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Black Laughter / Black Protest: Civil Rights, Respectability, and The

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Black Laughter / Black Protest: Civil Rights, Respectability, and The ©2008 Justin T. Lorts ALL RIGHTS RESERVED !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Black Laughter / Black Protest: Civil Rights, Respectability, and the Cultural Politics of African American Comedy, 1934-1968 by Justin T. Lorts A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in History written under the direction of Ann Fabian and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey October 2008 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION ! Black Laughter / Black Protest: Civil Rights, Respectability, and the Cultural Politics of African American Comedy, 1934-1968 !by Justin T. Lorts !Dissertation Director: ! Ann Fabian ! Black Laughter / Black Protest explores the relationship between comedy and the modern civil rights movement. In the early years of the civil rights movement, black leaders, intellectuals and journalists claimed that African American comedy undermined black claims to respectability and prevented policy makers and the white public from taking black concerns seriously. In an effort to eliminate these images from the mass media, the NAACP, with assistance from other organizations and members of the black press, organized a number of campaigns against Hollywood studios, Broadway producers and most notably, the Amos ‘n’ Andy television show. Though often overlooked by civil rights scholars, these actions were a central component of civil rights activism during the 1940s and 1950s and an important precursor to Brown v. Board of Education. In detailing these efforts, this project provides new evidence of the cultural dimensions of the civil rights struggle and contributes to the growing literature on the significance of respectability in black politics. ii At the same time, Black Laughter / Black Protest also examines the significant role that African American comedians played in the movement. As prominent members of the black community, comedians such as Pigmeat Markham, Moms Mabley, Redd Foxx, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dick Gregory and Godfrey Cambridge had access to large, and often multi-racial, audiences. Using published interviews and recorded performances, I trace the development of African American comedy through various forms and mediums, including vaudeville, burlesque, nightclub routines, comedy albums, motion pictures and television. Over the course of this development, black comedians effectively used their privileged positions to engage their audiences in a civil rights dialogue that challenged mainstream assumptions on racial issues. Comics also directly participated in the civil rights movement by integrating entertainment venues, testifying before government officials, performing at fundraisers and rallies and providing much needed financial support to the cause. Dick Gregory went even further by actually leading marches and demonstrations, lending visibility and vitality to local protests. By highlighting these efforts, this project sheds scholarly light on the role that black artists played in shaping political consciousness and action during the civil rights era. iii Acknowledgements When I tell people the topic of my dissertation, they often jokingly reply, “That sounds like fun. While everyone else is buried in the archive, you get to listen to comedy records.” I smile, not wanting to explain to them that listening to comedy records was only a small, albeit enjoyable part of my research, and that I have spent my fair share of time in the archives. The truth is that while my research did have its “fun” moments, these times were vastly outweighed by moments of frustration, fatigue, and despair. I was able to endure these difficult times and actually finish because of the support, guidance, and friendship I have received from numerous people over the years. A note of thanks to the libraries and staffs at Alexander Library, Rutgers University; Bobst Library, New York University; Doe Library, UC Berkeley; the Cinema-Television Library, University of Southern California; Archives Center, National Museum of American History; Beinecke Library, Yale University; Firestone and Mudd Libraries, Princeton University; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library; Billy Rose Theater Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; and the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress. At Rutgers, I have benefitted from the support and insights of a number of faculty and graduate students in the Department of History. This project began almost by accident in the History of Women and Gender Seminar led by Norma Basch and Dee Garrison, whose initial support was crucial. I want to thank Matt Matsuda, Jackson Lears, Herman Bennett, Khalil Muhammad and Jim Reed for the helpful comments they provided at the early stages of this project. Paul Clemens and David Oshinsky helped me understand what it means to be a great teacher. Jim Goodman helped me understand what iv it means to be a great writer and his work continues to inspire me. Colleagues Tim Alves, Scott Bruton, Brian Connolly, Lesley Doig, Kate Elias, Matt Ferguson, Joe Gabriel, Paimaan Lodhi, Carla Macdougall, Dominique Padurano, Amy Portwood, Kate Keller, Edward Taylor, Daniel Wherley, and Jonathan Wharton all provided friendship and cheer. A special thanks to Dawn Ruskai who helped me register every semester and kept the graduate program running. I could not have asked for a more brilliant and supportive committee and I have benefitted greatly from their guidance and insight. Waldo Martin has been a mentor since my undergraduate days at Berkeley and has shaped my thinking in ways that I am only now beginning to fully understand. Keith Wailoo has served as a model of graduate mentorship and scholarly excellence, and I benefitted enormously from my year in his research seminar. Steven Lawson kept me grounded and has been a continual source of support since my first year in graduate school. Ann Fabian, my chair, has been my “Ambassador of Kwan,” stepping in when I was without an adviser, challenging me to push my work in new directions, helping me stay employed and making sure that I finished. Since 2005 I have had the pleasure of teaching and advising at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, New York University. The school’s individualized and interdisciplinary approach to learning was crucial in helping me develop as both a teacher and scholar. Angela Dillard and George Shulman took me under their wings and provided much-needed mentorship. Deans Ali Mirsepassi and Susanne Wofford provided much-need financial support and encouragement. My colleagues in the Office of Advising and at NYU – Becky Amato, Nancy Harris, Tracy Hollingsworth, John Lang, v Vanessa Manko, Patrick McCreery, Nicole Parisier, Ryan Poynter, and Kevin Spain – helped make Gallatin the best first job I could ask for. Special thanks to my brilliant friend and intellectual sparring partner Lauren Kaminsky, who kept me sane and inspired me to finish. The Lewis family has been a constant source of support, good food, and wine, and I can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done for me. My own family has been behind me every step of the way and has given me a much-needed haven from the crazy worlds of graduate school and New York City. I know they've been waiting for this day for some time, and I want to thank them for everything they have given me over the years. Abigail Lewis has believed in this project from the beginning and never lost faith in it or me, even when I had. Her unwavering love and support kept me going through good times and bad. It has been an incredible, often difficult, journey but we made it. Thank you. ! vi Table of Contents Abstract - ii Acknowledgments - iv Introduction – 1 Black Laughter / Black Protest ! Chapter One – 22 Hollywood, the Apollo Theater and the Politicization of African American Comedy in the World War II Era !Chapter Two – 79 “Taking the Negro Seriously”: Amos ‘n’ Andy and the Politics of African American Comedy in the Early Civil Rights Movement Chapter Three – 135 From Double V to Double Entendre: Nightclubs, Blue Humor and the Politics of Respectability in African American Comedy, 1953-1960 Chapter Four – 197 “We don’t serve colored people here – That’s alright, I don’t eat colored people”: Integration, Stand-Up Comedy and Civil Rights Protest, 1961-1965 Conclusion – 260 Bibliography – 268 Curriculum Vita - 283 vii 1 Introduction Black Laughter / Black Protest In the late 1930s and early 1940s, when African American comedy flourished in Northern theaters, comedian Willie “Ashcan” Jones delighted black audiences with a standup routine that blended wit with social commentary. Jones began his career as a dancer in New York City and eventually joined the vaudeville circuit, playing the straight man to such comedians as Pigmeat Markham,
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