How Does History Remember Amos ‘n’ Andy

June 28, 1951, proved to be more than just another hot summer night of programming for the relatively new medium called television. The date marked the CBS debut of Amos ‘n’ Andy, a situational comedy (sitcom). The outrageously funny but controversial program was the first ever television sitcom with an “all-Black” cast, making it the forerunner to Black television sitcoms aired over the past seven decades. Set in Harlem, New York, Amos ‘n’ Andy focused on the life of George (Kingfish) Stevens (Tim Moore), who had a knack for schemes to make fast and easy money. As leader of the Mystic Knights of the Sea Lodge, Kingfish’s antics often involved his lodge brothers, specifically Andy Brown (Spencer Williams, Jr.), his best friend. Although Andy was the perennial “sitting duck,” the gullible, cigar-smoking, derby hat-wearing rotund brother of the lodge kept coming back for more, earning the dubious words from the Kingfish, “You big dummy!” The so-called “brilliant schemes” often landed Kingfish in hot water, especially with his no-nonsense wife, Sapphire (Ernestine Wade), who was backed by her mother, Ramona Smith (Amanda Randolph), who never liked Kingfish anyway.& To get out of the mess he created, Kingfish would shout his classic...