Ethnicity is a key component in the humor that makes Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-79) come alive. Even though I didn’t find the show to be hilarious (that may be because the humor was from a different time period), I did find the humor in the stereotypes that were played. The most noticeable stereotype and probably the most significant stereotype that was exuded was the one of the Black athlete in “Basket Case.”
Freddie Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs) is represented as the potential star athlete that feels that his athleticism will get him where he wants to go without worrying about actually doing well in his academics. Obviously, I didn’t really like how his character is portrayed; I feel that he is the epitome of the stereotypical Black student. What really struck me was how racist comments were constantly being thrown into the dialogue that was casual enough to be funny (I have to admit, I cracked up a few times).
In one scene, Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta) compares Mr. Kotter (Gabe Kaplan) to Freddie. He talks about the obvious differences in the body types of Mr. Kotter and Freddie and how Freddie’s body is the type for physical activity and athletic success, while Mr. Kotter’s body is for sitting and getting fat. It was obviously supposed to be really funny joke, and it was, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable. Maybe it’s because I’m an Anthropology major and in one of my classes we had just finished discussing the misconceptions about “race” and the traits and, physical and mental abilities that come with them. One of them was about the “Black race” that has been widely accepted to be the athletically superior race, but not the most intellectually superior. It was just a bit difficult to see in the sitcom.
The time period this show takes place in also has an affect on the humor. Coming out of the psychedelic and counter-culture 60s, racial integration is a newly accepted national norm for schools. So, it is interesting to see how stereotypes are played to relieve the newly “diverse” school system.
