During the 80s, I lived in a small country town for four years that reminded me of Mayberry, at least when we first arrived. I discerned one major difference during my time there. Recently, during my slow recuperation from surgery, as I rewatched the first three seasons of the Andy Griffith Show on Netflix, I noticed a second major difference.
- First, our little Mayberry had no Sheriff Taylor to help people see the light and change their behavior. Andy’s Mayberry was filled with nice folks who were gossips, petty, easily offended, xenophobic, and just plain ornery. But Andy would sweet-talk them, trick them, and find their better angels so that by the end of the episode it was group hugs and kumbaya. Our town saw the grudges continued, the gossip run wild, racism and xenophobia rule, and the sheriff, nice guy that he was, lacked Andy’s magic touch.
- During my recent recuperatory binge, I noticed something more disturbing. Our town had Black people and Mayberry had none. A small town in rural North Carolina with no minorities? Seems fishy, doesn’t it? I can’t remember seeing anybody but White folks so far in the episodes I’ve watched or in my memory of others. Clean, quiet, happy Mayberry has been completely sanitized not just of racial issues but of other races.
I understand that the Andy Griffith Show was a product of its time and wasn’t meant to be a cutting-edge social commentary. But if those of us in traditional SBC churches mention Mayberry this Sunday in our messages there will be heads nodding and a haze of contented joy on faces. We long for that quiet, calm life when you could sit on the porch and strum the guitar and everybody was nice to everybody else. But our nostalgia for that bucolic life, for the good old days of Mayberry, may be overlooking that there was a sizable segment of the population photoshopped out of the picture – that’s how it was back then. Minorities were supposed to “know their place and stay in it” – words I heard in one form or another more than once in my Mayberry.
While I lived in Mayberry, one of my deacons invited three Black teens to play basketball on the hoop in the church parking lot. The goal magically disappeared the next day and our business meeting the next Sunday became a time of great joy. People filed in I hadn’t seen in church in months – never a good sign! They adopted the budget but deleted my raise and my best friend in the church was up for election as a deacon and failed to get a majority. One man said, “We sent the pastor a message.”
If Andy Griffith were a real sheriff he’d have to deal with issues like that and I doubt he could have fixed it. Would he have even tried? I wonder if I should have fought harder in that church and gotten myself fired – I suppose I will find out at the judgment seat. We had bylaws that opened the doors to anyone but people knew who was welcome and who was not. Even Andy’s folksy charm would have failed against the deeply ingrained attitudes in my Mayberry.
(Note: This church had many fine and godly people and recently they welcomed their first Black members into the church. God is faithful to his church!)
Perhaps I should stop watching Andy, but I won’t. It’s still among the finest shows ever and there is no better TV than the first season’s Christmas episode. We do not benefit from sanitizing our past like Mayberry sanitized its streets. I nearly had “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” memorized as a boy. If I’d spent as much time reading the Bible my high school years would have been different. It does no good to pretend these eras didn’t exist. Mark Twain spun great stories, but he also reminds us of ugly times when people made in the image of God were treated like beasts. Andy Griffith shows that decent, good, kind folks can turn a blind eye to racism and live their lives pretending “those folks” don’t matter and don’t exist. Better that we remember than that we participate in metaphorical book burning and act as if these things never happened.
Revel in the rascally misadventures of Tom Sawyer (I may load the Kindle tonight), but let it remind you that once our forefathers dehumanized people because of the color of their skin and commit yourself to letting the love of Christ break down human walls. Laugh as Andy torments the strutting Barney, but let your mind’s eye wander behind the facade to needy and forgotten people who no one saw.
Isn’t that who we are supposed to be? One of my favorite passages is Paul’s admonition in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31. He reminds the prideful Corinthians, so enamored of their knowledge and spirituality, that not many of them were rich or noble or important when God called them in Christ – that sound was the air escaping from their over-inflated egos. Paul encapsulated the way of God in verses 28-29.
God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world—what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one may boast in his presence.
God chose those the good folks of Mayberry ignored, right? He seeks the insignificant and the despised, those the world says have no value, and he redeems them in Christ and infuses them with the eternal riches of his grace! That way, no one can boast except in the saving grace of Christ.
