So long, Clarence Williams III

[Bob Jersey]

"The Mod Squad," Purple Rain, "Twin Peaks" among others. 81.

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/clarence-williams-iii-dead-dies-mod-squad-purple-rain-1234989765/ (link)

B

[Steve Timko]

As a white person, I didn't find out until decades later the cultural significance of Linc and Uhura.

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[David Bruggeman]

To bring it semi-full circle Williams donned heavy makeup to play a Jem'Hadar on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

David

[PGage]

I’m not sure what you mean by this. If you were old enough to watch the shows those characters were on as they aired, seems like you would have known their significance. If you were not, then I could see someone currently in their 40s seeing Star Trek for the first time and not getting Uhura’s impact (has anyone watched The Mod Squad since the 1970s? Cant imagine they hold up very well), but in that case it seems that would be because of age, not ethnicity.

I will always think of the tag line to TMS when I think of CWIII:

“One Black, One White, one Blonde”

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[Steve Timko]

As a first or second grade student when they aired, and in a small rural community with two black families, no I didn't realize minorities were badly under represented. It was not a topic of discussion.

And Linc  was not a black character made to be liked by mainstream whites.

And Martin Luther King Jr. convinced Nicelle Nichols to not quit Star Trek.

https://www.npr.org/2011/01/17/132942461/Star-Treks-Uhura-Reflects-On-MLK-Encounter

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[PGage]

At 7 years old I would attribute it more to age than ethnicity. 

I dont know about “mainstream Whites”, but I would think Linc was exactly the kind of Black character White audiences likely to watch TMS in 1970 would have liked.

I’m not sure how many people knew at the time about MLK fanboying Nichols into staying in Star Fleet, but most White adults, especially in rural communities, would have been well aware of the cultural impact of Uhura’s forced interracial kiss (or near kiss).

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[Tom Wolper]

On Mon, Jun 7, 2021 at 12:55 PM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:

At 7 years old I would attribute it more to age than ethnicity. 

I dont know about “mainstream Whites”, but I would think Linc was exactly the kind of Black character White audiences likely to watch TMS in 1970 would have liked.

I’m not sure how many people knew at the time about MLK fanboying Nichols into staying in Star Fleet, but most White adults, especially in rural communities, would have been well aware of the cultural impact of Uhura’s forced interracial kiss (or near kiss).

My experience, though coming from a different place demographically, was like Steve's. When we turned on TV we watched the shows we watched and saw the actors we saw without knowing there was any back story. And nobody in my parents' generation mentioned the casting, neither approving nor condemning it.

I watched Star Trek in the post-school slot as a M-F daily syndicated show. I just don't remember any feedback in those days before the conventions and cast autobiographies. Nobody asked how a Black woman could become a Starfleet officer or why she was just the receptionist. I don't remember seeing or hearing any reaction to the interracial kiss until decades later.

And as for Linc being a Black character white audiences would like to watch, well yeah. CWIII, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Jimmie Walker, Don Mitchell (I had to look up the Ironside cast), Greg Collier, Diahann Carroll, Nichelle Nichols, etc all had to play characters who appealed to white audiences or southern TV affiliates would have pulled the shows from their schedules and put the networks on the defensive. In 1979 CBS put The Dukes of Hazzard on the air with all of its confederate imagery and got no pushback.

[Tom Wolper]

On Mon, Jun 7, 2021 at 3:14 PM Tom Wolper <two...@gmail.com> wrote:

And as for Linc being a Black character white audiences would like to watch, well yeah. CWIII, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Jimmie Walker, Don Mitchell (I had to look up the Ironside cast), Greg Collier, Diahann Carroll, Nichelle Nichols, etc all had to play characters who appealed to white audiences or southern TV affiliates would have pulled the shows from their schedules and put the networks on the defensive. In 1979 CBS put The Dukes of Hazzard on the air with all of its confederate imagery and got no pushback.

Greg Morris. Getting older is no fun.

[PGage]

I accept that (though would prefer testimony from the generation ahead of you). Evidence for my own cultural boundedness is finding it difficult to imagine anyone could see those shows at that time and not be constantly aware of the (usually one) Black character, with either joy or disgust.

When I used to accompany my father to the barbershop I would read the latest issue of Jet magazine while he got his hair cut and had seemingly interminable conversations. I always looked forward to the back page (well, as time went on also the center fold) that would proudly list all the network programs with Black characters. From this you would have thought Mission: Impossible and Star Trek were about Barney and Uhura, and some of their white friends.

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