Amos and Andy Cartoon

This cartoon seems to include all of the prevelant stereotypes about African Americans during its time. When we first meet Andy he is asleep on the job, and we immediately get the impression that he is lazy and lacks work ethic. The characters all use improper, accented English. They are also physically exaggerated, particularly their lips. Several of the characters look very much like apes, and Andy's opponent is not only animalistic as he is, he actually transforms into an angry moose during the match. This relates to the scientific racism we have talked about in class, as the characters are closer to animals than humans, and thus give the impression of being "less evolved." The characters that aren't depicted as being stupid are merely strong and violent.

My guess is that the intended audience here would be white children. It seems to have very little point to it except to make fun of African Americans via stereotypes about them. It was created at a time when blacks were struggling with and/or against the color line, and whites were particularly concerned about it. I think it probably reflects the whites' concern, and thier desire to reinforce the "inferiority" of African Americans.

This also connects to class in that it is a cartoon, which is a format we have looked at as being significant. It makes a point in its exaggeration, which is partially diluted by the "innocent" feel. Unlike the newspaper cartoons, which are intended for adults, however, this allows an ugly message to be delivered to children in a less ugly way.

Reflection post: Amos and Andy

This short YouTube clip was a very interesting depiction of African Americans at this time. It was made in 1934, and it is clear that racism and the color line (as mentioned in lecture) is in full force. After watching this clip, I felt like it was a depiction of white peoples feelings towards African Americans during this time. As you can tell, all of the characters in the clip were African American, which means that it was probably aimed at a white audience. There is no way an audience of African Americans would be happy with a cartoon like this. All of the characters have monkey-like features, which is obviously an exaggeration of what African Americans looked like. The cartoon shows the characters with very big lips, which makes them look like monkeys. The writers of the cartoon also portrays the characters as southern, and almost makes them look unintelligent. All of the characters in the cartoon say "rassling" and not wrestling, which shows the southern slang.
I found it interesting with the way they portrayed Andy when he was wrestling his shadow. They make him look dumb, which is probably what the writers wanted to do. When Andy is wresting his shadow he runs into the wall and also continuously swings and misses when swinging at his shadow. What I took from this was that the writers wanted to portray the fact that African Americans are worthless. Andy can't even beat his own shadow, which makes him look like he is worth less than his own shadow. Andy even says "Can't even beat my own shadow". When Andy finally gets into the ring, they make moose look like a very ugly animal, and they even show him turning into a moose at one point. At one point in the cartoon, Andy rides moose like some sort of animal. One last thing that I found interesting was when Andy's friend gave him the wreath to put around his neck and Andy says that they want him to hang the wreath around his neck "like I was race horse" With this line the writers are trying to predict African Americans as horses and animals all together.
Overall, this is an extreme exaggeration of African American lifestyle during this period. They were looked down upon, and white audiences got a laugh with cartoons like this. These cartoons were a way to keep African American morale down, and to also entertain the white community. The color line is clearly in place. There is not even any white characters in this cartoon. The writers could use cartoons as a symbol of how they viewed African Americans.

amos and andy reflection

The characters in the amos and andy cartoon are clearly exaggerated figures representing African Americans. They are represented with greatly exaggerated lips and seen bumbling around in ways that reflect the minstrel music performances. The wrestling trainer is very ape-like in appearance, and Andy's wrestling opponent looks like a moose (to match his name). These figures are depicted as animals in appearance and in thier actions, which harkens to the theory of eugenics. This cartoon is representative of the sentiment toward African Americans at that time.
I am sure that his cartoon was intended for a white audience, as any African American who saw it would undoubtedly be offended, and rightly so. This cartoon was created in a post-WWI time when African Americans were struggling for rights against social (color-line) boundaries as well as unjust segregation laws.
In lecture last week he spoke about how cartoons use symbolic and exaggerated forms to make a point. I definately think that is the case here. African Americans are depicted as bumbling and stupid, or crazy and animal-like which reflects the way they were thought about in that era. In the reading of A chance to Make Good it talks about how race had become an obsession, and how race had become an important way of categorizing people and cultures. African Americans were seen as inefficient, incapable, emotional, and below everyone else. Even though many African Americans were intelligent and advancing in society they had a hard time breaking through these stereotypes, and were hindered by the laws that reinforced them. In the larger contest of this course this cartoon shows who was "in", in terms of the nation at the time, and who was "out".

Amos n Andy: View Video & Post a Comment

When viewing this clip I would like you to think about this week's lectures and readings. Your comment should include your response to this cartoon AND how this clip relates to this week's major themes.

