The topic of race is a sensitive one because it touches on many factors that vary from
one point of view to another.
It can be quite subjective.
Even those who genuinely mean well may fall into the pit trap of racial insensitivity
or, worse, racial offense.
Mostly, racism and topics relating to racial discrimination occur in the chaotic world
of politics.
However, racial stereotypes – a discriminatory means to get away with prejudice – can sometimes
surface in places where we least expect them to appear.
Case in point, during the golden age of cartoons and especially during the Second World War,
animation studios like their Hollywood counterparts were churning out films aimed at either boosting
the morale of the troops and the country or creating propaganda to malign and break the
illusions of the Axis powers.
Many of the cartoons and the characters produced have become icons and institutions on their
own as time went on.
Today, we recognize many of their names and faces and laugh at their antics but once upon
a time, these characters have been in a position where, if it were to happen today, their views
and on-screen depictions of other races are really pushed the limits of tolerance and racial
understanding.
So in this video, we're going to counting down 10 cartoon characters that you may not have
know were realy racist.
And since the height of racial intolerance was at fever pitch during the 1940s and 1950s,
we are widening our scope to include classic cartoons that may no longer be on air today
as well as some episodes from notable shows that have been labelled as offensive and discriminatory.
We'll start off with number 10: All This and Rabbit Stew We all love a good Bugs Bunny cartoon.
The crazy adventures of this rambunctious rabbit has been on television for decades
and he has entertained generations of avid fans.
However, this eccentric hare had a share of racially offensive episodes and among them
was All This and Rabbit Stew.
In the episode, a black boy modelled after a stereotype called a “coon” made popular
by a man named Stepin Fetchit, tries to capture Bugs.
True to the fashion of Looney Tunes storytelling, Bugs outwits the boy through tricks.
One of them was distracting the boy with a game of craps.
After winning the game, Bugs cleans out the boy and imitates his mannerisms, speech patterns,
and clothes to the point of mockery for a maligned minority of people back in the 1940s.
Number 9: Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips This is another one from
our favourite rabbit.
This episode was released at the height of World War II and shows Bugs Bunny trapped
on a deserted island.
While finding a way out, he encounters a stranded Japanese man and it was not long before his
antics ensues.
It may not at all be seen as culturally offensive to the Japanese or any Asian race because
the episode was obviously a propaganda piece at a time when the Allies are fighting the
good fight against Nazi Germany and Japan.
However, the comical depiction of the Japanese man in the episode alludes to a racial stereotype
– slant eyed, buck toothed, large round glasses, and a comical “Asian accent”
which can all earn the show’s producers today a ton of angry letters to say the least.
Number 8: Go Go Gomez and Joe Jitsu from The Dick Tracy Show
It seems like almost every show that came out in the 40s to the 60s was riddled with
offensive racial stereotypes and The Dick Tracy show was among them.
While the Dick Tracy comic series stands as one of America’s pop culture institutions,
the fun it pokes on races like Asians and Latin Americans cannot be overlooked.
The charcter of Go Go Gomez in the 1960s Dick Tracy show was a sombrero wearing policeman
who frequently slept in a hammock.
The character’s attributes pretty much underscores the stereotype that some Americans have towards
the Latino people.
Joe Jitsu, on the other hand is a well-mannered ally of Dick Tracy who is a master of martial arts
kicking and judo-flipping criminals and knocking them out while saying “So sorry”
and “Excuse, please”, audibly interchanging his R’s and L’s.
Number 7: The Indian Chief and the Indians from Disney’s Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a beloved literary classic and also a beloved Disney animated film.
Following the adventures of three siblings as they are whisked away to magical Never Neverland
Wendy, John, and Michael fly side by side with Peter Pan as they battle pirates
and meet with Indians.
Now the problem with this 1953 classic, though, is how the Indians were more correctly,
Native Americans – are depicted on screen and how the Darling siblings seem to be racially
oblivious to their appearance and culture.
Big nosed and severely red-skinned with a disjointed way of speaking English, this animated
stereotype seemed to pass under the radar of many Civil Rights groups while the Native
American culture is reduced to being a cartoonish depiction of a once noble race whose rich
history has been silently swept under the rug.
Number 6: The Siamese Twin Gang from Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers
Since the animated series began in 1989, racial discrimination against African Americans has
become frowned upon by civil society.
Unfortunately though, overt racism against Asians seems to still be free game as shown
by the Siamese Twin Gang.
In the series, the gang are obviously cats of Asian persuasions.
While ethnicity is not much of a problem, it is the portrayal of these characters that
seem to have gone unnoticed.
Quite frankly, in spite of being villains in the show, their Asian ethnicity echoes
back to a time when America was publishing propaganda against the Japanese in World War II
throwing every single bit of offensive imagery that can be hurled.
