Rethinking two of my old favorites

[struggle4progress]

October 17, 2015
M. Scott Morris

... there’s a dearth of high-quality carrots up North, so Bugs walks across a barren landscape to reach the verdant South. He’s met at the Mason-Dixon line by Yosemite Sam in full Confederate gray, even though the Civil War ended 90 years before the cartoon is set.

To trick Sam and acquire a succulent Southern carrot, Bugs dresses as Abraham Lincoln, a Confederate general and a genteel Southern lady.

Oh, he also puts on blackface, gives Sam a whip and says “massuh” while crawling around on the ground.

What’s a sentimental fool such as I to do, other than acknowledge wonderful things from days gone by aren’t always wonderful? ...

https://djournal.com/opinion/m-scott-morris-rethinking-two-of-my-old-favorites/

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Bugs wasn't the only offender.

Tom and Jerry has some heavily racist episodes as well.

Although recently, my mind has been turning to the notion of guns in cartoons, toy guns, and racism. Cartoons with guns and toy guns promote the notion that guns are a normal part of life, that they're less dangerous than they are. We give children toys that mimic real world tools - toy hammers and drills, toy 'lawn mowers', vacuums, pots and pans and fake ovens, even toy cars or motorcycles. They pretend to be using these tools the way they see adults use them and we encourage them to do so. But what does giving them toy guns then tell them about society and guns? That it's acceptable to resolve issues between people with gun violence? That it's ok to shoot people, that it's 'good' when police ('the good guys') shoot robbers, or 'cowboys' shoot 'indians'? And then, if they're black, merely carrying such toys can become a death sentence, because police are allowed to simply shoot people whenever they 'imagine' or 'believe' a threat exists.

[Butterbean]

2. Well, yeah....

Watching old cartoons now that I used to watch as a kid makes me cringe. Racism and sexism are really bad and prolific in them.

[Butterbean]

3. FWIW, I don't let my kids watch them for this very reason.

I remember channel surfing and landing on Tom & Jerry once when my oldest was little, and being absolutely horrified at what I was seeing. The "mammy" character, the violence....oh Lord. I changed the channel so freaking fast.....