Was Andy Griffith considered racist because it was extremely rare to have a non-White person in an episode?
The Andy Griffith show is almost a hobby of mine. I’ve seen every episode, some 20+ times. When Don Knotts left it wasn’t the same.
But I can say with 100% certainty...only one black woman ever appeared in the show. And she was a part of the crowd when there a crowd scene was necessary. Only one black guy ever had a speaking part. And he played a retired football star who coached Opie’s team in a color episode. The show ran for 8 years.
The lack of black people (or any non-Caucasian people) in a small NC mountain town like Mayberry seems accurate to me. I don’t remember any non-WASPs in Mayberry either. Didn’t they always have to go to Mount Pilot to eat at a Chinese restaurant? Mount Pilot had the demographic diversity.
“Violence” - must have been Ernest T. Bass throwing rocks through windows.