not intend to compare the lives of two people.
Like flowers the life of the poor is in the eyes of the beholder. I think the lives of the poor (black and white) suck.
I do agree blacks go to jail more often then whites. I was unaware of the fact that blacks did not get drug rehabilitation programs.
LikeLike
@ Allen Shaw
Comment deleted for racial slur.
LikeLike
@abagond Did you delete my remarks. If you did would you provide me with the remarks and show me where there was a racial slur. Unless you are referring to the term “white t”.
If you deleted my remarks because I used a phase used by southern whites please explain.
Blacks do not normally use the term in my circle of acquaintance.
Please delete any racial slur you perceive and publish my response. I do not save copies of my response on this site normally.
LikeLike
@ Allen Shaw
By that logic I should allow white commenters to use the N-word. Not happening.
LikeLike
@ abagond I understood the first time! No need to repeat.
LikeLike