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RESPONDING TO THE MOYNIHAN REPORT, 1965: REPRESENTATIONS OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILY ON TELEVISION IN THE 1970s AND 1980s by CHRISTOPHER J.P. SEWELL A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors in African American Studies WILLIAMS COLLEGE Williamstown, Massachusetts May 3,2005 Table of Contents I. Acl~nowledgements 11. Introduction: 111. Chapter One IV. Chapter Two V. Chapter Three VI. Conclusion VII. Bibliography Acknowledgements First off, I would like to thank my thesis advisor, Anna Bean, for her help and support while doing this thesis. She was invaluable and I do not think I would have completed this without her. Secondly, I would lilce to thank Merida Rua and Scott Wong for allowing me to engage with the work before I began the actual thesis project. If I had not started some work for your classes I would definitely not be done right now. Thank you again. All 01 my friends and family have been an cxcellent support system and I would not be here without your encouragement and guidance. I would like to thank my Grandma for leading me to the point that I am right now and I wished that she was here to share in my joy. To all my Williams friends, thank you for being there for me when I was down and when I thought I should quit. To the Activities Office, especially Barb, Jess, Anna and Gail, thanlc you for giving me advice when necessary and allowing me to rant when times were hard. You are all my inspiration. Lastly, thanlc you to R. Halloclc Svenslc for helping with some of the editing. Introduction Television influences the ways in which many Americans gain a sense of the lives of people with whom they do not have regular contact. While not always representative of an entire culture or people, the presence of these shows can truly change how society views such groups and their lifestyles. By the late 1960s, increasing numbers of African American family sitcoms emerged out of the Civil Rights Movement. From 1968-71, shows like Julia, starring Diahann Carroll, appeared on the small screen, putting in front of American eyes a young African American woman, raising her young child alone after her husband died in the Vietnam War. In presenting a woman whose husband fought for the good of the country, and who also held a steady, respectable job as a nurse into the light, a wave of shows began that promised exposure to the true lives of African American families. This new wave of shows counteracted images of African Americans on television in the 1950s such as Amos 'n' Andy (June 1951 - June 1953) and Beulah (October 1950 - September 1953). These depictions often spolte to classic stereotypes about African Americans like the heavyset maid (Mammy) and the shiftless male (Sambo). While some argue that these images created physical connection for African Americans, they did not entirely refute any common misconceptions. In most of the other televised examples of African American characters, they were part of the bacltdrop, often relegated to roles that did not empower African Americans. The late 1960s, through efforts of the Civil Rights Movement and television shows like Julia, then helped to push African Americans into the spotlight, proving that not all African Americans followed the formula and stereotypes formerly presented of them. In this work, I will focus on the increased presence of the African American family on television through three shows in the years following Julia through three shows: Good Times (February 1974 - August 1979), The Jeflersons (January 1975 - July 1985), and The Cosby Show (September 1984 -April 1992). Each of these shows was popular in the 1970s and 1980s, and achieved cross-cultural success, bringing the African American family into the homes of all Americans. African Americans now had a face on the television screen that had not had, one that was popular and arguably positive. Not only did these families speak towards the rhetoric surrounding the American Dream, but they often presented common of which all (or many) Americans were lcnowledgeable. These shows came at a time when African Americans made significant gains in the socio-political arena as a result of the Civil Rights Movement. During this time, African Americans went on the quest for the rights and freedoms that the U.S. Constitution afforded them. This struggle resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voter Rights Act of 1965, both of which paved the way for change in the socio- political as well as economic life for African Americans for years to come. The legislation that the Movement helped to bring forth also sparlted a surge in interest from scholars into the problems that kept African Americans in a lower position that white Americans. This examination was not limited to historians and sociologists; rather, it became part of a larger project that Lyndon B. Johnson's administration undertool<. One of the major components of Johnson's agenda was to look at the institution of the family, especially when thinking about the problems of the African American life, as the administration felt it was the crux of one's personal existence. Daniel Patrick Moynihan took this idea to task in The Negro Family: A Case for National Action (1965), breaking down what he felt the problems that affected the African American family at that period of time in hopes that it would spark some debate on what policies should come to light to help combat some of these problems. Moynihan wrote the report as part of the commentary on the "War on overt^".' In Chapter 1, I will delve into the ideas presented by Moynihan and his contemporaries in hopes of providing insight into the ways in which many of these scholars and researchers portrayed the African American family. Many looked to the perceived absence of the African American father and the high levels of unemployment as damaging for the future of African American families. However, it is also important to think about the past conceptions of the African American family that came to light in such works as E. Franklin Frazier's The Negro Favnily in the United States in the 1930s. Concurrently, one must question how pivotal the sociological and policy studies of the 1960s and 1970swere in constructing a popular- version of the African American family. Good Times depicted a family in the projects of Chicago in the 1970s. The show was a spin off of the popular Norman Lear show Maude, in which their maid Florida (Esther Rolle) moved away from the Findlay family to focus on raising her own children and being a wife to her husband James Sr. (played by John Amos). In the small apartment on the 17~~floor, viewers also met their sons James Jr., a.1c.a. JJ (Jimmie Walker) and Michael (Ralph Carter), as well as their daughter Thelma (BernNadette Stanis). In this setting, we gained insight into the harsh realities of being poor, African American and living in the ghetto. ' Yuill, Kevin L. "The 1996 White House Conference on Civil Rights." The Historical Jo~~ma141,l (March 1998): 262 The Jefleusons traced a family's move from Harlem to "deluxe apartment in the sky" on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. This show was also a Norman Lear spin-off, this time of the ever-popular All in the Family. The show focused on George and Louise Jefferson (Sherman Helmsley and Isabel Sanford, respectively), their college aged son Lionel (played by Mike Evans and Damon Evans), their maid Florence (Marla Gibbs), and their neighbors, Tom, Helen and Jenny Willis (Franklin Cover, Roxie Rolcer and Berlinda Tolbert respectively). In this situation comedy, the Jefferson family had to deal with newfound wealth as a result of George's growing dry cleaning business. The show also examined specific issues regarding race through George's relationships with the Willis', the first interracial couple in television history, as well as his neighbors and business associates. Again, fresh off the heels of the Civil Right Movement, the show helped bolster the image of the African American family and the potential for it to be truly successful. Lastly, The Cosby Show presented an African American family that was removed from the situation of being attached to a life in the ghetto or some type of lower class situation. The Huxtable family, lead by Cliff (Bill Cosby) who was an obstetrician/gynecologist and Claire (Phylicia Allen-Rashad) who was a partner in a leading law firm were certainly upper middle class. The couple had five children: Sandra (Sabrina LeBeauf), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Theo (Malcolm Jsmal Warner), Vanessa (Tempest Bledsoe), and Rudy (Keisha Knight-Pulliam). Unlilte the other two shows, race did not take on a huge factor in the building of the storyline; instead, parenting and any other issues that come about when you have five children became the crux of plot lines in this particular sitcom. Related to this idea, it is important to lceep in mind the ways in which these shows portray African American-ness and the issues associated with race on the screen each weelc. For Good Times and The JeJje'evsons, I would argue that the viewer must note the performative nature of their acting and the racially based humor. In these cases, we get a glimpse at African American life not only because of the fact that they are physically black, but, rather, through the subject matter that they find funny, the ways in which they carry their bodies and the language that they use when expressing them~elves.~While some may view this performance as stereotypical while negating the positive aspects that the shows may offer, the fact that these sitcoms remained popular throughout their entire run may indicate that it was not so relevant.

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