Ever since television began in 1939, African Americans have been portrayed as maids, servants or clowns. These negative perceptions started to appear in sitcoms such as in Amos and Andy, who were the stereotypical backs who never took things seriously. All those views changed during the 1970’s when black sitcoms were becoming more reality based. Although blacks have been, and often still, portrayed in a negative way on TV, there has been some improvement of stereotypical images of African Americans on television.

There were five stereotypical roles of blacks between 1940-1970; the Tom, Coon, Mammie, Tragic Mulatto, and the Buck (Gray “Recognizing”). The tom was always insulted, but kept the faith and remained generous and kind. The coon (most used image) was always lazy, unreliable and constantly butchered his speech. The mammie was more distinguished than the coon only because of her sex. She was usually big and plump and full of heart. The tragic mulatto was fair-skinned, trying to pass for white. Always well-liked and believed that their lives could have been better if they were not biracial. The last stereotype was the buck. He was the big, oversexed b

Some topics in this essay:
Denise Theo, Cable” Jeffersons, Steve Urkel, JJ Dy-No-Mite, Buck Gray, Fresh Prince, Allied Inc, Fred Sanford, Elizabeth I'm, America Crenshaw, “network cable”, black family, 70s 80s, stereotypical images, fresh prince, crenshaw “cosby”, sanford son, “20 most”, interracial couple, interracial relationships,