[Leaning Right]

> Did they have any blacks on that show? <

That’s actually a very good question. Andy Griffith (the person, not the character) was very liberal. Yet there were almost no blacks on his show in the early seasons.

The few blacks who did appear were in the background, standing in a crowd. Griffith could have pushed the issue. He certainly had the clout. He could have argued that there were many blacks in small southern towns like Mayberry. So why not include them?

But like a typical liberal, Griffith talked big but did little.

[mass55th]

I was born in 1947, and I did watch the show at some point with my parents, but wasn’t a regular viewer. I was in high school when the show started. The biggest kick I ever got was that they wouldn’t let Barney Fife (Don Knotts) have more than one bullet for his weapon.

[llevrok]

He certainly had the clout. He could have argued that there were many blacks in small southern towns like Mayberry. So why not include them? But like a typical liberal, Griffith talked big but did little.

It was also the era of Southern Democrats keeping negros on the social plantation. I doubt in the early 60s racial equity even crossed his mind. (He was too busy being frisky with the women in the cast, save for Aunt Bee)

[jeffersondem]

“The few blacks who did appear were in the background, standing in a crowd. Griffith could have pushed the issue. He certainly had the clout. He could have argued that there were many blacks in small southern towns like Mayberry. So why not include them?”

Before the 1964 Civil Rights Act segregation was legal and the color line was (mostly) accepted and enforced by law and by custom.

A black person on television with a speaking role was as rare then as an intelligent white person with a speaking role is today in an advertisement.