Amos n Andy post

This "show" speaks to a lot of the racial sentiment of the era. Not surprisingly, it is full of stereotypes and misinformation that create new, unfaltering views of African Americans and reinforce the old ones. What struck me the most was the way that the cartoonist blatantly paralleled his characters to animals (wreath around the neck like a race horse, competitor acting liking a four-legged animal, etc) and made the wrestling match little more that a spectator sport of dumb animals rather than humans. Even without the wrestling match, the Blacks were drawn like clowns, with their big,white circular lips. They are a circus show, dressed up and failing miserably to be "human".
By accident I also went on youtube and watched the sitcom Amos n Andy show, before I realized that we were supposed to watch the cartoon on the blog. The unintelligent characteristics aren't quite so exaggerated, but I think that the sitcom is more powerful of a mainstream influence on the white conscience than the cartoon is. Filmed in a similar way to "I Love Lucy" with comparable story lines, it goes one step beyond Lucy's ridiculous antics. By making Amos and Andy, supposedly educated Black men, the foolish actors in these messes they get themselves into, it sets an example of all Black men behaving in these foolish ways; whereas with Lucy, whites know that not all women cause such mischief. The racism is more subtle, but I believe, this "window" into Black life is much more influencial in creating racial stereotypes than the cartoon.