Black sitcom Portrayals

The first couple of black sitcoms that aired on television were about a black maid who worked for a middle-class family. It is obvious why African Americans did not like this because they where being seen as relying on white people to support them, and they did not like the idea of an African American waiting on hand and foot for a white person. Then, the question is, why couldn’t the maid be a w

Then, came around the African American sitcoms like The Jefferson’s that portrayed African Americans as being economically successful in life. But, some blacks were also not happy about this because they were now being portrayed as the typical successful white family. But, African Americans also saw these types of sitcoms as good roll models for the African American community because they showed a unique image of a rich African American family. On the same hand, they were still able to maintain a relationship with the lower class African Americans. But, the Cosby Show was a bad portrayal of a rich African American family because they came off as trying to be white. They didn’t stay in touch with the “ghetto.”

Since I’ve started taking this class I have been paying more attention to diversity in the media. A thought stumbled on to me one day when I was watching Fred Lopez, that there are not many diverse couples on sitcoms. By diverse I mean two people from different races. Yet, there are gay couple sitcoms. But, I think the next step in sitcoms would be to have an African American with a white person. Why not? It’s around use everyday. I think it would cause a lot of controversy though because who is supposed to act like there own race. Is the white person supposed to act black or is the black person supposed to act white. I don’t know? I would like to see, and I bet in the near future we will see a couple this diverse on television.

I like the Fresh Prince of Bel Air because it shows how the ghetto African American is still able to interact with the rich. In this show a kid that lives in the ghetto gets in trouble with local gangs and is forced to go live with his wealthy uncle who is a judge in Bel Air. His uncle treats him as if he were his own kid. Even if they are related, that is a hard thing for som

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