# Is Buckwheat (the character, not the grain) offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048 "2019-06-25T17:42:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/1 "2019-06-25T17:42:41Z")
Early this morning I had a 😕:smack::o moment when I got to wondering if the [character, Buckwheat from the Our Gang tv shows](https://www.google.com/search?q=buckwheat+little+rascals&rlz=1C1GCEU_enUS821US821&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiN_by5koXjAhVCo1kKHWrHDPkQ_AUIECgB&biw=1836&bih=878#imgrc=fUYFwAjCRpE31M:)is considered racially offensive (for anyone who doesn’t know, my user name and photo are of Eddie Murphy doing an impression of Buckwheat on SNL several years ago). Looking back at the original character of the 1930s,does it come across as something that wasn’t meant to be racist then but is now? I think we can all agree the Little Rascals were never _funny_, but were they a product of innocence or something uglier? By that extension, am I offending folks by using that name/ likeness? For the record, my intention was always and only to honor Eddie Murphy(that’s why my name is in caps; because it mimicks him [singing](https://vimeo.com/74504707) ). Over the years there have been a few folks that have said they liked the name, a few that didn’t know what it means and even one that told me it made him slightly nauseated :eek: If I am unintentionally offending anyone, please tell me so I can choose a different alias. Also, apologies if this WOOKcentric thread belongs in MPSIMS. Mods please feel free to move as you see fit. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/2 "2019-06-25T17:50:53Z")
If you ask me, that the Our Gang creators included a black character at all is pretty progressive, for its time. Do the other kids treat him as an equal? Does he engage in stereotypical “negro” activities of the time, like eating watermelon? Was he portrayed by a black actor as opposed to a white actor in blackface? If the answer to those three questions is “No,” (and I haven’t seen enough of the series to know for certain), then I’d say no, it’s not offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/3 "2019-06-25T17:53:30Z")
I’d say that stuff such as eating watermelon (or, Epicurus assist us, fried chicken) would be racist if the only characters doing it are black. If it’s just something people do, then a watermelon is a watermelon. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/4 "2019-06-25T17:57:23Z")
Whether it’s offensive to anyone I can’t say, but I for one immediately understood your reference and thought it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/5 "2019-06-25T18:07:38Z")
Is it weird that I don’t consider Buckwheat offensive, but I consider Eddie Murphy’s imitation to be somewhat annoying? Then again I found _Cole Black and the Sebben Dwarfs_ to be hilarious. So YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/6 "2019-06-25T18:20:33Z")
Overall, no. But now that you’ve mentioned it, some fringe lunatics will be reminded just how offended and demeaned they are, and will launch a viral campaign to rid the world of his likeness. Give it a week. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/7 "2019-06-25T18:20:52Z")
The movies weren’t offensive for the era they were made in. But they do reflect the widespread racism that existed in that era. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/8 "2019-06-25T18:23:29Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > If you ask me, that the Our Gang creators included a black character at all is pretty progressive, for its time. That’s something I’ve always been amazed at also especially for something made in the 1930s. There was no segregation in the Little Rascals shorts. The kids all hung out together, ate together, sat in the same classrooms, were welcome inside eachother’s homes, etc. All the black characters were shown in a positive light as being “good” kids. The few bullies and troublemakers they had were a few white kids. Buckwheat’s best friend was a white kid named Porky and they were often filmed holding hands. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/9 "2019-06-25T18:24:42Z")
Doesn’t bother me. I loved the Buckwheat character, and I though Murphy’s skit was on point. Buckwheat might have been a bit of a racist archetype, but so were Alfalfa, Butch, Darla, and the rest (except Froggy–I never did quite see the point in Froggy). ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/10 "2019-06-25T18:40:50Z")
Thanks, all 🙂 I guess some of the discussions over racial matters / insensitivity got me to thinking(which isn’t a bad thing)and while \*I \*know my intentions, I’d hate to think of someone feeling uncomfortable. Otay!!! ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/11 "2019-06-25T19:16:18Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Do the other kids treat him as an equal? Does he engage in stereotypical “negro” activities of the time, like eating watermelon? Was he portrayed by a black actor as opposed to a white actor in blackface? If the answer to those three questions is “No,” (and I haven’t seen enough of the series to know for certain), then I’d say no, it’s not offensive. I biffed up the wording here, but I’m sure you get what I was trying to say. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/12 "2019-06-25T19:25:52Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Thanks, all 🙂 I guess some of the discussions over racial matters / insensitivity got me to thinking(which isn’t a bad thing)and while \*I \*know my intentions, I’d hate to think of someone feeling uncomfortable. Otay!!! Within certain limits, you just have to be you. If someone is offended by that then they need to decide whether or not to say anything. If they choose not to, then you’re free to keep being you. If they do say something, then you still get to decide whether or not you believe their point to be reasonable. Otherwise you end up living you life on everyone’s terms but your own. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/13 "2019-06-26T09:35:38Z")
