The television show The Jeffersons, which aired from 1975 until 1985, appeared on air during a time when America witnessed a rise of the black middle class and had more exposure to black folks on TV and black art forms, including music. The very first episode of the show chronicles George and Louise Jefferson’s adjustment to moving to a lavish apartment in the east side of Manhattan, and how they grapple with forces of class, socioeconomic status, and race.
In the first two or three minutes of the show, the underpinnings of race and class become evident. In the beginning Louise is talking to her friend Diane, and Diane makes a joke about Louise calling George Jefferson ‘boss’ to which Louise replies: “The day I call George boss is the day they’ll invite Lester Maddox to a Harlem block party.” To put this in context, Lester Maddox was the governor of Georgia from 1967-1971, who was a hardline segregationist, who even attempted to violate the Civil Rights Act on several occasions. When George walks in on the two women’s conversation, Diane asks him if he is the homeowner. She asks, “How can you afford to live like this? You ain’t tall enough to be a basketball player.” George retorts that he does in fact own the apartment, and Diane responds again, saying: “Then you got to be a number runner.” Although not explicitly stated, it seems to imply that Diane is perhaps in disbelief that a black family was able to climb the socioeconomic ladder making a decent salary by owning a business. Here we see how forces of race and class operate in conjunction.
The first episode leads the viewer to conclude that the Jeffersons had just moved in to this apartment and are adjusting to living in a more wealthy environment. George and Louise Jefferson both have views that come into conflict with regards to their recent socioeconomic shift. For example, with regards to the maid Diane, George Jefferson tells Louise that “She’s not your friend, she’s a domestic.” Louise replies, “Ain’t you forgetting where you came from?” George responds once more by saying “It’s not where I came from, it’s where I’m at.” Here we witness a conflict of classism at work. The way George tells Louise that Diane is not her friend seems to be reinforcing some characteristics of segregation but at work through classism. It also implies social and class rigidity, that certain people who do certain things have their own place in society and are incompatible with certain groups. In this case it is rich and poor. In the case of racial segregation, it reinforces the class difference but with a more racialized structure.
Word Count: 451
Pledged: Warren Socher
I agree with what you said. Often people have a disbelief when they see black people being successful in the ways they do not find acceptable. Today you can see this at colleges when black students often are asked, when they attend a good school, "what sport do you play?" because that is the only way they would get in. I have not seen the exact show you are referencing, but when George tells Louise that Diane is not her friend he could just be letting her know that she is not someone who supports the progression of black people. Whether Diane is aware of her prejudice or not she only believes that black people should progress in certain ways, ways that do not step on the white business man's toes.
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