GBS and Amos & Andy

I must say that I find it intriguing that one of the most accomplished playwrights at the turn of the 20th century, George Bernard Shaw, would list the Amos and Andy show as one of the three things he would never forget about the United States. Considering the depth of character and extensive repertoire of historical narrative present within his works, I am astounded that he was so impressed by 15 minute sketches of blackface minstrelsy. It appears that he matched the series with everything that is American. It intrigues me because blackface comedy seems to contradict everything that Americans during the 1920s appeared to have promoted: individualism, freedom from the status quo, etc.

Today, of course, most Americans would not wish to be likened in any way to blackface minstrelsy so how could so many condone it in the 1920s and 30s? One reason, of course, is presented by Lott in the fact that Americans were seeking a uniquely American artform to call their own rather than the European knock-offs of the past two centuries. The idea of the United States being a melting pot, a concept that was alive and well in the Whiteman film in 1930, may be one reason that comedy rooted in blackface minstrelsy was acceptable to most Americans. As implied by Lott, blackface routines were often a conglomeration of African-American humor, White/Jewish wit, and staging. Also, the blackface sometimes did not even seek to denigrate African-Americans but rather functioned as an alternate self through which one might voice opinions or make judgments about the political climate. (Of course, I have to wonder why political or even social opinions would have to be masked during the 1920s era. It seems, through the changes in clothing styles and social mores we have viewed in shorts and films from the era, that the youth of the 1920s-30s sought to openly challenge the status quo.)

Another reason that blackface may have seemed less immoral during the time is the fact that Americans were submerged in a society with very definite stereotypes. During my reading for my research paper, I found a number of 1920s-30s publications that dealt with what was known as the 'negro problem.' The astonishing thing is that the tone of the authors was seldom emotionally-charged nor did the texts appear to purposely denigrate African-Americans. Throughout a number of articles and books which appear to render African-Americans as objects to be studied or as sub-humans to be managed, there is very little defensiveness in the diction and tone of the authors--a fact I found interesting, considering the fact that many of the statements were scandalous to me. The authors, however, appear to have been writing what they felt was the truth. Their reasoning and logic during the time period would have seemed sufficient; a number of the articles were even written by scholars in academia. Hence, the many Americans who supported minstrelsy--in particular, Amos and Andy--as a national artform likely did not intend to degrade and alienate an entire portion of American society. They merely lived in a society governed by stereotypes which paraded as truths; these stereotypes would simply take years to challenge and overcome.

I don't say this to pardon the injustices of a humor that added insult to injury (literally), but rather to promote an understanding of the fact that the 1920s-30s was a stage in the process of 'becoming.' The United States, which prior to 1965 operated on the basis that African-Americans and Whites were on opposite ends of the spectrum, has had to climb out of a depth of ignorance, bigotry, and stereotype. The time period of Amos and Andy was merely a step along the way. If anything, I think that the Amos and Andy show kept the race question in the public eye. Several of the articles I read advocated a complete separation of the races to the point that entire cities would be established to maintain distance between African-Americans and Whites. Such distance could not grow into a unified nation nor foster understanding between the two camps. Amos and Andy kept the dilemma of integration at the forefront of public policy by merely presenting non-heated, non-controversial (for the time period) comedic sketches with nice, neat little resolutions. Even though most sketches did not even involve whites, they reminded the nation of the difficulties in transition between one way of life and another.

Even though I shutter to think that comedies rooted in blackface minstrelsy might have been presented to the world as America's unique artform earlier in the 20th century, I respect the fact that it was a stage in the learning process.

I apologize if this post seems disjointed but I had written about a page and a half earlier when I decided to scroll up, highlight, and save my work. Scrolling up on blogger.com results in erasure, by the way! Very aggravating! Anyway, I may have missed some stuff here but just ask me Tuesday night. Grrrrr.