Ever since television began in 1939, African Americans have been portrayed as

maids, servants or clowns. These negative perceptions started to appear in sitcoms

such as in Amos and Andy, who were the stereotypical backs who never took things

seriously. All those views changed during the 1970's when black sitcoms were

becoming more reality based. Although blacks have been, and often still, portrayed in a

negative way on TV, there has been some improvement of stereotypical images of

There were five stereotypical roles of blacks between 1940-1970; the Tom,

Coon, Mammie, Tragic Mulatto, and the Buck (Gray "Recognizing"). The tom was

always insulted, but kept the faith and remained generous and kind. The coon (most

used image) was always lazy, unreliable and constantly butchered his speech. The

mammie was more distinguished than the coon only because of her sex. She was

usually big and plump and full of heart. The tragic mulatto was fair-skinned, trying to

pass for white. Always well-liked and believed that their lives could have been better if

they were not biracial. The last stereotype was the buck. He was the big,

20 shows in the 70s, 80s and 90s" in 1992-1993 season, and number 6 in 1993-1994

The Jeffersons were seen often on All in the Family from 1972-1975. The

to show their ethnic and social backgrounds. There was a positive approach to family

Some common words found in the essay are:
Network Cable, Cable Jeffersons, Crenshaw Cosby, Gray Recognizing, Fresh Prince, Fred Sanford, Allied Inc, Changing Image, Cosby Alba, Dif'rent Strokes, black family, network cable, stereotypical images, crenshaw cosby, 70s 80s, sanford son, african americans, changing image, fresh prince, july 20 2000, dif'rent strokes, images african americans, african americans television, stereotypical images african, typical black family,
Approximate Word count = 1830
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)