A recent acquisition - two consecutive Oaky Doaks dailies by Ralph Brigs Fuller from 1941. The strip is described by Wikipedia as, "the humorous adventures of a good-hearted knight in the Middle Ages". I had never heard of it before, but when I saw the images I was intrigued. Firstly, by the artistic quality; Mr. Fuller was a very good illustrator for his time and better than many of his contemporaries. But even more intriguing was the depiction of the black characters in the strip. I find them beautifully drawn; their black, inky skin, their lean, muscled figures, and their matching turbins and shorts. I also love the cartooning - the way they sit, sleep, and stand - all done elegantly as only a good cartoonist can do. But the most glaring feature of the art is the depiction of these characters in the traditional racist, minstrel form that existed throughout the early days of comic strips and animation. In fact, the auction house that sold these had them listed as "adult only", because of the racially charged depictions.
Some might take offense at me posting these online. But I think they should be seen. Recently, there was a great deal of controversy about the Dr. Suess estate deciding to discontinue publishing certain classic Suess books because of their "racist" content. One, To Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street, is a personal favorite of mine, but was cancelled due to a reference to a "Chinese Man", and the way he was depicted (with a bowl of noodles, and a long pony-tail). I meant to write a blog post on that subject, and my yet still. The two points I wanted to make were; we should not be white-washing history. I think we underestimate people's ability to see these old depictions for what they were - a cultural artifact of the time. And I would argue that the Chinese Man in Mulberry Street isn't racist at all - but it is a stereotype. There's a subtle difference there that we should not lose sight of. More importantly, we should be encouraging discussion about these old depictions. We should talk about how they came to be, why they are offensive, and try to understand the history behind them. None of that is possible if you are not allowed to see these images.
In fact, once I purchased these strips, I began to research the history of racism in mainstream American culture including comics, cartoons, radio, and the old Vaudeville Minstrel shows. Below, I am providing links to some of the more interesting reading I did on the subject and will also link a couple of interesting videos. I hope readers will take the time to look over the material.
https://www.tcj.com/racism-as-a-stylistic-choice-and-other-notes/
https://pencilpanelpage.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/is-it-okay-to-laugh-at-lil-eight-ball-in-2013/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP92cqTxG7I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBo3ghPMJmE
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