Current Events > Is Charlie Brown Thanksgiving racist?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Charles Schulzs A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is a classic Peanuts special from 1973 that airs during the holidays. But one particular scene has been stirring up controversy in recent years.
In the scene, Franklin, who is the only Black character, is sitting by himself on one side of a Thanksgiving table, while most of the other kids sit together on the other side (Linus is seated at the head of the table). Some people consider the scene problematic and even racist, arguing that Franklin is separated from the rest of the characters, who are white.

https://sports.yahoo.com/why-scene-a-charlie-brown-thanksgiving-special-prompts-allegations-racism-225923227.html

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twitter really needs to just shut the fuck up.

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this has been a topic for years

it pretty blatantly is lol, even if you like the cartoon otherwise

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Good grief.

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It's not. It's really not.

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Where Should We Hide the Body, Charlie Brown?

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Maybe Franklin is the one who is racist

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The drawing of the table looks lopsided, bad artwork.

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Twitter was a mistake

And they gave the brother a broken chair.

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It's uh.. a choice, for certain.

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https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1331357173717340160

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Unless there is any particular proof that it was done like that purposely, then its just people reading into it too much.

nemu posted...

Unless there is any particular proof that it was done like that purposely, then its just people reading into it too much.

Uhh...its animation dude lol. You think someone accidentally animated that?

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Can we not laugh about it like The Daily Show? Is Franklin treated the same way today?

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You're a racist, Charlie Brown
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Real talk though this is often how it is at predominantly white functions

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Shablagoo posted...

Uhh...its animation dude lol. You think someone accidentally animated that?

You know what I mean. People often read too much into something that had no racist thought behind it. There is no point in assuming racist intent for something so innocuous without some kind of proof.

nemu posted...

You know what I mean. People often read too much into something that had no racist thought behind it. There is no point in assuming racist intent for something so innocuous without some kind of proof.

Sure, the animators may not have been overtly telling each other lets keep the black kid separate from the white kids but even if they werent its still telling that they made the choice and then drew each frame of that scene out without ever stopping to think, huh, its weird were drawing it this way.

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Shablagoo posted...

Sure, the animators may not have been overtly telling each other lets keep the black kid separate from the white kids but even if they werent its still telling that they made the choice and then drew each frame of that scene out without ever stopping to think, huh, its weird were drawing it this way.

You care wayyyyy too much about something that has no effect on you whatsoever. It's a cartoon and it's not racist.

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16-BITTER posted...

Linus and whoever is at the bottom are sitting by themselves too

Uh.. isnt Linus Jewish?

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Shablagoo posted...

Sure, the animators may not have been overtly telling each other lets keep the black kid separate from the white kids but even if they werent its still telling that they made the choice and then drew each frame of that scene out without ever stopping to think, huh, its weird were drawing it this way.

There are definitely cases of being accidentally racially insensitive in hindsight, but this is in no way close to that.

Maybe, but Franklin has way more strawberry milkshakes than the rest of them, and like all the popcorn is on his side so if anyone else wants some popcorn, they have to appease his will. The upside down melted ice cream cone on his side also seems more solid. He also has the only spoon, and since there's nobody else on that side he can manspread.

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BeyondWalls posted...

Uh.. isnt Linus Jewish?

I don't think there's anything to actually suggest that. Besides Linus is also Lucy's little brother, so he wouldn't be the only one regardless. Although Lucy isn't at the scene at all, so I don't know what's going on (I don't think I've ever seen the Thanksgiving special)

but Linus is at the head of the table, so I don't really think it counts as sitting alone. Same with whoever is at the other side (I'd guess it would have to be either Marcie or Lucy, but who knows?)

Yes I think it was racist, that's just how people animated back then. This was only a few years after segregation was overturned, the country was strongly racist and I don't think they were willing to put a white girl next to the black boy. If not the animators, then maybe somebody higher up in the company.

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Wetterdew posted...

Yes I think it was racist, that's just how people animated back then. This was only a few years after segregation was overturned, the country was strongly racist and I don't think they were willing to put a white girl next to the black boy. If not the animators, then maybe somebody higher up in the company.

What segregation overturning event are you talking about?

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Why did they not just put Marcie next to him. So she could also be seen in the shot and not just the back of her head?

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Heavy_D_Forever posted...

You care wayyyyy too much about something that has no effect on you whatsoever. It's a cartoon and it's not racist.

It's easy to shove your head in the sand and close your eyes when you dont want to see the reality of things

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VipaGTS posted...

Why did they not just put Marcie next to him. So she could also be seen in the shot and not just the back of her head?

That would have worked.

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Shablagoo posted...

Sure, the animators may not have been overtly telling each other lets keep the black kid separate from the white kids but even if they werent its still telling that they made the choice and then drew each frame of that scene out without ever stopping to think, huh, its weird were drawing it this way.

Yeah sometimes it doesn't so much have to be a conscious decision as it's just what's normal and therefore they don't give it a second thought

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Heavy_D_Forever posted...

You care wayyyyy too much about something that has no effect on you whatsoever. It's a cartoon and it's not racist.

He's just having a conversation on a message board, I don't see that that makes him care about it any more than you do for putting your two cents in

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Heavy_D_Forever posted...

You care wayyyyy too much about something that has no effect on you whatsoever. It's a cartoon and it's not racist.

The poster doth protest too much, methinks
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Animators prob had a late night at the office and hurried to finish the scene before closing time.

too much over thinking here.

Literally the same table, but somehow racist.

Man, this whole cultural conversation became a parody of itself at some point.

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Evening_Dragon posted...

What segregation overturning event are you talking about?

The signing of the civil rights act of course -- what else could I be referring to?

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Eh, I wouldn't consider nearly a decade to be a few years, but it's not enough for me to argue about.

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The point is this cartoon was made only shortly after the end of segregation, and the country was INCREDIBLY racist at the time. The people who animated this special straight-up grew up in segregation. Are we really going to pretend the country had become very comfortable with the idea of black people at their thanksgiving table? Because TONS of people were not comfortable with that.

It really isn't so shocking that somebody involved may have been like "woah let's not rock the boat too much here"

And I can't say for sure that that's what happened, but I will say it's really conspicuous to choose to put four characters on one long side of the table and only one on the other long side, and the one who was isolated is the only black character, especially considering the year this was made.

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IShall_Run_Amok posted...

Maybe, but Franklin has way more strawberry milkshakes than the rest of them, and like all the popcorn is on his side so if anyone else wants some popcorn, they have to appease his will. The upside down melted ice cream cone on his side also seems more solid. He also has the only spoon, and since there's nobody else on that side he can manspread.

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It's entirely possible, but we shouldn't ascribe intent either. It could be an entirely purposeful thing or it could be completely nothing. The main issue is that it's basically trying to make something innocuous "problematic." There's accepting the flaws of the past and then there's over-analyzing shit for Twitter likes.

If you have a long dinner table why would you ever put 4 people on one side and only 1 on the other side.

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Wetterdew posted...

If you have a long dinner table why would you ever put 4 people on one side and only 1 on the other side.

Maybe Sally wanted to be near Linus and her brother and Peppermint patty wanted to be near Charlie Brown. Totally should have had snoopy at the end of the table and Marcie next to Franklin though.

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