For more information about the Amos n Andy show, click *here.*

Questions you might want to ask yourself include:

Who are these characters? Who might they represent?
Who is the intended audience of this video?
What is the historical context?
How does it relate to this week's readings and lectures?
How does it relate to the larger themes of this course?

Video: Amos 'n' Andy - 1934 Cartoon, "The Rasslin' Match"

discussion questions for "A Chance to Make Good" by James R. Grossman and "Go After The Women: Americanization and the Mexican American Immigrant Women" by George Sanchez 

Midterm ID Study Guide

Hello everyone,
Below are the terms you generated in section.

For your homework assignment, please comment on this entry with at least two additional terms from Weeks 1 - 4.

Week 5: Rebirth of a Nation

Theme/Concepts:
1. Asian immigration
2. cult of domesticity
3. reconciliation
4. imperialism
5. labor economy
6. masculinity

People/Organizations:
1. Akeley
2. Bellamy
3. Roosevelt
4. WRC
5. GAR
6. black soldiers

Places:
1. African Hall
2. Chicago
3. Philippines
4. New Frontier
5. California

Events:
1. Spanish American War
2. Civil War/Emancipation Proclamation
3. Remember the Maine
4. Mexican Revolution
5. WWI

Discussion Questions for 2/6/09

Discussion Questions
“Teddy Bear Patriarchy” and To Die For

1. What was the reasoning behind the nationalists’ perception of children as such a crucial component in the creation of the American patriotic culture (think about the role of immigrant children in particular)? What were some of the approaches used by social organizations such as the GAR and the WRC that targeted the education system and how did they differ? Has one group’s approach been sustained through the present day more so than the other’s? If so, why?

2. What were some of the main barriers inhibiting reunification in the immediate post-Civil War era? State some of the initial steps that were taken to reduce each side’s reservations about the creation of a national identity. What do you believe the implications were for American society as a whole as a result of the North’s abandonment of dedication to Reconstruction and the “race question” in its attempt to reunify the country?

3. What were some of the events and/or factors that culminated in the racialization of patriotism? How did this racialization affect the national patriotic culture by the end of the First World War? Pay special attention to the concept of “popular imperialism.”

4. What was the relationship between the state and the individual in the ideological battleground of patriotic culture? How did the intricacies of the first pledges of allegiance (written by Balch and Bellamy) help overcome the complexities of the nation-individual relationship? How effective was this in reducing the conflict between those who idealized the nation and the notion of civic duty and those who argued for the protection of an individual’s rights above all else?

5. How did the expansion of mass media across America serve to reformulate the nation’s collective memory of the Civil War? What was the significance of yellow journalism in the broader political context of national identity? How was the practice of “amnesia” and historical rewriting of the Civil War important in the creation of national patriotism?

6. What role did women play in constructing the new nationalistic notion of patriotism? Did their role change between the end of the 19th century and World War I? What were the differences between the roles of black women and white women during this period?

7. What is “Teddy Bear Patriarchy?” What were some of the problems Akeley and his contemporaries saw as a result of civilization and technological progress? What did they believe to be the cure?

8. What statement does Haraway contend the American Museum of Natural History and Akeley’s exhibit make? How does she connect Akeley’s exhibit to broader societal questions? How did Akeley’s engagement in these questions use education and science as a means for promoting his ideals for the construction of the nation?

Killing Custer Reflection

I found Killing Custer to be an interesting read, but I believe the author made a few mistakes that took away from his point. First, the author's writing style is scattered and jumps between the past and the present with little warning or explanation. Also, his chapters seem fairly arbitrary, and from the chapters we were assigned, it was difficult to get a grasp on a particular direction in which the book was going. Professor Haas mentioned that this was purposeful--that readers were supposed to be disoriented upon reading this book. However, I believe that if the author had more carefully organized the information in a more chronological and structured way, he would have been able to make a more powerful point and eliminated some of the readers' distraction.

Second, in chapter six Welch addresses some of the more heinous acts attributed to Indians, and states that during times of war, actions such as these almost become acceptable, given the environment and the things at stake. He compares these acts to gruesome acts in history, pointing out that Indians were not the only people susceptible to them. But, if he uses this argument to defend Indians' actions, then I believe he must apply that to the actions of the whites as well. Thus, things like killing the women and children would be more acceptible considering moral distinctions were blurred in the fighting. While this does not absolve whites of the responsibility for creating the fighting in the first place (nor do I actually think it is appropriate to employ this logic in either case), it is an example of his bias. That bias, however, is usually intentional and with purpose, as Welch believes that most, if not all, of history is written from a while male perspective.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. I had actually not had much exposure to the Custer myth prior to this, but I found the degree to which we have reimagined our own history fascinating. Welch did a very thorough job of exposing who Custer really was, and examining why we have made him what he "is" today.