Because: I'm on a cartoon kick
How do you not love cartoons? Yes, the Saturday morning cartoon has died, but thanks to cable television there is still a plethora to choose from. For the last few years, Disney Jr has broadcase one in particular that captures so much black girl magic. I wrote about Doc McStuffins for For Harriet. Honestly, I caught wind of her because I started seeing friends and family with kids post pictures of the toys they bought a few years ago. Then I had to watch an episode with some little cousins one day. It's a cute show. Not one that I frequently watch of my own voilition, but a fun one for the kids. #blackwomenareleaders is trending right now. If kids don't learn this from young, when will they?
-----
From For Harriet:
We all believe that no children’s television program will ever be as good as whatever we watched as a child. But anyone growing up in the 1990s or before can probably count on one hand the number of cartoon characters of color featured on the various networks of the time. Save for the occasional children’s cartoon that explicitly featured characters of color—like Fat Albert, WayneHead, or my personal favorite C Bear and Jamal—cartoons have largely been a place for mainstream white images to dominate, much like the rest of American media.
Occasionally, a show will feature a token minority character. For example, Susie Carmichael on Rugrats, Vince LaSalle on Recess, and the entire immigrant/poor/confused lot of Hey Arnold. But even in cartoons where race was supposed to be “non-existent,” it was obvious that the main characters were white— like the Funnies on Doug, or the titular character of Pepper Ann.
-----
From For Harriet:
We all believe that no children’s television program will ever be as good as whatever we watched as a child. But anyone growing up in the 1990s or before can probably count on one hand the number of cartoon characters of color featured on the various networks of the time. Save for the occasional children’s cartoon that explicitly featured characters of color—like Fat Albert, WayneHead, or my personal favorite C Bear and Jamal—cartoons have largely been a place for mainstream white images to dominate, much like the rest of American media.
Occasionally, a show will feature a token minority character. For example, Susie Carmichael on Rugrats, Vince LaSalle on Recess, and the entire immigrant/poor/confused lot of Hey Arnold. But even in cartoons where race was supposed to be “non-existent,” it was obvious that the main characters were white— like the Funnies on Doug, or the titular character of Pepper Ann.
Comments
Post a Comment