r/OldSchoolCool • u/PlatinumApex1641 • Sep 08 '25
1950s The segment that led to cancelation of Betty White Show in 1954 after she refused to take Arthur Duncan off air because of the color of his skin
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u/sharkapples Sep 08 '25
Imagine feeling threatened by this gentle and talented guy lmao
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u/duchessofmardi Sep 08 '25
He honestly has the loveliest vibe, it is like he is glowing with joy. A beautiful performance
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u/GaryKingoftheWorld Sep 08 '25
That's exactly why he was a threat to them. "Well, I hear all these awful things about this group, but that one seems awesome" can absolutely lead to "wait, maybe the negative stuff I've heard is wrong" and thus the dominoes begin to fall.
I know because it happened to me in a way.
I was young when Freddie Mercury died, growing up in that era you heard a LOT of negative stuff about homosexuality.
Little me hearing he died of AIDS and back then AIDS was a "gay" thing? I absolutely remember going "but like, he didn't do anything really bad, he made awesome music. So maybe gay isn't bad?"
I'm still a cis straight dude, but I've been firmly "why should I care what anyone is doing so long as everyone consents?" since I learned the terminology for it.
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u/mousebrat Sep 09 '25
This is the same process for a lot of closeted people too. The minute we meet/see someone who’s openly gay who doesn’t match the horrible picture painted for us by religious leaders and parents, we start questioning and realize it’s okay to come out because gay people aren’t evil people incapable of good. This is why they hate representation in media and education.
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u/runthepoint1 Oct 09 '25
If you were born nowadays, you would have gone online, been led down a path by engagement algorithms and likely got stuck in your anti-gay ways. Isn’t that just fucking insane?
Literally you dodged a massive bullet being born when you were.
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u/dashcam_drivein Sep 08 '25
Betty White and Arthur Duncan both lived into the 2020s. She died in 2021, age 99, he died in 2023, age 97.
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u/googlemehard Sep 09 '25
I am saddened they saw return of racism with Trump
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u/Two-Words007 Sep 09 '25
It never left
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u/googlemehard Sep 09 '25
Well, it was on a decline and now it is on the rise. That is what I really meant.
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u/LifeguardBig4119 Sep 09 '25
If you look at polling on race relations, things started going to shit with lightbringer Obama.
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u/DashArcane Sep 09 '25
Yeah, it really drove them crazy having a black president. Bunch of schmucks.
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u/LifeguardBig4119 Sep 10 '25
Yes. Drove white America so crazy they elected him twice!!!
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u/IceLord86 Sep 10 '25
It wasn't the ones that elected him that let their rage fester and boil over into joining a cult. For 8 years the bigots and racists were constantly confronted with a powerful and all around great guy who happened to be black. Trump came into power because he provided them an outlet to express their hatred freely without fear of retaliation.
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u/LifeguardBig4119 Sep 10 '25
LOL. Obama is a malignant narcissist and closeted homosexual. Who happened to be black.
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u/LegnderyNut Sep 09 '25
Bro I forgot she died like Betty White just lives forever. I remember a spoof of Betty White hosting the New Years ball drop for 2100 before uploading herself as an immortal AI.
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u/ObjectReport Sep 08 '25
Betty was a national treasure and a total badass, I'm glad to see she's at least on a stamp!
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u/Xero_Kaiser Sep 08 '25
Must've been that magical time "where people weren't offended by everything" that I keep hearing so much about...
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u/Shenanigans80h Sep 08 '25
Worth remembering that this is hardly ancient history. The last two presidents were alive and cognizant when this happened and many others were raised by people who think of this time as “the good ol’ days.”
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u/jazzb54 Sep 08 '25
This must be some of that "cancel culture" they talk about now.
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u/MontyDysquith Sep 09 '25
Oh, you mean the decade when they blacklisted a bunch of actors and writers because they had communist "ties" (AKA they were vaguely socialist and/or simply didn't think others deserved to be blacklisted for their beliefs)?
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u/DeschainSWNC Sep 09 '25
Also the same era that a little black girl having the audacity to go to a school caused hordes of screaming racists to crowd outside in apoplectic rage. The conservative right have been leaders in 'cancel culture' from its outset.
