Movin’ On Up: Have Black Sitcoms Really Changed the Black Community for the Better?

Through time, blacks in television have been able to abolish many of the pervious stereotypes from past generations. However as media progresses and blacks are becoming a more predominate part of American television, the effect of black sitcoms is being called into question when it comes to their effect on the black community. The early 70’s through the 90’s were the golden age for black sitcoms, both the good and the bad. Blacks were still portrayed as both ignorant, poor, mammy and uncle type characters in shows such as Good Times, Stanford and Son, and more recently, Tyler Perry’s house of Payne. However, many shows promoted the educated, independent, affluent black family such as The Cosby Show, The Jefferson’s, and A Different World. Do these shows truly have an effect on the black community, and even more importantly do they effect how the rest of America views them? For blacks portrayal on television perception is reality, many preconceived notions of how blacks act and carry themselves in everyday life have been eliminated, nevertheless, black sitcoms still reinforce stereotypes that have plagued the black community since the beginning of slavery.

Background: * “From Mammy to Miss America and Beyond: Cultural Images and the Shaping of U.S. Social Policy:”
A brief summery of the history of blacks on television and how this has effected the community in general. * In “Television Media as a Potential Negative Factor in the Racial Identity Development of African American Youth:”
A brief summery of their television portrayal of black and how over time how black media changed the mind set of blacks and the negative effect it has had on both the white and black community. How this has also effected the identity of the black community and how that has shaped the black psyche.

Issues with Black Sitcoms: All of these sitcoms were a step up from where the black community was before. Just being able to see themselves represented on television was a step forward from not being seen in the media at all. However many black were unable to connect and relate with the characters on television because they did not share the life style as the

* “Revolution Televised: Prime Time and The Struggle for Black Power”
Stereotypes formed my Sanford and son. Enforcing the belief that all old black crazy, slightly illiterate, and overly dramatic. Also enforces the beliefs that blacks are poor and enjoy it that way. However the fact that blacks were even being represented on television seemed to be the beginning of something revolutionary in the black community.

* “Revolution Televised: Prime Time and The Struggle for Black Power”
Good Times was a step forward for the black community. Although the family was living in the ghetto and participated in” black activities”, a strong father family who supported his family and a mother who loved and care for her children was a prominent part of the series. However, many blacks did not agree with the fact that a main issue of the show was in fact being black. For many in the black community the issue of being black was not brought up in everyday conversation like it did in Good Times.This show effect on the black community was an improvement but still had a long way to go.

This stereotype has carried from previous generations and is now plaguing the current one. Reinforcing beliefs about the black community, as a whole, that managed to keep the black population down.

* “Running head: AFRICAN‐AMERICAN SEMINAL RESEARCH 1
A Review of African-American Seminal ResearchOnyx Taylor California State University, San Bernardino”
Stereotypes found throughout black sitcoms and television in general and how those issues affect the black community. A more in depth look at Tyler Perry’s Madea character and how she has set the black community back based on her “mammy-like” characteristics. However Madea was still a strong, independent black woman who spoke her mind. Although she was uneducated and ignorant that fact that was never bowed her head, or was subservient to whites, was a very empowering factor in the black community.

Good Things that Came from Sitcoms: blacks are moving past being represented as stereotypes. To help push this movement forward the creation of several “revolutionary” black sitcoms came to fruition and the face of the black sitcom was changed forever.

* “Enlighten Racism”
The Cosby show was truly the first of its kind. Being black was no longer the focus and main issue of a show with an all black cast. Not only was the household also a two parent household, the parents were a doctor and a lawyer; to high paying jobs that required extreme amounts of education, there by extinguishing the lie that black were uneducated and lazy. The child were also well behaved and in school, structure that lacked in black sitcoms past. However there was still criticisms why the Cosby show, that it was not a true reality for the majority of the black community. Over all however, it shed a favorable light on the black community and allowed many blacks to break the bound of stereotypes.

* A Different World: The Post-Millennial Perils of Black Family T.V. Programming
This show was relevant, intelligent, and a positive influence for all because it dealt with everything from AIDS to post grad studies. This show captured the “black experience” yet did not enforce by any black stereotypes. Was relatable to both the white and black community and helped bridge the gap between what people thought about the black community and what was truly fact about the black community.

Closing:

Now with interracial marriage and black main characters on network televisions shows, is there still a need for the black sitcom? The professional black character has slowly integrated their way in to every American home through television, yet stereotypes still accrue in black sitcoms; the most surprising being, those sitcoms are written and produced by black members of the media community. Reducing the black sitcom to the point of extinction and allowing blacks to integrate fully into television, just as they have done in real life, would be the best way to destroy the stereotypes.