Exceptional How Comics Shattered The Color Barrier Funny Pages : Segregation by Brett Matthew West Artwork by VMarguarite at FanArtReview.com

(NOTE: The postings in this book intentionally kept short. Enjoy!) Aside from offensive caricatures and stereotypes, prior to the Civil Rights Era comics were an incredibly segregated artform with a limited number of Black cartoonists meddling in the craft. In response to this discrepancy, the Black population of society established their own newspapers and comics. Black cartoonist Morrie Turner talked to his friend Charles M. Schulze about the situation. The Peanuts comic strip creator advised him to write his own strip. Turner's first comic strip was the unsuccessful all-Black "Dinky Fellas." Later, Turner renamed the comic "Wee Pals." The gist of which was a group of friends from different ethnic backgrounds, who also possessed various physical capabilities, interacting. "Wee Pals" became the first syndicated strip of its kind with Black characters. Only five newspapers agreed to carry "Wee Pals." The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968 changed society's viewpoint on that topic. In addition, "Wee Pals" was further syndicated into more than one hundred newspapers around the country. In response, Turner sang the blues it took King's murder for "Wee Pals" to gain more recognition and wider syndication. In the summer of 1968, after corresponding with the Los Angeles teacher Harriet Glickman, Charles Schulz introduced the Black character Franklin Armstrong into his popular comics. Glickman had told Schulz she thought Peanuts could positively influence race attitudes. In various strips, Charlie Brown and Franklin Armstrong did things together like meet on a segregated beach. They also attended a movie theater when such venues were still segregated. Several Southern newspapers were more than slightly uncomfortable publishing these comics, but they made a contribution to desegregation occurring. Next Time: Comics Effect On Cancel Culture (HInt: consider "Doonesbury" and "Dilbert.") Recognized Author Notes The Writer, by VMarguarite, selected to comp.ement my posting.

© Copyright 2024. Brett Matthew West All rights reserved. Brett Matthew West has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.