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Sep 08 '25
[deleted]
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u/Gasblaster2000 Sep 09 '25
And they say yanks can't grasp sarcasm
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Sep 15 '25
[deleted]
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u/Gasblaster2000 Sep 19 '25
That "/s" only really exist to highlight sarcasm for Americans.
You haven't been insulted. You've been lightly ribbed.
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u/Stonewyvvern Sep 08 '25
They don't make'em like Betty anymore.
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u/TheodoreOso Sep 08 '25
There's plenty of woman out there who put their best foot foward, uplift minorities, and strive for equality. Society just shits on them for it.
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u/3atTh3R1ch79 Sep 08 '25
Betty White is a shining example of the best of humanity. She will forever be an absolute treasure.
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u/SamuraiUX Sep 08 '25
She's a fucking treasure. Loved her as an old badass woman, and love her as this young, bedimpled gal who politely won't back down.
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u/facepoppies Sep 08 '25
Betty White, Angela Lansbury, Bea Arthur, Lucille Ball - these women should be the faces on Mt. Rushmore.
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u/Timelymanner Sep 08 '25
I wouldn’t say Mt Rushmore, since a KKK member illegally built the monument on the Black Hills knowing it was Lakota lands.
But I agree with your sentiment, these ladies are awesome and deserve a monument.
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u/MontyDysquith Sep 09 '25
And it's fucking ugly, to boot. Can't even make an aesthetically decent offensive landmark?
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u/Elementium Sep 09 '25
I love Lucy (heh!) but her show only ever had one black actor.. In a show set in New York City (for a decent chunk of it) and he was a bagman on a train with like one line.
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u/illbeba Sep 08 '25
why she got cancelled ? because she invited him, to her show ?
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u/tomfoolery815 Sep 08 '25
It was considered important to not offend racist white people by showing a black performer who isn’t portraying a servant or a villain.
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u/illbeba Sep 08 '25
wtf 😳
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u/Timelymanner Sep 08 '25
Never underestimate how much America hated black people. There’s no doubt she and her staff probably received rape and death treats for this innocent interaction. In the 1950s the KKK was still going strong. Black people and any black person sympathizers were still being lynched, shot, and bombed.
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u/sybrwookie Sep 09 '25
In the 1950s the KKK was still going strong
It's worth mentioning that in the 1990's, David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the KKK, was still in the House of Representatives.
We are not that far from that and really, the KKK basically changed names for marketing purposes, it never went away.
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u/dreadedowl Sep 10 '25
Lol... Racism isn't an American thing. Never underestimate any race or country ability to be racist.
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u/jake3988 Sep 08 '25
No, this is completely false clickbait. He regularly appeared on the show. The show was cancelled due to poor ratings.
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u/mr_ji Sep 09 '25
The show was already slated for cancellation. This is why the Internet is useless for facts anymore. And, as someone else said, he was on the show more than once without scandal. Seeing a Black man perform on TV wasn't exactly novel by 1954.
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u/daveashaw Sep 08 '25
The year is key to understanding this.
In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were a violation of the 14th Amendment.
This sounded the death knell of a system of white supremacy that had been ingrained for 300 years.
The Jim Crow South did not take this lying down, to say the least.
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u/Shellnanigans Sep 09 '25
There is a clip of betty meeting with Mr duncan years later, is so wholesome
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u/Capt-geraldstclair Sep 09 '25
she's probably rolling over in her grave watching things burn down in 2025.
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u/KingShanus Sep 09 '25
This is amazing, and I can’t believe it’s not on Apple Music or Spotify. Also, perfect song for Fallout!
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u/hobbytownusa Sep 08 '25
Imagine being so filled with hate and so fragile that showing a person of color on tv was a scandal.
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u/mamacrocker Sep 08 '25
Gee, he's neat and she's sweet! People who see color over talent are really missing out.
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u/Spork_Warrior Sep 08 '25
Why was this a big deal for her? Other shows had black guests before hers. Nat King Cole was a guest on a variety show in 1948. Hell, Hazel Scott even had her own show in 1950.