From what little I’ve seen and read, I’d say not racist. On the other hand, I had no idea Buckwheat started out as a boy in drag… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/14 "2019-06-26T11:07:26Z")
I hate to stymie this conversation, but there was also another black character in the gang… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/15 "2019-06-26T11:13:30Z")
The big thing was that_Our Gang_ was integrated from the start. Buckwheat was one of several Black actors who were featured in the series (and probably the least interesting). There was Sunshine Sammy Morrison and Farina in the silent days, and Stymie (the best, since he was one of the smarter kids in the shorts) once sound came in. Farina was probably the most popular Black actor in the silent days. There were some stereotyped scenes, but there were stereotyped scenes featuring all the kids. But _Our Gang_ was significant in showing a multiracial group, with the Black kids being treated as equals. A second problem with Buckwheat is that he joined just at the time the series went downhill. They were cut down to ten minutes and a new director came in the next year (1936). The result was a bunch of Hollywood children and one-joke characters like Alfalfa. The earlier shorts showed kids acting as kids and are far funnier and more charming due to the lack of polish. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/16 "2019-06-26T12:17:38Z")
I remember watching the Little Rascals as a kid. I don’t recall Buckwheat being an offensive stereotype, but then again I’m a middle-aged white male and we’re always racist. Murphy’s portrayal of him was a caricature, which no white comedian would have touched. As long as Murphy, the Wayans brothers, and black-ish parody the absurdities of black culture, white comedians can breathe a sigh of relief. The show was just like any other that featured kids. They’d all get into some sort of mischief, but in the end turn out to be smarter than the grownups. I don’t recall Buckwheat being treated like a sub-human, but then again, that could be my white middle-aged male perspective. I suspect that in this era, Buckwheat is going to be perceived as a racist symbol, no matter how innocent their intentions were back then. I think you can’t whitewash (no pun intended) every potential PC conflict, and that you shouldn’t need to constrict your sense of humor, if you don’t intend any harm. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/17 "2019-06-26T12:24:15Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > If you ask me, that the Our Gang creators included a black character at all is pretty progressive, for its time. Do the other kids treat him as an equal? Does he engage in stereotypical “negro” activities of the time, like eating watermelon? Was he portrayed by a black actor as opposed to a white actor in blackface? If the answer to those three questions is “No,” (and I haven’t seen enough of the series to know for certain), then I’d say no, it’s not offensive. In one short, the kids were trying to get out of school by faking measles. Spanky, Alfalfa spray themselves and Porky with red paint spots on their faces. They don’t think red paint would show up too well on Buckwheat, so they spray white paint spots on him. Later, at the doctor’s office, Spanky and Alfalfa think the doctor has transformed Buckwheat into a monkey. It sounds pretty bad, but it was actually fairly well done and amusing for one of the later, lesser MGM Our Gang Shorts. I think people need to focus on racial problems today instead of trying to censor the past. No, Billie Thomas was a real African-American. And he ate what the other kids ate onscreen. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/18 "2019-06-26T12:48:37Z")
^^^ Further, I seem to recall Buckwheat being involved in some sort of chimney soot incident which had him appearing in blackface. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/19 "2019-06-26T13:22:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The movies weren’t offensive for the era they were made in. But they do reflect the widespread racism that existed in that era. That is the part I am not so sure of; do they reflect the racism or challenge it? Maybe its just me but I find some of the characterization in _Gone With the Wind_ more racist and typical for the time than say Buckwheat or a movie such as _Green Pastures_. As others have pointed out, he wasn’t any different or treated any different by the other kids which I feel was really progressive for the time. Today we cringe at almost all the stuff from the early part of the last century (heck - the middle and later parts as well) but my feel always was a positive from the character and not a negative. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048/20 "2019-06-26T13:40:40Z")
The issue was that racists of the time tended to be more accepting of a Black child in the movies than a Black adult. You could play _Our Gang_ in the South, but if you had a group of adults, many theaters there wouldn’t run it. There may have been some complaints about the integrated schoolroom, but not enough for Hal Roach to make any changes. Stymie was more than just an equal - in “Dogs is Dogs,” Wheezer refers to him as “My old pal Stymie” and Stymie is clearly his best friend. The kids in _Our Gang_ were always treated respectfully. Even when they had a “fat kid” like Joe Cobb or Chubby, they were generally not the butt of jokes about their size. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-buckwheat-the-character-not-the-grain-offensive/836048.md?page=2)