Well, I’ve always had my suspicions about Ginger and Mary Ann. Or were those fantasies? I keep getting those two words mixed up.
Little Rock was 1957, so any public school would have (at least on paper, legally) have been integrated by 1961, especially in New York.
Segregated schools were generally in the south; in other states, the idea of having two separate school systems seemed a waste of money.
However, northern schools did have de facto segregation due to population patterns. Though my school was integrated (I attended in the early 60s, but it was never segregated) and had a handful of Black students attending without issues, the school in the town east of us – also integrated – was something like 40% Black. The difference was that there were many more Black families there.
Schools in New Rochelle (where the Petries lived) weren’t desegregated until 1961, when the show began.
Taylor v. Board of Education of City School District of City of New Rochelle
Holy crap. I withdraw my previous post.
Ah Ha!
There was also an episode of “Family Affair” in which Buffy and Jody befriended an African-American girl named Albertine (also the name of the episode) who spins tales about what a remarkable father she has. I forgot how they ended up at her apartment, but it turns out there is no father in her life at all, and Albertine is embarrassed at how impoverished she is compared to Uncle Bill and company. It was a surprisingly touching episode, better than the series’ reputation would have one believe.
I remember that!
I got to thinking about former Oregon Senator Bob Packwood and how he sexually harassed women for decades but they were either pressured to stay quiet or their complaints were belittled by their husbands, claimed they were overreacting and so on.
This reminded me of an early episode of Bewitched where Darren was throwing a party to impress a potential important client (played by Jack Warden) who basically gave Samantha the Packwood treatment, but when she complained to Darren he told her she was overreacting, being hysterical, etc., plus he was an important potential client so smile and be a good wife. But when Warden cornered Samantha in the gazebo, it looked like shit was going to get too real, til she turned him into a dog. But the overt, aggressive sexuality of Warden’s character and Darren’s apathy to Samantha’s obvious distress seemed edgy for a show made in 1964.
What I love about Hogan’s Heroes is the way it gives us access to the stereotypes my Dad grew up with. The superiority of the Americans. The superiority of the short-timers over the regulars. The dodgy cockney Englishman. The dueling scars on the Junkers. The tiny Frenchman.
It
Did a little digging (both online and in my memory bank) and came up with a couple
–In an episode of “The Ann Sothern Show” from 1959, she speaks up for the rights of American Indians on a radio interview. She worked at a hotel, and a prominent client demands she get fired. I’ve never seen the episode, so I don’t know how serious the treatment was.
–Talking about the Thomas family, in season three of “That Girl” (1968) Marlo Thomas’ character finds a missing black child. He insists his parents live in a very nice neighborhood, but she won’t believe him. So he starts claiming his family lives in the ghetto and tells her of their awful living conditions. Well it turns out he was right after all, and Marlo tells her boyfriend she wishes there will be a day when you don’t assume people are poor just because of their race.
I just found two candidates from the most unlikely of sources “Father Knows Best”:
–From 1956 the Anderson family can’t seem to get a houseguest to leave. Towards the end (21:34) on this clip, they find out that it’s because he’s been deserted by his parents and is homeless.
–In this episode from 1959, the family’s Mexican gardener is chosen to respresent their town during a visit of the governor. Unfortunately, some city council members don’t want any nonwhite person standing in for their city.
There was also an episode where Beaver befriended a Hispanic kid who didn’t speak English. Eddie taught Beaver a Spanish phrase to tell him that was actually offensive, though I can’t remember what it was.
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Funny, this just popped into my head for no reason yesterday. It was Usted tiene una cara como puerco (You have a face like a pig).
If I’m not getting the show mixed up with something else, I think in a Family Affair episode, Buffy and Jodie made friends with a dying kid, for whom they rigged up a Christmas in August type of thing because…well… you know…
The kid didn’t die on that show, but there wasn’t any mistakes, mix-ups, or miracle cures either. The friend supposedly went on to die at some later date that was never mentioned.
Dobie Gillis introduced a female professor of anthropology, and defended her against Dobie’s neanderthal dad.
When Eddie told Wally about his plan to teach Beaver the phrase, Wally said, “Eddie that’s a dirty trick!”, and Eddie responded with a phrase for the ages:
“Hey, my dad says NOTHING’s a dirty trick it it’s FUNNY!”
And when Beaver repeated the phrase for the parents, the boy’s mother stormed out indignantly. Beaver’s mother asked him what it meant.
“I don’t know, but whenever I say it, everyone leaves the room”.
With a great moment of comic relief when the girl kicked French’s ass at Chess:
Albertine: Checkmate.
French: It can’t be!
Uncle Bill: Yes, French, I agree it can’t be, but it is checkmate.