Imagine this seeing in a children’s TV show: Asian characters owning a laundromat and running
an illegal gambling operation directly underneath it.
To add more wood to the fire, these characters speak a mangled form of English that is akin
to the Asian stereotype.
Number 5: The Crows from Dumbo It seems that Disney may be on a streak when
it comes to racial stereotyping.
In the heart warming 1941 classic Dumbo, a group of “jive-talking” crows come to
the aid of the little elephant and teach him how to fly.
These black birds are characterized by their lack of education evidenced by the way they
speak and overtly poor status in the social pyramid.
What’s even more uncomfortable is the fact that the lead crow named “Jim Crow” was
voiced by a Caucasian actor doing his best to emulate a stereo typically offensive African American accent.
While it was considered progressive during its time, the portrayals of these crows are
still etched in our minds as offensive and racially insensitive despite the well-meaning
behind their intentions to help baby Dumbo.
Number 4: The Merchant from Aladdin By the time Disney’s Aladdin rolled into theaters,
society has become a lot more accepting and well-informed about racial sensitivity
and tolerance.
While Aladdin is more or less acceptable to the public palate in terms of treating its
characters, a scene from its opening titles did not fare well with many audience members.
If you remember at the beginning of the film, a merchant is traveling the desert to the fictional city
of Agrabah.
On his way, he begins his narration with a song about a “land from a faraway place”.
In the song, if you are quick enough, a line goes “…where they cut off your ear if
they don’t like your face.
It’s barbaric but, hey, it’s home!”
After receiving an amount of backlash, Disney promptly rewrote the line for the DVD release
into a much less offensive “Where it’s flat and immense and the heat is intense…”
It may still not be quite the positive picture to paint about the Middle East but it’s
a tiny step forward that we can take with a grain of salt.
Number 3: Mammy Two Shoes from Tom and Jerry Mammy Two Shoes is a caricature of an African American
nanny and housekeeper who appears semi-regularly on the Tom and Jerry series
of cartoons.
I guess the question is, what is not offensive about this character?
It seems like Mammy Two Shoes is brimming with racist stereotypes despite the fact that
we never see her face.
In fact, the character has become one of the hallmarks of racist stereotypes in popular
culture that the character gained a spot in the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia.
In 2013, when the museum was asked about the character of Mammy Two Shoes, representatives
responded with this statement that puts racial discrimination in cartoons into a clear perspective:
It says, “Mammy Two Shoes was a character in the Tom and Jerry cartoon series created by William
Hanna and Joseph Barbera.
These short cartoons were created in the 1940s and the 1950s…
During the Jim Crow era, it was common for animated cartoons to feature racial caricatures
and the Tom and Jerry shorts were no exception… in the episode The Lonesome Mouse (1943)…
a terrified Mammy Two Shoes climbed a stool to escape Jerry.
The mouse shook the stool and… the shaking dislodged a diamond ring, false teeth, a pair
of dice, and a straight razor.”
Number 2: Popeye the Sailor Man To make it brief: many of the Popeye cartoons
that we see today have been heavily edited for its extremely racist content.
The beloved sailor won the hearts of audiences in the 1940s with his adventures especially
during the period of the Second World War when America needed that boost of morale at
the expense, however, of other minorities’ rights.
We see this clearly in one episode called “Popeye’s Pappy”. Which aired in 1951 where Popeye
travels to a distant island only to find his Pappy being worshipped by a tribe of dark
skinned, big lipped people with bones sticking out of their nostrils and hair carrying spears.
Popeye and his Pappy later on find themselves fighting with the tribesmen and by the end
of the episode, the duo stacks them on a rack and hangs a sign that reads “Cheaper by the Dozen”.
If that isn’t any kind of message pertaining to slavery, then I think the whole concept
of the show and characters are completely lost on everyone.
Finally the The Censored 11 The Censored 11 is a list of 11 cartoons from
Warner Bros’ Golden Age in the 30s and 40s that have been pulled out due to their offensive
content ranging from racial stereotypes to offensive and insensitive take on social
issues concerning race.
Among the list are several Bugs Bunny cartoons and obscure titles such as “Goldilocks and
the Jivin’ Bears”, “Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs”, and “Uncle Tom’s Bungalow”.
Today, we are quite lucky that there are safe guards in place to combat offensive content.
However, the idea that cartoons have been, at one point, part of the problem of racial
prejudice should not be discounted and should be looked upon as a reminder of much troubled times.
As an article on Indie Wire succinctly puts it:
“There’s no point hiding your head in the sand pretending that things did not exist
as they did.
People should face up to the reality of the attitudes and beliefs of the period, and should
examine and discuss them.”
Alright guys, thank you guys so much for watching this video. I'll see you later!