Now, if God seeks out “what is viewed as nothing” in this world, ought not we to do the same? Label it “social justice warrior” if you want, but it is the way of God. We look to love and serve the abused instead of protecting the abusers. We look to show the immigrant that many disdain that he is loved by God and by the people of God. We tear down every cultural barrier that White America has erected so that we can show our Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native, and people of any other race that we believe the words of the children’s song that “they are precious in HIS sight.” As Christ did, we choose what is insignificant in worldly terms, what is despised, what is nothing. And to that world, we shine the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The church needs the eyes of God to look past the facade and to see all the people of Mayberry.
People often say that our community is just like Mayberry, that it’s just a good ole small town where everyone loves everyone. I pointed out in a sermon that I hate that comparison for some of the same reasons you listed, and for the fact that it ignores sin and hatred. Afterwards a man pointed out that everyone in Mayberry was so happy because no one was married, except for Otis. And you see where that got him. I’m not sure that’s alls the way true but I love the joke anyways. You are right that people idealize Mayberry, but… Read more »
There are some GREAT values in the Andy Griffith show. Honesty. Personal responsibility. Community. But the “whitewash” (my pun intended) is something we need to be aware of. We can’t just love “our people” and act as if “those folks” can take care of themselves.
We are being pejoratively labeled “SJWs” for pointing that out. But Christ loved the “other.” Israel failed because they wanted God for themselves and failed to bless the world. Too often, we have done the same.
Mayberry and many other television programs at the time did indeed whitewash the realities of life. Truly speaking, there are programs today that do the same thing to one degree or another. My only observation about that is that shows like that give us a goal to strive for. Who doesn’t know that life isn’t really like that. But if we want it to be more like that, then maybe we can be motivated to try. If all we see are the horrors of this sinful world, like we usually see in the news, then we may be driven to… Read more »
I grew up in “Mayberry”, Ohio: small town with only white people in it. One of my neighbors was even a kind, retired sheriff. My first encounter with a real, live black person was on the streets of Detroit in the mid-’70s when we accompanied my dad to get his ham radio license. It was a big deal to make that kind of trip and we took aunts, uncles, and cousins. My aunt had packed breakfast in the trunk and we stood in the parking lot next to the busy city street and ate. We had extra left over and… Read more »
Being the king of useless information, I humbly submit The Andy Griffith Show’s Mayberry did have black residents. In several crowd shot there are blacks walking the streets and in crowds. Opie’s football coach was a black man with speaking parts.
As a big fan of the Andy Griffith show I can attest to Dean’s “useless information”.
I remember that very well. The coach’s name was Jim Brown in the show and in real life. He had played a little while as a professional football player, but retired early. Ron Howard attributes his being drafted by the Chicago Bears as a power fullback after he quit being Opie Taylor on the Andy Griffith Show to Jim Brown being his football coach on the television show. Since Jim Brown’s coaching in Mayberry helped Ron Howard to go pro, can you imagine how well he (Jim Brown) would have done in the NFL had he played for Bear Bryant… Read more »
You are so weird
Looks like CB Coot is the guy with only one bullet, and he fires it at everyone.
And it’s made by the good people at the Alabama Armory.
Great post, Dave. Regarding the absence of black people in the Andy Griffith Show, I agree with Dean. While the football coach was in one of the later (“in color”) episodes, black townspeople are seen in the first three seasons. I’d have to do some research to cite specific episodes, but I can confidently say they’re there–but there aren’t many. None have speaking roles.
It is possible that I am not observant
Are you that bored to find the fault of Mayberry. The show takes you back to a simpler time in American. A time where community, relationships, and values were learned and practiced timeless principles, not just hear about them on Sunday.lije the Bible, sometimes uncovered weaknesses such as Otis’s drinking problems, the gossip in the barbershop, the fear that Barney at times exhibited, and the selfishness of some choir members willing to cause a rift over a dispute of how to spend an estate gift. Please guys with all the issues happening today, let’s not criticize a show that brings… Read more »
If any of this happens in the full color episodes I wouldn’t know.
I agree with this commentary. The first five seasons (black and white) are superior to the final three (color). The reason is the advent of color coincides with the departure of Barney and the arrival of Warren Ferguson.
If I never hear, “Huh Andy, huh, huh, huh” again I will not be disappointed.
Yep
Good thoughts and principles, Dave. Indeed we must look beyond the facades and proclaim the gospel to all mankind no matter what barriers may be erected to impede that mission.
