Amos and Andy

The stereotypes and pieces of black identity in Amos and Andy very typical of what would have been thought of black Americans during the time period.  The choppy speech, laziness, violence, inability to learn or listen well, as well as the connections to animals in both depiction and action all contributed greatly to larger ideas about blacks.  It is clear that the cartoon is intended for white audiences, both to entertain and to show how different blacks and whites from each other.

 I thought in particular the references to intelligence and Andy's head as a soft spot were especially important to the cartoons message, especially when contrasted to the physical work and boxing that Andy had to do.  He was consistently shown as not intelligent, to the point where even his ability to work (though this also may have had to do with laziness) or to fight reasonably well were impaired.  It was also clear that though he may have wanted to be fit and ready to fight, he was not, and the constant smoking, even while boxing, showed that he didn't have the intelligence or commitment to do so.

I thought that is clip had a lot to do with our discussion of racialization and the construction and reinforcement of the color line.  The historical time period of the cartoon, 1934, was an important time for the color line to be reinforced, after the Great Migration and the worst years of the Great Depression just beginning to end.  By making these stereotypes visible and part of mainstream white media, blacks were reinforced as other, and segregation was thought to be all the more neccessary