I have been thinking about the Jeffersons television
series lately. I watched a lot of television growing up. The reality is that
while my mother was scrubbing floors and raising other people’s children,
television was raising me. In this context the images of people from my
community was important to how I thought that I could function in this
society. As a child you have to figure out
which spaces you can occupy until you are conscious enough to create your own
space. The Jeffersons was one of the crucial shows. It was about a dark man who
worked his way out of the hood by running his own dry cleaners. George
Jefferson was loud and obnoxious, but he was also competent and confident.
George had 7 cleaning stores by the time the show ended, which he ran from his
private office. Louise Jefferson was responsible for George’s rise. She did
house work while he created the first store in his dry cleaning empire. George never forgot about what Louise did for
him no matter how large he grew. She never had to work another day. Louise
deserved to her last days in leisure, but she did not do that. Louise volunteered
at the Help Center where she helped other people who were still in poverty. I
am in contact with a lot of educated dark people and a few of them are willing
to make minor contributions, but none as much as Louise Jefferson. The whole
point of slaves becoming free is to help free others. Selflessness is such a
simple concept that too few understand. As I look at television today I cannot
find one dark character that teaches a positive lesson. The Jeffersons
television series has become more important as the quality of dark characters
on television has declined.
