mind-set.
Up to that point blacks had seen themselves portrayed on television primarily as scheming scalawags (
Amos and Andy
), wire-haired scamps (Buckwheat in
Little Rascals
and
Our Gang
), or “yes, ma’am” maids and“no, sir” chauffeurs. To see themselves presented with beauty and grace and elegance would be revolutionary, and to be applauded by whites was almost unimaginable.
The Supremes appeared fourteen times on
The Ed Sullivan Show
between 1964 and 1969, but the impact of their first appearance, on December 27, 1964, cannot be overstated. It was a clarifying moment for the country as both ends of the racial spectrum came together to be entranced and entertained by three exquisite young women singing “Come See About Me.”
“Many felt pride seeing The Supremes [that evening],” recalled Diahann Carroll, the first African American woman to star in her own television series (
Julia,
1968–1971). “Young people will have to understand, that period of dreams and civil rights taught all of us in entertainment how to find our stepping-stones. It taught us how to pull others up in a manner that was beneficial to all people.”
As someone who started dreaming that night, Oprah never forgot how she felt watching The Supremes. “In those days, anytime you saw a black person on television, it was so rare that everybody called everybody else, saying: ‘Colored people are on.’ You’d miss the performance because by the time you called everyone, the act was over. I remember saying, ‘What? A colored woman can look like that?’ Another electrifying moment was seeing Sidney Poitier. I was watching the Academy Awards [in 1964] and Sidney Poitier won for
Lilies of the Field.
That was the first time I ever saw a black man get out of a limousine instead of driving one….I remember thinking, ‘If a colored man could do that, I wonder what I can do.’ He opened the door for me.”
Symbolically, cymbals clashed, drums rolled, and trumpets blew throughout black America that year. It was a new beginning for people of color to see their own portrayed with style and sophistication on television. Motown Music had invested thousands of dollars grooming The Supremes for mainstream stardom—charm school, makeup lessons, splendid wigs, beaded gowns, sparkling jewelry—and the investment paid off. Among the thousands of black children watching
Ed Sullivan
that evening were a six-year-old boy and a ten-year-old girl, both hypnotized by the dazzling style of the lithe lead singer. Each child would grow up to become a reflection of the glamour they saw inher that night. Michael Jackson in Gary, Indiana, and Oprah Winfrey in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wanted nothing more in life than to be Diana Ross. She became their polestar.
The same year that The Supremes electrified America on television, Congress passed the Economic Opportunity Act as part of the nation’s “War on Poverty.” The legislation was later criticized for inefficiency and waste, but many blacks benefited, especially through the Head Start program for preschool children and the Upward Bound Program for high-school students. One of those kissed by the affirmative action of Upward Bound was Oprah, then a student at Lincoln Middle School, which was considered “the melting pot” of Milwaukee. The program director, Eugene H. Abrams, had noticed her in the school cafeteria reading a book, and recommended her as one of six black students—three girls, three boys—to integrate Nicolet High School in the wealthy country club suburb of Fox Point.
Years later Oprah said that she had been given “a scholarship” to the privileged school, and was the only one in her class selected for that honor. “I was in a situation where I was the only black kid, and I mean the only one, in a school of two thousand upper-middle-class suburban Jewish kids. I would take the bus in the morning to school with the maids who worked in their homes. I had to transfer three
Up to that point blacks had seen themselves portrayed on television primarily as scheming scalawags (
Amos and Andy
), wire-haired scamps (Buckwheat in
Little Rascals
and
Our Gang
), or “yes, ma’am” maids and“no, sir” chauffeurs. To see themselves presented with beauty and grace and elegance would be revolutionary, and to be applauded by whites was almost unimaginable.
The Supremes appeared fourteen times on
The Ed Sullivan Show
between 1964 and 1969, but the impact of their first appearance, on December 27, 1964, cannot be overstated. It was a clarifying moment for the country as both ends of the racial spectrum came together to be entranced and entertained by three exquisite young women singing “Come See About Me.”
“Many felt pride seeing The Supremes [that evening],” recalled Diahann Carroll, the first African American woman to star in her own television series (
Julia,
1968–1971). “Young people will have to understand, that period of dreams and civil rights taught all of us in entertainment how to find our stepping-stones. It taught us how to pull others up in a manner that was beneficial to all people.”
As someone who started dreaming that night, Oprah never forgot how she felt watching The Supremes. “In those days, anytime you saw a black person on television, it was so rare that everybody called everybody else, saying: ‘Colored people are on.’ You’d miss the performance because by the time you called everyone, the act was over. I remember saying, ‘What? A colored woman can look like that?’ Another electrifying moment was seeing Sidney Poitier. I was watching the Academy Awards [in 1964] and Sidney Poitier won for
Lilies of the Field.
That was the first time I ever saw a black man get out of a limousine instead of driving one….I remember thinking, ‘If a colored man could do that, I wonder what I can do.’ He opened the door for me.”
Symbolically, cymbals clashed, drums rolled, and trumpets blew throughout black America that year. It was a new beginning for people of color to see their own portrayed with style and sophistication on television. Motown Music had invested thousands of dollars grooming The Supremes for mainstream stardom—charm school, makeup lessons, splendid wigs, beaded gowns, sparkling jewelry—and the investment paid off. Among the thousands of black children watching
Ed Sullivan
that evening were a six-year-old boy and a ten-year-old girl, both hypnotized by the dazzling style of the lithe lead singer. Each child would grow up to become a reflection of the glamour they saw inher that night. Michael Jackson in Gary, Indiana, and Oprah Winfrey in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, wanted nothing more in life than to be Diana Ross. She became their polestar.
The same year that The Supremes electrified America on television, Congress passed the Economic Opportunity Act as part of the nation’s “War on Poverty.” The legislation was later criticized for inefficiency and waste, but many blacks benefited, especially through the Head Start program for preschool children and the Upward Bound Program for high-school students. One of those kissed by the affirmative action of Upward Bound was Oprah, then a student at Lincoln Middle School, which was considered “the melting pot” of Milwaukee. The program director, Eugene H. Abrams, had noticed her in the school cafeteria reading a book, and recommended her as one of six black students—three girls, three boys—to integrate Nicolet High School in the wealthy country club suburb of Fox Point.
Years later Oprah said that she had been given “a scholarship” to the privileged school, and was the only one in her class selected for that honor. “I was in a situation where I was the only black kid, and I mean the only one, in a school of two thousand upper-middle-class suburban Jewish kids. I would take the bus in the morning to school with the maids who worked in their homes. I had to transfer three
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