From Blackface to Beulah: Subtle Subversion in Early Black Sitcoms

Abstract

In 1965 the actor/comedian Bill Cosby made television history as the first African American to star in a dramatic series produced by a major network. No doubt inspired by the successes of the Civil Rights Movement, NBC’s decision to air I Spy had broken with a decade old tradition to severely curtail and/or altogether omit black actors from television. This exclusionary practice had been precipitated by the economic pressures applied by both blacks and whites as they boycotted the sponsors of what they deemed to be objectionable depictions of black life. While black leaders and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) pleaded for more ‘positive’ depictions of African Americans, Southern white supremacists rejected anything but the most stereotypical and retrogressive interpretation of blacks. Television’s early black actresses operated within this context and were challenged with the seemingly impossible task of imparting negatively stereotyped roles – the only ones available to African Americans between 1951 and 1954 – with dignity. Through their interpretations Ethel Waters, Hattie McDaniel, Ernestine Wade, and Amanda Randolph were able to create layered characters that appealed to both whites and blacks. These talented actresses utilized nuance and body language to create a subtext that helped to alleviate the racist content of period programs, and thus communicated more to their diverse audiences than a cursory evaluation of their lines might suggest. Although the major television networks responded to the complaints by simply refusing to cast African American leads, the subtle acts of subversion employed by the female characters on Beulah and Amos ‘n’ Andy helped to humanize the black experience and challenged racial dogma, in turn making the comedic careers of subsequent African American pioneers possible.