1. So I have a few thoughts about cartoonists reacting badly to criticisms of ethnic and racial stereotypes (Happy Hooligan to The Simpsons).
2. The controversy over Apu follows a pattern that goes back for at least two hundred years of ethnic cartoon imagery being contested. In 19th century it was common to depict Irish as simian in appearance & behavior. 
3. In 1900 Fredrick Opper created Happy Hooligan, a lovable but luckless Irish American tramp. In 1901 he wrote an article explaining why ethnic caricature was inevitable part of cartooning.
4. In the 1901 article, Opper coyly notes that Irish and "Hebrews" (Jews) were disappearing as cartooning subjects but avoids noting that the reason they are disappearing was because of complaints from newly politicized groups.
5. Blackface & minstrel inflected imagery was of course common in early 20th century cartooning. Here's a Dell comic from 1943, L'il Eightball.
6. Minstrel imagery protested from the start but complaints picked up speed during World War II. In 1943, New York school kids wrote to complain about L'il Eightball. They got this response
7. I like this: "Should we leave out the Irish cop, the funny Italian organ-grinder or the fat German delicatessen an, etc. etc.?" Here's how the kids responded:
8. Will Eisner's Ebony White (created as comic sidekick of the noir hero The Spirit) perfectly illustrates how pattern of contestation & generational shift.
9. Will Eisner maintained, with reason, that Ebony White was created with affection. But was immediately controversial and Eisner's teenage assistant (Jules Feiffer!) hated Ebony & lobbied to get rid of him
10. Amos 'n' Andy, which to our eyes looks like horrible minstrelry illustrates how generational shifts in attitude are common.
11. As historian Melvin Patrick Ely demonstrated in excellent book, when Amos & Andy created in 1928, it polarized black community. Some (particularly educated) hated but radio show also had a large black audience that loved.
12. To speculate: black Amos 'n' Andy fans, generally belonging to the Great Migration from South to North, were so hungry for representation they took what they could want. Also, radio medium masked aspect of blackface (many thought A&A were black).
13. But what was acceptable in 1928 was intolerable in 1951, when NAACP led major campaign against show -- due in part to rising political organization but also generational shift.
14. Apu is going through the same trajectory as Amos 'n' Andy, with an older generation that tolerated giving way to a younger one that recognizes the offensive features.
15. One reason for these generational shifts, I think, is kids are more sensitive to impact of stereotypes. They live, after all, in world of bullies
16. God knows, it's always tempting to say, "Screw the kids, what do they know?" or "Grow up, snowflakes!" That's a mistake.
17. If only there were a Simpson's meme about the dangers of being an out of touch coot!
18. My larger reflections on why listening to the kids changed my mind about Apu: newrepublic.com/article/147980…
