There were many instances of African Americans appearing on television during the year of 1968 and many of them would set the stage for future generations and future appearances in the world of television and even film. It would set a course for the future of television where nowadays you see African Americans appearing all over television or in movies where they are leads or mostly portraying African Americans in a show or movie that wasn’t meant just for black audiences.
The year of 1968 was an important year for many African Americans not just on the screen it was an important year because they were fighting and still fighting for racial equality. My personal opinion is when Abe Lincoln freed the slaves that should have been the end of racism but it wouldn’t be that easy. The idea that in the 1960’s there were still separate bathrooms and drinking fountains baffles me on just how stupid people were.
So Martin Luther King was like a savior for them because of what he was speaking and protesting about and what rights they should have by then. They would watch television and see him speak the truth and see someone out there fighting for them and putting his life at risk for them. I might have been born after this time and my views are accepting, because it is so natural for my generation to accept African Americans because it’s the norm. There is no big side saying there is something wrong with African Americans, but this country is full of immigrants leading all the way back to the pilgrims.
So in our country’s history people from all over the world have moved here and given to this country and it shouldn’t matter the color of their skin or religion in terms of anything especially jobs and work in television and movies. When MLK died it was all over the news and it wasn’t a real norm for people being assassinated. It made them so mad that a guy who was promoting peace and equality would be killed just like that. It was something so important to them and MLK was so vital to their cause and they knew they couldn’t control their behavior and wanted payback so they decided to riot.
It was their chance to show that he was peaceful but they weren’t and they deserved equal rights and how dare you do that to us personally, it affected them even if they never met him. Seeing this through television for everyone no matter whom they were made it more apparent that MLK was right, that there should be racial equality because our country is a country of freedoms and not a communist country without individual freedom.
The idea they didn’t want to have African Americans appear prominently in shows as a lead or one of the main characters is something so stupid to me but I understand it because it was something new and foreign that people didn’t see before and they were afraid to try it. In the year 2013 you see Indians from India prominently featured in film and television shows and more recently gays being a part of a show or a movie’s characters list. It wasn’t only African Americans fighting for the right to be featured prominently on television it was also a thing for women and Latin Americans as well.
With shows like ‘The Mod Squad,’ ‘I Spy’, ‘Julia’, and ‘Star Trek’ it gave hope for African Americans because it showed people liked seeing them on the television screen and it’s all about being able to relate to a television show or movie most of the time. When you watch ‘Mod Squad’ they could say to themselves I can be a lead role or do something that important. ‘I Spy’ gave hope that African Americans could get out of the stereotypical casting when they would get the dumb black guy or non important person. They could be in a serious drama as the lead not the bad guy that you could take them seriously in the role. It’s funny how the man to do it was Bill Cosby who would be the one people knew from being a comedian and comic legend.
With the shows ‘Julia’ and ‘Star Trek’ it wasn’t just showing African Americans could have lead roles in a television show but it showed also that women could also at the same time be featured as well. A single mother taking care of her child is something you see a lot of nowadays for whatever reason, but it showed a woman can have a show revolved around her who succeeded in the working world as well as raising a kid on her own. It may not be realistic for people but its television and was more about proving a point that it could be done. I think the show would be popular now because of all the single working moms with kids to raise.
With Star trek and Lt. Uhura it showed a woman in a highly regarded role. She was asked to help lots of times showing how smart she was and not assuming women knew nothing or African Americans not being smart. It spawned more women to feel like they could go out and do whatever they dreamed of no matter if it was a gender specific thing. So it gave hope to both African Americans and women.
Later on in the Star Trek franchise the captain and the one in charge would be a woman. The show also did an interracial kiss on the television back then it was taboo. Thanks to William Shatner saying he wants to kiss her and make it real that it opened the door for many movies and shows where the couple was interracial and it wasn’t a big deal. Other shows that came were ‘The Jeffersons’, ‘Good Times’, and ‘What’s Happening’, ‘The Cosby Show’ and the with ‘Mission Impossible’ having a very important character being black named Barney.
He was very important in getting the job done. It also helped to have a show focus all on a woman being the lead and it was ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’. In recent times a guy named Tyler Perry has made many television shows and movies based solely with African Americans and all of the country loves his work, and it isn’t just for African Americans it’s for everyone.
It also was happening in the music world with musicians from the African American community being prominently featured on television and being considered just music. James Brown having his concert shown all over the country after MLK died. He was an artist and it didn’t matter what race you were if you liked his music and having a whole documentary shown all over the country featuring an African American woman, Aretha Franklin. You also have African American athletes being shown prominently like Bob Gibson in the World Series and Muhammad Ali being the best boxer then, and the Olympics with the “Black Power” incident with Tommie Smith and John Carlos.
In the end African Americans impacted history a lot in 1968 a year filled with so much history and tragedy and also triumph setting the stage for future generations having it easier for themselves in many fields in the world and women too. In regards to television it has a lot to do with reliability and with African Americans on television more people could relate and being a minority as well you love seeing television and movies with someone you can identify with. That’s all that matters in the media world but as a whole everyone should have rights for all things no matter their religion or race or gender.