Racist Cartoons

Too Old to be Cool has a review of the new Warner Brothers Cartoon boxed set which thankfully doesn’t have PSAs on every disc by Whoppi Golberg like Volume three did, telling us about the racially insensitive cartoons of the 40s. You had to sit through them on every disc. It was really annoying. Especially since it was coming from a woman who’s ex-boyfriend (Ted Danson) dressed up in blackface once as a joke.

Personally, I think many of those Warner Brothers cartoons weren’t racist, like this infamous one “All this and Rabbit Stew”. Yes, they replaced Elmer Fudd with a Steppin’ Fetchit imitation, but cartoons of the day made fun of popular characters in the media just like they do now. Modern Disney and Dreamworks cartoons (like Shrek) mock all kinds of movies and characters. Fetchit was a popular character back then and suitable for parody. At least Bugs sort of made friends with him at the end, unlike Fudd cartoon.

On the other hand, this Bob Clampett piece from around the same time , “Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarves” is pretty damn obnoxious. So obnoxious, I had tp laugh because it’s so wrong. But that’s the way Clampett cartoons were. He was into extreme exaggeration and weird sexual humor. It was Clampett who did most of the cartoons where Bugs seemed to like to dress up in drag.

If you look at black characters like Fat Albert, the differences aren’t many. So how is one racist and not the other? Because of the race of the cartoonist? Because of the stereotypes? The thing is cartoons are all about stereotypes. They are charactures, not meant to be real at all. They’re there to make us laugh at stuff. If the intentions aren’t mean spirited, I don’t think it should be called racist. Just in poor taste, as the Clampett cartoon is.

No one likes being the butt of a joke like that, but if race humor isn’t allowed then all those black comics who imitate lame white guys are racists? There shouldn’t be double standards.

What do you think?

UPDATE: Speedy Gonzales first cartoon

Chris Rock, responding to a story (rumor?) that Bill Cosby was buying the rights to the Little Rascals, so that he could keep that “racist” show away from the public, argued that Fat Albert was waaay more degrading and embarrassing. This was during one of his earlier HBO shows.

The thing that got me about the “black guys do this, white guys do that” comedians, was that while they appeared to be laughing at the white guy, Martin Lawrence and others like him were often reinforcing negative stereotypes about black people, which is probably what makes this sort of thing inoffensive and entertaining to a lot of people (but not to me).

As far as the old cartoons, whether I laugh at them, get pissed off, or both simultaneously depends on my mood and how funny the cartoon actually is.

Posted by Edshugeo The GodMoor  on  01/11  at  08:58 PM

I noticed that too. That black comedians often do meaner versions of race humor on blacks than 1940s white people. I used to watch some of those Harlem Theater variety shows a few years back, and some of that stuff was unbelievable.

As far as Buckwheat goes, he was just a kid. I always liked Buckwheat. Eddie Murphy got him, at least.

Posted by  on  01/11  at  11:30 PM

Stymie was the man, but how can one not like Buckwheat?
There was a later episode (Robert Blake was down with them at that point) where they find a treasure map and start dreaming about what they’ll do with the riches. Buckwheat is given a parade in some black town or neighborhood, and he’s managed to hook all the kids up with watermelons. Aside from that, I didn’t get what the fuss was about. Maybe I missed the really offensive ones. There was only one or two kids out of the whole gang that wasn’t dirt poor.

Blake has told stories of physical abuse directed at Buckwheat whenever he attempted to speak normally.

Posted by Edshugeo The GodMoor  on  01/12  at  06:14 AM

“There shouldn’t be double standards”

Exactly.  Why can’t one make black jokes when making redneck ones are OK.  Asinine. Of course, our whole racial climate is also.

Posted by  on  01/12  at  08:19 AM

As a literal African-American (my mom was an African, Dad’s an Ohio WASP), I realize the need to laugh at stereotypes; yes, I said “need”, it’s healthy.  If there weren’t so-called “racist” cartoons, it’d be necessary to create them.

By the way, racism and prejudice are two completely different things; we need to stop using “racist” when we really mean “prejudiced”.

Posted by Fred  on  01/12  at  09:27 AM

we need to stop using “racist” when we really mean “prejudiced”.

Fred, I agree with you, but that won’t happen as there is money in making people think they should hate each other, sad to say.

Posted by  on  01/12  at  09:37 AM

Fred -

As an African-American, do you find truth in the attitude that you can only be racist if you’re white?

I’ve seen and heard non-whites use statements that would be considered racist coming from whites, but they aren’t called racists because the speaker isn’t white.

And to use an Aussie phrase - good on ya for seeing the need to laugh!

Posted by Dave Marron  on  01/12  at  01:32 PM

No, anyone can be racist.  By definition! “The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.”

I first encountered this idea after reading Dinesh D’Souza and he’s right.

Posted by Fred  on  01/16  at  08:10 AM

“‘The belief that race accounts for differences in human character or ability and that a particular race is superior to others.”

I guess that I fit this definition, then!  Why are virtually all nail shops run by Vietnamese?  Obviously, because they are better at it than others.  The same applies to sports, i.e., blacks in basketball and whites in swimming.  Asians also test out as slightly more intelligent than whites. I don’t know how one can argue that acknowledging these facts makes one prejudiced. I also firmly believe that there are character differences between races such as the difference in the closeness of family.

Posted by  on  01/16  at  09:52 AM

I have a theory about race and sports. I think it has more to do with class than race. Most of the best athletes come from poor backgrounds. So they have to work harder to excel. Hence, we are starting to import more athletes from places like Cuba and China and so on.

To be really good at sports, you need to work at it like a fiend from the time you are a child. Middle class and above have all kinds of other things to distract them. In poor neighborhoods, sports are more of a social alternative to gangs. And a lot of black kids think it’s a way to riches, so they focus on it. While white kids are mostly spoiled and don’t work as hard, unless they have the work ethic or their parents direct them that way.

The same goes from these athletes from poor countries.

I don’t think race plays that much of role in it, but culture does. Some ethnic cultures are more focused on performing in sports than others.

Posted by  on  01/16  at  10:31 AM
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