black situation comedies

Black Situation Comedies: Past and Present “We are more or less told who we are, rather than asked…we sing, we dance, we tell jokes- that’s all we are allowed to do. We entertain” (Hill, 56). Marla Gibb, actress on The Jeffersons and 227 stated this when testifying to the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights about the confining representations of African Americans on television. But are African Americans capable of showing a different side through …

…Cottle, Simon. Television and Ethnic Minorities: Producers’ Perspectives. Brookfield: Avebury, 1997. Ely, Melvin Patrick. The Adventures of Amos ‘n’ Andy. New York: The Free Press, 1991. Fuller, Linda K. The Cosby Show. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1992. Hill, Dr. George H. Hill. Ebony Images: Black Americans and Television. Carson: Daystar, 1986. MacDonald, J. Fred. Blacks and White TV. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1992. Okwu, Michael. “Critics Say Sitcoms Reviving Racial Stereotypes”. Gabriel Media Studies Center. 25 July 1997. http://www.gabrielmedia.org/news/racialsitcoms.html.