I accept that (though would prefer testimony from the generation ahead of you). Evidence for my own cultural boundedness is finding it difficult to imagine anyone could see those shows at that time and not be constantly aware of the (usually one) Black character, with either joy or disgust.
When I used to accompany my father to the barbershop I would read the latest issue of Jet magazine while he got his hair cut and had seemingly interminable conversations. I always looked forward to the back page (well, as time went on also the center fold) that would proudly list all the network programs with Black characters. From this you would have thought Mission: Impossible and Star Trek were about Barney and Uhura, and some of their white friends. On Mon, 7 Jun 2021 at 12:14 PM Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, Jun 7, 2021 at 12:55 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> At 7 years old I would attribute it more to age than ethnicity. >> >> I dont know about “mainstream Whites”, but I would think Linc was exactly >> the kind of Black character White audiences likely to watch TMS in 1970 >> would have liked. >> >> I’m not sure how many people knew at the time about MLK fanboying Nichols >> into staying in Star Fleet, but most White adults, especially in rural >> communities, would have been well aware of the cultural impact of Uhura’s >> forced interracial kiss (or near kiss). >> > > My experience, though coming from a different place demographically, was > like Steve's. When we turned on TV we watched the shows we watched and saw > the actors we saw without knowing there was any back story. And nobody in > my parents' generation mentioned the casting, neither approving nor > condemning it. > > I watched Star Trek in the post-school slot as a M-F daily syndicated > show. I just don't remember any feedback in those days before the > conventions and cast autobiographies. Nobody asked how a Black woman could > become a Starfleet officer or why she was just the receptionist. I don't > remember seeing or hearing any reaction to the interracial kiss until > decades later. > > And as for Linc being a Black character white audiences would like to > watch, well yeah. CWIII, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Jimmie Walker, Don > Mitchell (I had to look up the Ironside cast), Greg Collier, Diahann > Carroll, Nichelle Nichols, etc all had to play characters who appealed to > white audiences or southern TV affiliates would have pulled the shows from > their schedules and put the networks on the defensive. In 1979 CBS put The > Dukes of Hazzard on the air with all of its confederate imagery and got no > pushback. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiEuovEyxJJM%2BiSMfr5FYTLqoYSs4mYFbzWK2O9E1ERwDw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAJE-FiEuovEyxJJM%2BiSMfr5FYTLqoYSs4mYFbzWK2O9E1ERwDw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BEFiR4_BiT417FyMwv5Ug7yRjy1rpOj869vj%2BkoOCfGQ%40mail.gmail.com.
