It’s Black History Month in America, and the names and faces we celebrate run the gamut from the Inspiring (Thurgood Marshall) to the Tragic (Medgar Evers). Somewhere in between those two poles lies the Curious Case of Amos and Andy. Was it a groundbreaking television sitcom that portrayed for the first time normal African-American lives, or was it an impossibly racist depiction of the worst stereotypes of black culture? Watch this episode from December, 1952 and decide for yourself. In case you were wondering, the NAACP didn’t dig Amos and Andy too much. What follows is a list of seven points the civil rights organization raised in opposition to the popular CBS sitcom.
NAACP Bulletin August 15, 1951
1. It tends to strengthen the conclusion among uninformed and prejudiced people that Negroes are inferior, lazy, dumb and dishonest.
2. Every character in this one and only TV show with an all Negro cast is either a clown or a crook.
3. Negro doctors are shown as quacks and thieves.
4. Negro lawyers are shown as slippery cowards, ignorant of their profession and without ethics.
5. Negro Women are shown as cackling, screaming shrews, in big mouthed close-ups, using street slang, just short of vulgarity.
6. All Negroes are shown as dodging work of any kind.
7. Millions of white Americans see this Amos ‘n’ Andy picture of Negroes and think the entire race is the same.
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