Remembering when cartoons became integrated

I remember as a kid watching TV and not really seeing too many people of color.  When I say people of color I don’t just mean black people but any color beige, yellow, red, chocolate or pink instead they were just white.  I don’t think it bothered me since I just expected to only see white people.   What the heck I grew up in Iowa and the only POC I saw where my family, the two Mexican kids, 1 Jewish and one other black girl (she was an AWFUL bully) at my Catholic School.  Oh and some of the kids in my neighborhood but they never liked me very much.   Now I do remember Fat Albert who I could never understand his where he lived.  The way they spoke, looked and the area they lived didn’t look like my life but they were brown and that was enough for me to look at them.  It was never my favorite Saturday morning show that was School House Rock (I’m just a bill .. tee hee) and Land of the Lost (LOVED her monkey boy pet/friend)!  So I was very excited to hear that the New York Public Library is having an exhibit on Blacks in animation over 40 years.  I wish I could go to NYC to see this exhibit since I do remember a few of the less than PC images of blacks in media.  Song of the South always comes to mind since I saw the film as a child (can STILL sing ‘my oh my what a wonderful day’) and found it VERY amusing.  Of course ask a child I didn’t realize he was a slave and how racist it was I just thought it was a movie with cartoon bits that had a black person in it (very exciting).  I can’t help but think what other POC or LGBT think about their representation in media or well lack of representation.  Even today it seems as if alot of shows have the philosophy that if they have a black character they’ve hit the quota and all is good or they have a white male gay character (now that seems to replace having a black cast member) and that will satisfy the PC police.  Well that’s another blog of frustration that the powers that be in Hollywood refuse to make shows/movies that represent the diversity of our country and the world.

The New York Public Library is having an exhibit celebrating Black Characters in animation showing how they evolved from racial stereotypes to more realistic reflections of African Americans.

From 1900 to 1960, Hollywood’s greatest animators and biggest studios produced more than 600 cartoon shorts featuring black characters. These films reflected the racial stereotypes of the pre–Civil Rights Era, portraying blacks as less than human and as minstrel caricatures. It wasn’t until the late 1960s and early 1970s that Saturday morning television cartoons featured black animated characters in a positive and realistic manner. Funky Turns 40, from the Museum of Uncut Funk, explores these black animated characters and the impact they had on a generation of young folk.

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Cherry

I live in Los Angeles and am a professional in the new media communication and marketing field with experience in non-profit, education, healthcare, political campaign and volunteer management. I’m a trustworthy honest creative professional that is able to offer strategic counseling on marketing & communications using social media.

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