Originally Written for English 102 (Honors) on February 16, 2002.

One of my childhood memories is watching the syndicated episodes of The Cosby Show. Although the social values of Black Americans went right over my head, I found the Huxtable Family to be enjoyable. Later, I realized The Cosby Show did not truly represent the average Black American lifestyle.

In fact, many critics were concerned about the racial images the show was offering to television viewers. One of those critics is Henry Louis Gates, Junior. He addresses those controversial issues in the article entitled TV’s Black World Turns – But Stays Unreal.

Gates begins his article by discussing Steve Miner’s Soul Man (1986). He shows how the images seen in film and television are misleading to White Americans. But Gates believes that Black Americans contribute to this problem. For example, many people buy particular magazines that list every black character seen in the media. This fixation leads to a major dilemma that affects the social and political progress of Black Americans.

To explain, Gates states that Bill Cosby’s extraordinary success has exerted a great influence over the television networks. For instance, the networks developed other Black American middle class family sitcoms like 227, Amen, and Family Matters. Since the media reaches a vast audience, Gates has always been worried about characters on television. The majority of Black Americans have never been in control of the images, especially the negative examples. The fear of negative example dates back to the 1950s when Amos N Andy premiered on television. The show caused many Black Americans to feel “full of expectation and dread.” They hoped that the actors and characters would not embarrass them or let them down.

In the 1980s, Benson and The Cosby Show tried to solve the problem. Both shows attempted to fabricate the transformation desired in the prior decades. But the problem lies in the blurry line between the character and the actor.

Truly, Black Actors and Athletes have achieved a level of success. But Gates points out that the fictitious characters actually experience a better life than the actors who portray them. He explains that television programs like The Cosby Show make Black Americans uneasy. The show suggests that they are individually responsible for their own lot in life. As long as every Black Americans is depicted in degrading roles, a person would argue that racism was “indiscriminate.” Yet, integrating Black American families into the middle class throws the burden of poverty onto the poor families. Gates refers to this predicament as the “subliminal message of America’s weekly dinner date with the Huxtables.”

Gates continues his analysis by discussing Sterling Brown, a black poet and critic. Brown classified the black characters in American literature into seven categories. Yet, this led to “careful monitoring and, ultimately to censorship.” Soon, Black Americans were being used as comic relief.

Gates supports the belief that The Cosby Show has opened the eyes of many White Americans. They realize that Black Americans can be noble and successful in the entertainment industry. But the show has raised everyone’s expectations, wanting everyone to be like the Huxtables.

Nevertheless, the vision of Cosby-like families is recent when compared to Sanford and Son, Good Times, and What’s Happening. Gates ponders the “measure of the Huxtables nobility.” He believes that The Cosby Show is popular because the characters have converted to the White American mold.

Conversely, Gates congratulates the success of earlier sitcoms for making the idea of urban life acceptable. For example, The Jeffersons bridged the gap of poverty and the upper middle class. To him, shows have not succeeded to introduce television viewers to the “fullest range of black character types.”

Certainly, Gates appreciates recent sitcoms for revealing the traditional values of Black Americans. But he points out that both ends of the spectrum does not offer a clear and convincing picture to viewers.

Overall, Gates has shown great care and thought in his analysis. In fact, the history of Black American lifestyles in the media is correctly evaluated.

Truly, the media has not ended discrimination. In 1983, Webster showed a young boy (Emmanuel Lewis) being adopted by a White American middle-class couple. Later, The Cosby Show faced bigotry in foreign syndication. The international broadcasts of the show changed the “Huxtables” to the more common and pronounceable last name of “Robinson.”

Nevertheless, Gates is correct in saying “blacks are doing much better on TV than they are in real life.” For example, Lisa Bonet made deliberate attempts to discard her positive image. She married musician Lenny Kravitz and appeared in controversial movies and magazines. Eventually, Bonet was fired from The Cosby Show because of “creative differences.”

Likewise, the worst example, is Gary Coleman. Since the cancellation of Diff’rent Strokes, he faced many legal battles. Coleman sued his parents for illegally using his trust fund. Later, he appeared on Judge Mills Lane as a defendant. He was ordered to pay for the plaintiff’s hospital bills after he assaulted a fan in a shopping mall. Even so, Coleman has appeared on The Tonight Show, Mad TV, The Simpsons, and The Weakest Link.

On the other hand, Emmanuel Lewis distanced himself from his show, but in a positive direction. He established his own music label company.

Indeed, television programs have come a long way from the days of Amos N Andy. But the media has portrayed Black Americans in ways that many television viewers do not even know about. A case in point, ten years after the live-action Batman series ended, NBC produced the Legends of the Superheroes. The two-part special is painful to watch with campy acting and cheap special effects. But the show featured a pseudo-New York Friar’s Club banquet with a new character called Ghetto Man visiting the group.

Overall, the “Great Amos N Andy Debate” showed how the media has gone from one extreme to another. Yet, the content creators will never consider a balance of the two sides. For many Black Americans, the images will be a constant reminder of how “TV’s Black World” continues to be counterfeit.