European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The craze an outrage Over a Amos a no Andy by Larry Rosenthal the associated press sixty years ago an estimated 40 million americans tuned in each night to Amos in Andy a radio show pairing two White actors who portrayed Black southerners building a new life in Chicago. Many Blacks were among the Loyal followers of the Early radio show and watched its successor on television a generation later. Today a Broadway musical fresh air taxi based on the show and its characters is in the works. But for some the name Amos n Andy survives mainly As a synonym for racist stereotyping. In a new Book on the Amos a no Andy phenomenon Melvin Patrick Ely a Yale University historian says the show cannot be so easily dismissed. If the work of Amos a no Andy creators Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll was a nothing More than a Heap of racist cliches a it is hard to explain their popularity among Blacks and Whites particularly since other stereotypical depictions of Blacks abounded he said. A Gosden and Correlus most remarkable accomplishment a Ely writes a was to produce a show so Rich and Complex that it won admirers ranging from Ultra racists to outspoken racial  the shows history a can Tell us All sorts of things about the ways Whites and Blacks have engaged each other in american life a Ely said in an interview. A i was interested in telling something about race relations and getting away from copping a cheap fix of feel Good righteousness by dismissing Amos no Andy without a second  Ely a Book the adventures of Amos v Andy has won favourable reviews. Gosden and Correll first broadcast Amos a no Andy in 1928 from a station in Chicago. They switched to Abc in 1929 and later to lbs and remained on the air while changing formats until nov. 25,1960. The Early show got a mixed reception from Blacks. The Pittsburgh courier a Black newspaper collected hundreds of thousands of signatures demanding it be banned yet another Black newspaper the Chicago defender honoured Gosden and Correll at a Community Parade and picnic. The to adaptation of Amos n Andy featuring an All Black cast premiered on lbs in 1951 and was immediately condemned by the National association for the advancement of coloured people. The a act said it promoted a View of Blacks As a inferior Lazy dumb and  the 39-year-old Ely and others of his generation were Able to watch the to show on syndicated reruns until the mid-1960s. For its first three years on Abc radio Amos a no Andy was More popular than any other radio show since. It evoked a National craze and was a Boon to commercial radio. Gosden and Correll were paid the then remarkable sum of $100,000 a year and earned up to $7,500 a week on personal appear Ance Tours. Factories churches and Heaters juggled their schedules so fans could be free to listen. Movie Heaters timed their intermissions so they could pipe in the 15-minute broadcast. Municipal water authorities reported a Sharp drop in water usage during Amos a he Andy and Telephone operators said they could pretty much take a break during the show. White families Lucky enough to have twin boys named their kids after the two fictional characters. A the country came pretty much to a Stop for those 15 minutes every night a Ely said. Gosden and Correll did not throw out the old racial stereotypes of blackface vaudeville acts and minstrel shows. But they did add a a very human element that listeners both Black and White found appealing a Ely said. A nobody else had attempted what they did a take the traditionally comical images of Blacks which were 75 years old at least and couple it with situations that at least roughly approximated real life situations in ways people found engaging a Ely said. The pair gave the world the Lazy pretentious Malaprop prone Andy and his catch phrase a a in be re gusted a and the memorable Kingfish of the Mystic knights of the sea Lodge a Man who relentlessly fleeced his Lodge Brothers. But they also created Earnest honest Andy and a succession of intelligent accomplished minor characters Ely writes. Their show was not Only radios first major comedy but also its first melodrama. Amos v Andy was about a massive racial change in american life the great migration North of Blacks yet it almost never referred explicitly to race. While using Black stage dialect the show contained no scenes a indicating any kind of racial unpleasantness or that race affected ones fortunes in life Quot Ely said. A in this Way the show was genteel but totally  the show had the effect Ely said of giving the civil rights movement of the 1960s an opening wedge into White opinion. Throughout the history of american race relations he said there have been Whites who have been uneasy enough about the condition of Blacks a to gloss it Over in their minds and convince themselves that Black people Are really Happy and there is not a real Issue  the civil rights movement a threw the Issue in the faces of White americans and said a quit pretending to yourselves to be enlightened and either do something change things really or admit you do not care a a Ely said. Although some of the Amos a no Andy episodes Are available on videotape Ely said he would be leery of airing any of the original 78 episodes on television. A i just fear bringing it Back would rub Salt in old wounds without providing any offsetting Benefit. But i meet an awful lot of people who disagree with me both Black and White a he said. The adventures of Amos it Andy is published by Tho Froe press with a suggested retail Price of $22.95. September 15, 1991 sunday a Page 15