Old TV Shows: Even When They're Black and White, They're Mostly White

My friends tease me a lot about my taste in TV shows, because most of the ones I watch are from the 20th century. While I don't mind the teasing, I am aware that the shows are problematic for several reasons, including the lack of racial diversity in the cast. Despite being concerned about this, my white privilege (and, to a certain extent, the knowledge that most newer shows haven't done much better) has allowed me to shrug my shoulders and keep on watching.

Nevertheless, I do notice that whenever a black person appears on The Andy Griffith Show, they are always an unnamed character in a crowd. And while Cheers has many black patrons, very rarely do they have any lines, and even the customers who sit mutely at a table and endure Diane's chatter are usually white. It is frustrating to see such a feeble attempt at representation: Someone working on these shows seems to have understood that they should cast some people of color, but they intentionally avoided giving them parts with many lines, or any at all.

Then there is the issue of how black characters are sometimes represented. I believe the biggest role on Cheers played by a black actor--and probably the only role for which the show acknowledged the character's race--was Louis, a colleague whom Cliff brings to the bar for protection from another patron who has been wanting to fight Cliff. Louis is clearly considered by the main characters to be intimidating and dangerous, which can be attributed to his size, but is no doubt also related to the stereotype of the aggressive black man. This is almost stated outright in a later episode, when Cliff plans to report Louis to his supervisor for misconduct on the job, and his friends advise him against it, fearing that Louis will retaliate by beating Cliff up: Sam asks if Louis is "that big black man," in a way that implies that these qualities make it dangerous for Cliff to report Louis.

The theme song of Cheers says "You want to go where people know people are all the same." This line, and the song as a whole, is supposed to reflect the friendly atmosphere of the bar (though there is some irony here.) Given the homogeneity of the cast, however, the line becomes sinister, implying that only people who are seen as "the same" are welcome, and that this is what the audience wanted to see. And sadly, this may have been the case for many of the viewers. Which raises the question: Should the media respond to the audience's preferences, or should it challenge the audience to step outside of its comfort zone?