What of the invisible Christianity of Mayberry? Like most other believers, I’ve shut my TV off rather than watch any show that “crossed the line” of morality.” And I used to long for the days when shows such as Mayberry were the norm. But now I’m thinking that the older kind of TV is more damaging to the Church and the world than the newer. What’s more damaging: the devil tempting us with blatant sin and telling the world that anything goes, or the devil offering us an idyllic picture of righteous family and community living that is white-washed of… Read more »
Ken Hamrick,
I think you are on to something here.
Satan’s seductive doctrine for “good, God-fearing” Americans back in those days of “just be nice to other people and you will be Ok with God” was damning to the souls of many people, especially in the Bible Belt. Yes, I think Satan’s strategy of giving people a “Milk-toast Jesus” to follow in the past led many Americans happily into hell.
Yes, I think you are on to something here.
Me thinks Andy Griffith is being over analyzed a wee bit too much. I can see a SBC resolution now condemning Andy Griffith. It was (and is) a TV show for goodness sake. It’s entertainment, not the basis of life and certainly not our theology, The Andy Griffith Bible Study video series nor withstanding (Did Lifeway put that out?). No one ever said build your theology or values on a TV program. It’s a reflection of its time, which certainly was not all good or all bad. My wife and I used to love the program Touched by an Angel.… Read more »
Les,
I don’t disagree with you that Andy Griffith was entertainment. I liked it and still watch it from time-to-time. I don’t think there will be a resolution condemning watching Andy Griffith. (Some 2ed Amendment hater may present a resolution against Barney for having a revolver on the show.)
However, I do think there is reality in Ken Hamrick’s comment. The gospel of nice did much damage during the time in question.
BTW, Les, Della Reese was a much better singer than actress.
“The gospel of nice did much damage during the time in question.” Damage to what.? Our culture? It was a reflection of our culture not a catalyst. The church? If the church was getting its values from a TV program, that is not the program’s fault, but weak doctrine in the church.
I agree about Della, who I believe was an ordained minister and pastor, but we won’t go there.
Les, I think that during the time period when such shows as Andy Griffith and other similar television productions reflected the character of much of American culture the “gospel of nice” was very strong in many churches. I know that there is a circular argument about movies, television, music, video games, etc. Some say such entertainment mediums are reflections of our culture. Others say that these entertainment mediums influence culture. Personally, I think there is truth in both positions. Entertainment reflects culture and Entertainment influences culture. I illustrate this with something from another fairly long running television program. During the… Read more »
CB Scott,
You may be the only one who gets my point, but thanks for stating it. Television as benign entertainment and mere reflection of culture might have been true if only viewed occasionally. But when I consider the thousands upon thousands of hours that I have, in my lifetime, sat watching TV–and having that confirmed as true in the lives of most everyone I’ve known–then it seems to me to be rather naïve to not see that television has been a powerful tool for changing and establishing social and moral norms.
Ken Hamrick,
If the Les commenting in this thread is the missionary, Les Prouty, he gets it. He just likes to torment me ’cause he is an AUBURN fan. They’re like that you know.
He is not a missionary and most definitely not an Auburn fan. He is a Bayou Bengal LSU Tiger from Louisiana. He (I) would never intentionally torment you. Some of us just seem to have that gift. I prefer to call it truth.
To quote the famous Tertullian:
“What hath truth to do with LSU?”
ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!
Oh Please, Geaux Tigers.
I always like him! Yes, Roll Tide!
No that other Les is as misguided as a Bengal Tiger as you are as a Crimson Tide-er. But I am enjoying the reading here. War Eagle!
Les Prouty,
LOL. Someday, I do desire to buy your lunch and share stories of faith, family, and football. Now that would be a “Mayberry Moment.”
I would agree, with the added point that never expect Hollywood to get much right about life and values and don’t be surprised when they miss it.
The most marginalized people of this day are the helpless pre-born children, of all races, who are murdered primarily for convenience sake. These children, made in the image of God, who are dehumanized as nothing more than blobs of tissue have been ldenied the right to exist outside of their mothers’ wombs. Do we believe God turns a blind eye to plight of these forgotten little people? How long do we believe God will abide with us while this court sanctioned abomination continues? We can all be thankful that the bigotry of our nation’s past has been addressed and that… Read more »
“However, there is one of many things we can celebrate about the “Mayberry Era”—our government and our society, during that period of our history, did not tolerate the gruesome ripping of children from their mothers’ wombs.”
William Hudson,
There is a degree of truth in your statement. However, it is absolutely true that it was adults of the “Mayberry Era” who made convenience abortion/abortion on demand the law of the land. That’s something to think about. Or it is for me anyway.
