Amos and Andy

I too did not find this video surprising. As a matter of fact, it is something I expected from entertainment of that time. It is very similar to the minstrel shows of that time in a sense that they both make fun of African Americans in a way that is meant for excitement and laughter. The difference between the minstrel shows and this type of cartoon is that the cartoons served the purpose of showing people in America how NOT to act. The sad part is that it is done at the expense of another group.
It is difficult to decipher whether or not African Americans actually spoke, acted, and thought the way that is portrayed in Amos and Andy (as well as other depictions). I feel that the depictions are exaggerated, but there is also some truth to them. African Americans at the time were not always able to receive good education, and many of them were just adapting to the American way of life, so it is very well possible for them to have spoken as such, and not been as intelligent. There is a problem with the way the show portrays African Americans because it goes over the top and makes it seem as if all African Americans acted in that way.
The American society went out of their way to make sure all other groups were integrated into the American way of living, but it seems as though they went out of their way to keep African Americans away from the American way of living. There were no steps take to show the group that the images shown in Amos ad Andy were not how THEY should be.