Old TV against stereotypes

[VIDEO] Wednesday I was watching the classic western programs you would find on Me-TV. Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and The Rifleman. On this particular afternoon an episode of The Rifleman caught my eye.

The episode is question is entitled "The Indian" and features Michael Ansara - who played a Klingon in Star Trek -  as an Apache US Marshal who as the story progresses arouses the suspicion of the people in North Folk. Ansara's character Sam Buckhart was about to be the subject of a lynch mob if it wasn't for the quick action of the title character Chuck Connors' Lucas McCain.

We see the issue of racism or prejudice as shared in the context of a western show. Westerns weren't always about the cavalry chasing the Indians or cowboys/ranchers fighting the Indians. In that 1959 episode of The Rifleman a minority in the fictional town of North Folk was able to convince most of this lynch mob that it wasn't worth it to go up against some of their own people and an Apache US Marshal.

It lead me to a conclusion about so-called Hollywood activism. It seemed at one point the liberals of the 1950s and 1960s were on the right side of history. For example even though I may know Charlton Heston as a leader of the National Rifle Association - and may well consider him a right-winger - he was at the March on Washington.

The Civil Rights movement, was truly a necessary movement in the history of a country. Unless you accepted some of the injustices that lead to the boycotts and the marching how could anyone be opposed to any American seeking equal rights or even equal opportunity?

How can anyone be opposed to insuring that everyone has equal opportunity to a good education in a public or private school? How can anyone accept that a certain segment of the population had to be subjugated to a more favored segment of the population? If all men - well all people - are created equal how can we accept this?

Perhaps now the issues aren't much different. The issue may be less race/ethnicity than perhaps income. I hope I can be a rich man one day, but at this point that ship seems to have sailed. I'd be more than satisfied to at least eke out a middle-class lifestyle and I believe that should be relatively easy to attain.

Either way I can't say how this episode was received in the late 1950s other than perhaps most TV viewers of that time saw it as just another western TV episode. Westerns often did involve interactions between for example American Indians - or if you prefer Native Americans - and their interactions with European Americans. So who knows if episodes such as this made an impacts on their audiences.

Unfortunately the pendulum has swung directly in the opposite direction. My only concept of 21st Century Hollywood liberal activism is seen on FOX News. Perhaps today it's hard to do an episode about being fair to a person of a different ethnicity to whoever is the prevailing majority. Just as easily as we want to talk about fair play perhaps today's Hollywood activists are shoving their own agenda down the throats of the public.

I could ask if middle America thinks that Hollywood is out of touch with regular everyday Americans? As a person far removed from Hollywood and maybe even middle America I'm a long way from answering this question.

It just recently occurred to me that Hollywood has always had activists in some form whether they're the actors, directors, producers, or even writers. They created works of art perhaps showing how we can be fair to be people of different ethnicities. How it's certainly wrong to treat different people with outright scorn and disrespect.

Perhaps one day Hollywood will be on the same side of the issue of the day with most Americans. Perhaps one day taking a stand will not be equated with badmouthing other Americans - especially the ones that patronize your products.

#ImagineMorehouse: Video coverage of forum

[VIDEO] Having subscribed to the Morehouse Nation FB page I became aware of not only photos, also this video recording embed above on the day of the on campus forum that had been advertised here. There is just over an hour worth of footage to watch. Eventually when I've watched the vid, my thoughts will be shared.

#ImagineMorehouse: An on-campus forum

Well if I had still been a student at Morehouse I probably could make this event on campus. Of course there are others who have responded to this drive for the college to be a "Thought Leader". I will have to support this in spirit, even if Imar Hutchins wrote a comment in one of my Morehouse posts encouraging me to attend. If you're on FB, then you can certainly RSVP if you would like to attend.

#ImagineMorehouse: Imagining a new Morehouse

Sorry about the redundancy in the title above. I wanted to include the hashtag so that this post could have a much larger audience. The essay that the above title refers to one written on the site Morehouse Nation (formerly known as Morehouse Old School).

I've been following the activism over the summer that not only included a letter to the Morehouse College Board of Trustees and a collective statement that has been signed by Morehouse alumni, current students, faculty, and supporters. I'd really be curious as to what the primary author of the Morehouse Nation website Imar L. Hutchins sees that he's making such a push for some changes at Morehouse. He does outline some of what he sees in the original letter to the board of trustees.

In any case, again these are my thoughts on this subject that were written earlier this summer. Perhaps I will add more in the near future. As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.

The Board of Trustees response to the #MorehouseLetter

Well actually the response of Morehouse College Board of Trustees Chairman Robert Davidson to attorney Imar Hutchins to his original letter and his collective statement. Mr. Hutchins isn't going to get his audience with the Trustees, but at least the concerns of the Morehouse community are being heard. Also check out Hutchins response to Davidson's letter. Perhaps the talk needs to only continue!

Previous posts

• #MorehouseLetter: Morehouse in a downward trajectory?
• Remember that #MorehouseLetter...