Same comments to divert the subject. Same knowing blindness of the Opening post. Same shaking my head cause I am so danged tired of both the diversion and the knowing blindness from the very same people every time.
60 million murdered pre-born children in our nation since 1973 are no diversion. They represent unrepentant sin as a nation that continues to this day.
William Hudson,
I don’t think the majority of people who post and comment here would disagree with your sentiments on abortion. I know I do not, but what has that to do with this post or the comments in the thread?
BTW, I don’t think Mrs. Kaufman was directing her comment toward you. I think she has misread mine once again.
William Hudson is also included in my statement. That is not the message of the opening post which is as important as abortion. It is still a problem and those who try to divert are not the solution but the problem too. My reading comprehension is just fine. I don’t ever misread your posts CB. You are just a pro at “no I didn’t”. When yes you did. A victim you are most certainly not.
Well, that is somewhat confusing, Debbie. If you never have missread my posts or comments, why have you in the past apologized for doing so?
I have not “tried to divert” from the content of this post and the reading comprehension of which you so proudly boast may need an oil change today, my dear Sister.
Maybe you have had a long day today, Debbie, for which I can sympathize and you are right, I have never considered myself a “victim.” And . . . I doubt seriously you have considered yourself one either on most days of your life.
Debbie, I agree with you here about William’s diversion tactic, but you seem to be blaming CB when from my conversations with him, I think he tends to AGREE with us, not disagree.
There is a degree of truth to your statement also, however the adults of whom you speak were seven Supreme Court justices who rendered a decision in favor of a complaintant who later repented of her sin and fought for the lives of pre-born children. The decision in 1973 was made by seven men, not by Congress, the true representatives of our people, and in no way represented the the adults of that era.
William Hudson, I will engage you here even if we are drifting from the content of the post and no matter what Mrs. Debbie Kaufman thinks of it. Obviously, the subject of abortion is important to you. It is to me as well. I Believe it to be our national sin. Now, to the content of your comment: You are right. SCOTUS rendered the decision that made abortion the law of the land. However, you may well be wrong about the adults of that era. Are you aware of the fact that the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest non-Catholic religious… Read more »
CB Scott, I agree with everything you have stated here, especially the acknowlegement of “abortion” as our national sin. I did not grow up as a Southern Baptist but am well aware of my denomination’s conflicted past concerning slavery and racism as well as “abortion”. However, I am also aware of the fact that the Convention has since passed several resolutions condemning the above mentioned practices, and having been a member of several Southern Baptist churches over many years, I have never seen a “pro-choice” consensus among any of the congregations—I have actually seen the opposite. I stand by my… Read more »
Mr. Hudson, I think that 400 years of brutalization, dehumanization, lynching, enslavement, oppression, and other forms of mistreatment of non-white races is also a stain on the American people. Abortion – which is NOT the topic of this post – is evil. But we cannot appeal to the evil of abortion to abrogate America’s guilt over its treatment of Blacks, Native peoples, Asians, Hispanics, and others.
That is a shameful stain on our nation’s past.
Amen
My understanding is that the lack of minorities in Mayberry was because that the network (CBS) didn’t want to “stoke controversy” during the Civil Rights era and that decision was not a decision of the producers. CBS, of course, had a complete change of heart when they began airing shows like All in the Family during the next decade. Had Mayberry appeared in 1975 instead of 1960, things would probably have been different.
I acknowledged that in my post. Archie Bunker was cutting edge stir-the-pot social stuff. Andy was fun. They weren’t trying to make America uncomfortable, they were trying to make them laugh.
But we must remember when we long for the “good old days of Mayberry” that it was a time when it was OKAY to sanitize, segregate, and silence what was likely 40% of the population. My guess is we won’t find many minorities longing for the good old Mayberry days.
As to the discussion about Mayberry supposedly teaching salvation by being nice, I don’t believe Mayberry delved into soteriology at all, so it isn’t really fair to say it was teaching how to obtain salvation in any way. It was a subject that just wasn’t addressed.
Could television also be responsible for a lack of reading comprehension in some?
