I think the problem with perceived racism right now is, kid, young adults, not understanding the “back then” of things.
They hear grandparents speak about being involved with this or that March, a sit in, being attacked.
They never saw how things really were. Today, if someone of color does not get a job they applied for, many will assume racism is involved. If they dit back, and do the numbers, it probably would not show confirmation.
I remember a time when a black man, who was a friend and I liked a lot, asked me to be his gf.
I said no. In a blink he asked if it was because he was black. I said no, it was because I already had a bf. There was a lot more conversation involved, but I pointed out that since arriving at that base, probably fifty white men had asked me, and only one black man. I maintained a friendship with maybe ten percent of the white men who asked, but one hundred percent of the black men.
He saw then, that there was no racism, but that black men had failed to step up, so to speak.
Lots of folks who were not there for the down and dirty days of social reform don’t understand that not everything in a negative light is about racism. In fact, very little actually is.
Archie bunker is outdated only because the show is all rhetoric. It doesn’t portray real, dirty, vicious racist behavior. He never beats the shit out of Edith for letting “them” into his house. There’s no lynching, or one person cornered by a group of whites for a beating. It is watered down racism, and gives the wrong impression of what was really fought over during civil rights activism.
I’m not saying there is no more racist sentiment or activity, but now vs. then is vastly different, and younger persons don’t seem to understand that they can no longer expect every negative thing they encounter these days are race based issues.
Archie was funny because compared to the “way back” of things, he was a whiny hold out from change. Change happened all around the impotent, whining Archies.
Nowadays, Archie Bunker is a cringey look at behavior that can be expected from a racist person, but is not a basis for comparison.
Blazing Saddles is still funny, because it was so over the top, nobody was going to believe it anyway. By over the top, I don’t mean an extreme example of danger, I mean the overreaction to little things, like fainting because a black man said hi.
I think being able to laugh helps to dissolve active racism. It is a slippery slope though, being able to keep it humorous without encouraging bad behavior.
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