Amos and Andy was an attempt to portray African Americans in a stereotypical manner, targeting a younger, white audience, to shape their views about this ethnic "other." Amos and Andy was probably a response to the increased fear white Americans had about the expanding role of African Americans in as a result of migration, expansion of rights, and the emergence of an African American middle class. As justification for efforts that limited the rights of blacks throughout America and relegated blacks to second-class citizenship decades after emancipation, the cartoon portrayed blacks in a negative manner. As time progressed, racism began to be more entrenched within American society, which had never been confronted with a society divided by a color-line; previously, African Americans had been denied citizenship and were viewed as property. As they came to claim citizenship rights, new race divisions and ideologies emerged, which is clearly reflected by the creation of forms of mass media such as Amos and Andy.