Scott H, You are right. Mayberry never “delved into soteriology” specifically. I would think that if even the word “soteriology” was ever used at the town hall and Otis was present in the lock-up, he would have asked Andy or Barney to save some for him when he got out of jail “for medicinal purposes only, of course.” However, if we were to make a concerted effort to research the theological predisposition regarding soteriology that Mayberry residents promoted most often, it would most probably be the “gospel of nice.” Or if we desire to define it in more contemporary terms… Read more »
CB,
Your point is well considered in your most recent post as you may be correct that if the subject was adressed at all that they maybe would have sided the way you suggest. I think I just come from the perspective that a show isn’t really teaching something by default if the subject isn’t addressed at all. I think it just isn’t taking a side one way or the other. Good discussion.
Oh and can you imagine what Archie Bunker would have done with the word “Soteriology”?
Now, that thought is funny. I don’t care who you are, that is funny.
Actually there were black folks in Mayberry without speaking parts. They were extras in the crowd. One lady appears more than once during the early seasons. So black folks were there but in the background—they were silent. I still like the show though.
I am so offended by abortion that I refuse to vote for any pro-death candidate. But this “denial by abortion” tactic which appears on so many posts is weak sauce.
The evil of abortion doesn’t trump every other discussion or render every other social ill unimportant. When we are discussing racism why bring up abortion?
Because abortion is bad we shouldn’t address anything else?
Dave Miller,
If you are addressing that comment to me. I didn’t bring abortion up. I did engage the gentleman who did. I did not deliver any “denial by abortion” tactic. Mrs. Kaufman has wrongly accused me of that and if you are agreeing with you, then you also have not read my comments with adequate comprehension.
I was NOT directing that toward you, CB. Actually, it was a more general comment of exasperation. Here, Mr. Horton did the “denial by abortion” thing, but I see it in almost every discussion somewhere – here, Facebook, wherever. We are discussing whatever the issue is and someone says, “Yeah, but 60 million kids have been murdered.” I agree that is a travesty. Horrifying. But the reality of abortion does NOT trump every other evil nor render the discussion of them null and void. We can discuss racism without needing to bring up abortion. We can discuss immigration without needing… Read more »
Dave Miler, Thank you for the clarification. I know I had not stated anything in disagreement with your post. It is an interesting post and provides a seed bed for discussion on racism among elitists places like Hollywood and other areas of the nation other than always the Southland. Quickly, allow me to state that the Southland has a raw and bloody history regarding racism and there is still some work to be done there, but there has been great progress. However, it is often the case, that other regions, locations, and entities within our culture are overlooked or ignored… Read more »
I did mention that you are weird, right?
Well, yeah. You have on more than one occasion described me in print or vocally as weird. But, here’s the thing, Dave Miller in regard to which of us is actually weird.
I don’t own a lime green suit, shirt, socks, tie, belt, or shoes. The only thing I have that is lime in color is some lime sherbet in the freezer, but you do. So . . . . .
That’s fashion.
Don’t be jealous.
And alas, due to weight loss my lime green suit has been retired
You should donate it to the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. It cannot be denied that your green suit is now part of SBC history.
Dave, Your description is accurate. There was so much ignorance in our country for years that fostered these outrageous actions and attitudes and actions toward African Americans. I thank God for courageous pastors as yourself who stood strong, and helped turned the tide that still needs to be turned. I grew up in Mobile Alabama. My high school was 40 percent African American. God moved mightily in our school (see movie Woodlawn to see what was happening all across the state of Alabama during those years). I invited a new convert to Christ who was my team mate and an… Read more »
Greg Davidson,
Great story. Dr. Wolfe was a fine pastor and preacher. Alabama was a hard place for many pastors back in that time period. I am glad that the times are changing there. I know there are still problems, but much has improved regarding racism and bigotry.
Wish there had been more pastors like that in those days.
While there wasn’t a main black character until much later, there were black people in the background if you look! The Gold truck episode and Barney gets his man come to mind! Watch the Mayberry band episode and watch those on the street as they March by! You have tolook hard, but they are there!
In the complete hypocrite department-I am wasting this day watching Andy and Barney. Keep telling myself I will only watch one more…then the next one comes.
The Andy Griffith show was developed and produced by Sheldon Leonard and Aaron Rueben (Jewish). It portrayed southern characters as backward, ignorant, and uneducated morons. It was a spoof presentation and purely fictional. What is amazing are those who quote from this fictional TV program, seem to be unable to differentiate between fantasy and real life. Does anyone actually believe Gomer, Goober, Floyd the Barber, Earnest T Bass, the Darling family, and Barney in large reside in average SBC congregations? It did not represent any particular group nor did it promote itself as such. Final observation……if you believe it to… Read more »