Too White Too Black

Paper Summary:

This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes the topic of race in early television programming. Specifically, it discusses black women and the roles they played in early television.

From the Paper:

""Beulah" had been a successful radio program before in debuted on television in 1950. It was the first show with a female African-American as the lead character. Beulah was a maid in a middle class white household, and the stereotypes continued from there. A history of the show notes, "Storylines tended to involve Beulah coming to the rescue of her employers, by providing a great spread of Southern cuisine to impress Mr. Henderson's business client, teaching the awkward Donnie how to dance jive and impress the girls, or saving the Henderson's stale marriage" (Bodroghkozy). Beulah was everything a post-war America expected of a black female on television. She was overweight, subservient, comical, devoted to the "white folks," and desperate for her boyfriend Bill to marry her. Many critics, black and white alike found the show simply perpetuated black stereotypes, and used blacks simply to make whites laugh. Their antics were perfect for the situation comedy format, because "they" were so different and so laughable to a largely white audience."

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