Bring Back "Amos 'n Andy,"... Please?

I remember the struggle that the N.A.A.C.P. had in forcing The old Amos'n Andy show off the air back in the early 1960's. At the time, the show was considered very demeaning to Black people, especially since it was the only exposure to Blacks that most of the country had at the time. There were the old "Holy Mackle D'ere, Andy! " and the "Buck-faced" chuckles from 'The Kingfish' in his never-ending attempts to bamboozle Andrew H. Brown out of money.

There was also the "Sapphire Stevens" character, which portrayed Black women as over-bearing, whip-cracking, butt-kicking, "Never trust a Black man," females who had to constantly hound their men to get up out of bed and "get a job."

I think that, for the time, the N.A.A.C.P. made the right move. We needed more positive portrayals of Black people in the media.

In retrospect, after over 30 years of "Amos 'n Andy's" demise, I'm having second thoughts about the series. I recently went to a local video rental outlet and watched some of those old shows. And yes, I saw all of the old stereotypes of 'Coonish' Blacks doing any old stupid thing for a laugh.

Left: "Sapphire" greets George "Kingfish" Stevens.

But, I also saw something else. I saw something that I had subconsciously overlooked in the past. I saw very POSITIVE portrayals of Black people. Black judges, Black lawyers, Black doctors, Black businessmen (and women) in dignified portrayals of their characters. And don't forget Amos. Here was an articulate taxi owner who was forever trying to keep Andy and The Kingfish out of trouble. For the times, we were right in forcing the series off the air. Too many whites were only looking at the wrong characters and jumping to the conclusion that we were all like only the negative images portrayed.

I premise my thoughts with the above to say this: The sitcoms that we see today, from reruns of "Sanford and Son", "Good Times," "That's My Mama," and "The devil made me do it!" images of The old Flip Wilson Show to today's "In Living Color," and the "Martin Lawrence," genre make "Amos 'n Andy" look absolutely respectable in comparison.

And what about MTV? What about BET? Although "entertaining" in some respects, it still "slaps in the face" the ethnic pride that we are trying to instil in our people, especially our youth.

One thing that we all must realize is that we have to think BEYOND our own communities in terms of how we are perceived. This really hit home for me when I was on assignment in Malaysia and Bangkok, Thailand. When I turned on the local TV, to my amazement, I saw MTV where, as we all know, Black men are generally portrayed as "gangstas," disrespectful to our women and 'Coonish' looking with caps turned to the side and hands swinging like apes 'to the beat.'

I then realized that billions of people are getting their only impressions of Black Americans through what they see by satellite and, unfortunately, through MTV.

We have transcended (or descended, depending on your outlook) from the "Amos 'n Andy's" through the Black exploitation films of the '70's and now to the era where Hollywood is making big money exploiting the Black experience by 'buying' our own brothers and sisters into the fold for a piece of the action. Some of them will tell us that, "What we're doing is creating jobs for Black actors," and "paving the way," for better entertainment. Didn't we go through that 30, even 50 years ago?

There are those who will "Buck-Dance" for Bucks

The truth is that, unfortunately, some of our people have SOLD OUT for the money. We still have some among us who will do anything, who will make big bucks by "buck-dancing" for those who wish to continue seeing us as little children. These Black "actors" should be boycotted by all who really care about how we're portrayed to our people and to the world. Playing parts that are funny such as those portrayed by Robert Townsend and Bill Cosby are OK because they are played in good taste and NOT played to the detriment of Black people.

All too often, though, we sit up laughing at the old stereotypes that we as Black people can all identify with. However, we fail to realize that billions of others are getting those same signals. Not having the exposure to Black people to get a TRUE perspective, they tend to buy into the stereotypes portrayed. In other words, to many in the world, we're still those happy-go-lucky, irresponsible "Darkies, Coons, Piccanninies, Mammies and Bucks," stereotypes that we fought so long and hard to get away from for so many years.

After looking back to the 'Amos 'n Andy's, I long for the days when we at least were mocked in better taste than we are today, and lament for the present. I think back to what some of those old actors who played demeaning parts said about how they felt playing those roles. These were extremely talented and very articulate people. "Steppin Fetchit," for example, was an extremely articulate man in real life. So was Willie Best, the buck-eyed, forever-terrified 'Coon' character who played in so many Bob Hope comedies.

Ruby Dandridge, who played perpetual 'maids' TRULY paved the way for the Dorothy Dandridge's and others to play respectable roles. Their hopes were that, some day, the doors that they were opening would allow Black actors in the future to be able to land roles more becoming and more representative of Black people. To a minor degree, this has come true.

Unfortunately, the hottest shows about us remain "In Living Color," and "Martin," with those same old "buck-dancing coon" images that we thought by now would be in the archives of history.

I say, with some reluctance, "Let's Bring Back Amos 'n Andy! " At least we seemed to show more respect for ourselves in the media 40 years ago than we do today.

Byron L. Crudup