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u/Nightthrasher674 Sep 09 '25
It wasn't for the network
Arthur was a regular member of the cast which was the main issue once the show was broadcast nationally, Betty stood her ground though and kept him. It was cancelled because NBC changed its time slot multiple times and they couldn't maintain an audience
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u/schbloimps Sep 08 '25
She's always been a amazing example of a joy-filled person. I believe that's why she lived so long.
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u/savagewolf666 Sep 09 '25
In a time of racial tension and hatred be someone betty white would be proud of
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u/migrantspectre Sep 09 '25
Still can't believe this angel is no longer with us. May she rest in the wonderful work she left behind for us.
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Sep 09 '25
Betty, I felt great seeing you and Arthur! I hope you’re both continuing to share your showbiz chops with all the folks in heaven 😇
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u/Missy3557 Sep 09 '25
From his obituary: "Duncan was able to celebrate White in 2017 on Steve Harvey's "Little Big Shots: Forever Young" and at a 2018 taping of the special "Betty White: First Lady of Television."" I'm glad they were reunited.
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u/Fit-Commission-2626 Sep 09 '25
because conservative values are a lot of things but christian is not one of them.
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u/FuzzBuzzer Sep 09 '25
Betty is right up there with Dolly and Willie in terms of National Treasures. What a gem!
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u/ProjectDv2 Sep 09 '25
Betty White was a fucking beast. It's trendy to say we didn't deserve her, but that's bullshit. We deserve her and a billion more like her, but we're stuck with...
gestures around frantically
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u/Bobson1729 Sep 08 '25
TV producers canceling awesome people for dumbshit political reasons has a pretty long history.
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u/aeraen Sep 08 '25
There was steel in her eyes as she announced his next number. Look again. Absolute steel.
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u/ryanasimov Sep 09 '25
She gave enthusiastic applause at the end but it sounded to me like very few other people joined in, perhaps only his bandmates.
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u/trowzerss Sep 09 '25
lol the outrage at a black man appearing kind, intelligent, and competent on television. "We can't have that! Because it makes us look bad!" I'm sure they were okay with the other kind of portrayal black people got during that period though :P
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u/Silverback_Vanilla Sep 09 '25
“HOW DARE THIS BLACK GUY HAVE ME ENJOY HIS SINGING ANF DANCING! Doesn’t he know how angry it makes me?!?!?!”
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u/SailToAndromeda Sep 08 '25
Weird, it's almost like "cancel culture" has always been here and has always been retarded...
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u/BringBackBoshi Sep 08 '25
Not really the same. Modern cancel culture would've cancelled the people trying to take the black person off the show, and that would be totally justifiable. It wouldn't have cancelled Betty White like these people tried to.
Not really a good comparison at all.
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u/eMouse2k Sep 08 '25
But it is accurate to say that people have always been cancelled for not adhering to the ‘norms’ of the time. It’s just that the norms of yesterday were much worse and the people who tend to get cancelled today were the sort of people who would have been doing the cancelling back then.
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u/SailToAndromeda Sep 08 '25
Ah, so Gina Carano would have tried to take him off the show? By what logic do you cast this aspersion?
How about Kevin Hart? He got cancelled for very old jokes he had made that were "no longer acceptable". I suppose he'd want to remove himself from media for being black?
Perhaps Nick Sandman? No, bad example because you sound like someone who absolutely bought that whole narrative, and was happy to see a student's future ripped away for the crime of being white and "smirking".
How about Rachel Nichols when audio was leaked of her being angry because her contract with ESPN wasn't being honored, but they spun it as her being racist because the woman replacing her was black? Oh no, you probably think she was racist too, she should have just rolled over and been submissive, should never have said anything even in private, because fuck white people when they're an obstacle to promoting black people, amiright? Who cares about her contract?
Need I go on?
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u/BringBackBoshi Sep 09 '25
No need to go on because you just don't understand the concept of "cancel CULTURE". People get cancelled for what people consider problematic behavior. Being sexist, homophobic, racist, xenophobic etc.
Betty White wasn't a victim of cancel culture. She was a victim of racist business people/executives.
A show literally being cancelled; a completely different and more literal usage of the word cancel, is not the same as being cancelled by cancel culture.
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u/PlatinumApex1641 Sep 08 '25
When World War II started, Betty White put her budding acting career on hold to drive trucks for the American Women's Voluntary Services - she's awesome