Do you know Herman Cain?

[Premium Parrots]

lmao. Great rendition.






let me post this so ya'll understand. I only posted those Amos and And videos to give some of the "younger" members a glimpse of the past. Yes, they were pulled off the TV long ago because early civil rights activists complained that it portrays the african american culture in a poor light. Holy Mackerel Andy....I am not a racist.

[Darwin]

Well PPeeps I happen to take issue with the trope that the TV version of Amos & Andy reflected poorly on African-Americans--a locution by the way that would likely have amused early civil rights activists. The cast of Amos & Andy, as they were portrayed on TV, and rather less so on the long running radio show, were a diverse and exquisitely interactive bunch of sitcom characters who went about the travails of daily life in virtually the same way, and about the same things, that any other similar family sitcom group did. Amos, Andy, the Kingfish, Sapphire and her mom, Madame Queen, and Calhoun never really concentrated on what civil rights activists thought they should have been which was illuminating the repressive nature of the black experience in this country. Well so what? A&M was designed first and foremost as an entertainment and not a polemic. The actors who portrayed them were experienced comedic professionals and and along with the excellent writing brought the funny to many millions of folks in the fifties. A&M was a huge hit at the time which cut right across racial lines, as did the radio show as well. They were a delight to and loved by the country at large entirely without respect to the race, color or creed of viewers.

As far as exploiting black stereotypes goes A&M was in no wise at all more guilty in this respect than were later supposedly more nuanced stereotypes showcased by the likes of Jimmy Walker and Will Smith. That the characters of A&M seemed unaware of or divorced from the racial turmoil of the day was in many ways a major feature of the show and not a serious defect. The show portrayed black men and women going about their daily businesses in the same and unremarkable ways as the rest of the population which reinforced the notion that African-Americans were ordinary regular Americans too, just really funny ones who happened to affect some current black speech patterns. It was also an intensely moral show as the craven scheming Kingfish was always assured his comeuppance by episode's end.

I often wonder if the activists that criticized the show so much ever actually ever watched it. Or maybe they did and their beef was not with the very very mild stereotyping but rather than the show's refusal to be edgy, radical, or political in any way. The show produced lots of controversy at the time, which ultimately resulted in its cancellation (a pity and a mistake in my view) as did the radio show which ran for many more years than the TV show's meagre three. As offended by indignant black leaders in the fifties may have been by the mild stereotyping of A&M I can only wonder what they would have thought of the Fresh Prince Of Bellaire?

[snusjus]

After hearing his notorious "blame yourself if you aren't rich" statement, I have lost all respect for him from a political standpoint.

[Premium Parrots]

Well PPeeps I happen to take issue with the trope that the TV version of Amos & Andy reflected poorly on African-Americans--a locution by the way that would likely have amused early civil rights activists. The cast of Amos & Andy, as they were portrayed on TV, and rather less so on the long running radio show, were a diverse and exquisitely interactive bunch of sitcom characters who went about the travails of daily life in virtually the same way, and about the same things, that any other similar family sitcom group did. Amos, Andy, the Kingfish, Sapphire and her mom, Madame Queen, and Calhoun never really concentrated on what civil rights activists thought they should have been which was illuminating the repressive nature of the black experience in this country. Well so what? A&M was designed first and foremost as an entertainment and not a polemic. The actors who portrayed them were experienced comedic professionals and and along with the excellent writing brought the funny to many millions of folks in the fifties. A&M was a huge hit at the time which cut right across racial lines, as did the radio show as well. They were a delight to and loved by the country at large entirely without respect to the race, color or creed of viewers.

As far as exploiting black stereotypes goes A&M was in no wise at all more guilty in this respect than were later supposedly more nuanced stereotypes showcased by the likes of Jimmy Walker and Will Smith. That the characters of A&M seemed unaware of or divorced from the racial turmoil of the day was in many ways a major feature of the show and not a serious defect. The show portrayed black men and women going about their daily businesses in the same and unremarkable ways as the rest of the population which reinforced the notion that African-Americans were ordinary regular Americans too, just really funny ones who happened to affect some current black speech patterns. It was also an intensely moral show as the craven scheming Kingfish was always assured his comeuppance by episode's end.

I often wonder if the activists that criticized the show so much ever actually ever watched it. Or maybe they did and their beef was not with the very very mild stereotyping but rather than the show's refusal to be edgy, radical, or political in any way. The show produced lots of controversy at the time, which ultimately resulted in its cancellation (a pity and a mistake in my view) as did the radio show which ran for many more years than the TV show's meagre three. As offended by indignant black leaders in the fifties may have been by the mild stereotyping of A&M I can only wonder what they would have thought of the Fresh Prince Of Bellaire?

Yea, my whole family enjoyed watching it every week.
why can a few ruin it for the majority?

[Darwin]

why can a few ruin it for the majority?

Cuz they can I guess. Interestingly few similar imbroglios were in evidence involving such early TV fare as I Remember Mama (jewish family), I Love Lucy (Cuban stereotyping), The Untouchables (Italian mobsters), Make Room For Daddy (the incredibly stereotypical Uncle Tanoose), The Jackie Gleason Show (drunk Irishmen), and Bonanza (with one of the most blatant racial stereotypes in TV history, Hop Sing).

[Premium Parrots]

Cuz they can I guess. Interestingly few similar imbroglios were in evidence involving such early TV fare as I Remember Mama (jewish family), I Love Lucy (Cuban stereotyping), The Untouchables (Italian mobsters), Make Room For Daddy (the incredibly stereotypical Uncle Tanoose), The Jackie Gleason Show (drunk Irishmen), and Bonanza (with one of the most blatant racial stereotypes in TV history, Hop Sing).

lmao Uncle Tanoose

That show was funny as hell when he was on.


You are showing your age mate.


lol Uncle Tanoose







.....and just think about all the good things Danny Thomas has done. And Jerry Lewis too

[devilock76]

Well PPeeps I happen to take issue with the trope that the TV version of Amos & Andy reflected poorly on African-Americans--a locution by the way that would likely have amused early civil rights activists.

Sorry to ride the tangent train off topic, but what do you mean with the usage of that word there. The context and the definition I know makes me read it as a mistaken usage, and well that is a bit of an esoteric word for a brain fart.

Ken

[Darwin]

A locution is just a somewhat fancy way of saying phrase but it does imply a somewhat affected, overly precious, or confusing way of saying something. "African-American" is a late twentieth century phrase almost unknown in the forties and fifties before the hypenation of ethnicities took hold in the language.

[AtreyuKun]

I can never vote for Cain. Never did like what he had to say on those christian radio shows.
Said that Obama was bordering on treason for not defending DOMA. I completely disagree with his social issues.

[Darwin]

You are showing your age mate.

Feelin' it too dammit.

[wa3zrm]

Feelin' it too dammit.

Yep... I know what you mean too!

[EricHill78]

I'm not going to comment on the allegations right now. But watch this collage, he has some great ideas here it makes you think.

[sirloot]

i like how they use Allegations or alleged .. if it hasnt been proven why bring it up ?

I have Allegations that Eric lives in walmart .. yet to be fully proven tho :P

[Ansel]

wtf :-o

[clint404]

Yeah his support of the banks and the federal reserve is scary to say the least.

I couldn't have said it better myself. You gotta start with where the problems are.