Oh my Goodness, I was young but my father could not STAND that character! As much as "Archie" was bringing attention to the "bafoonism" (a word?) of people like this it just hit too close to home.

The good thing that Reiner did (personal experience)as a writer, is that I knew cognitively that I was wiser than this man by age 7. Soon after that I knew the same about my backwoods Missouri bigoted Grandmother. My chainbreaking beatnik parents had to walk the line of family ties and wisdom. (of course "imo")

if all the "archies", or "alfs" are no more, then why all the rhetoric about racism every time you turn around?

they aren't gone, they just turned invisible...(where have i heard that before - invisible brotherhood?) that makes them even more dangerous and able to wreak havoc.

rather see and hear my "enemy" in an open field than have to try and seek them out in the trees and caves. or house to house and determine who is a "friendly" and who is not.

someone else started threads about a 'real' archie bunker already, name is Sterling

it was beaten to death,,,,,

Msharmony, as a man who has seen and done a lot in my life, I see so much now that I was "told" about by my grandfather, he passed away in 2000 @ 84 about 1.5 yrs AFTER fighting back to walking health from being in acoma, AND never having been able to drive a nail or build as some would do (he was a successful farmer) would get out of his armchair and go out and started building an outbuilding too move mower closer too house cause old farm garage had HEAVY wood door and grandma couldnt open it anymore.
As he has lost weight in hospital he had no"padding" too sit on so he it was up and working on building, or sitting, but he may go out 5, 10 times a day.
All built from old left over parts from house/farm, and passed before it warmed up enough to get it out side and install roof.
But it was "finished".
He had a lot of sage advice and knowledge, and I NOW wish he were around to tell that a lot of what he taught me IS true.
For every one intelligent, articulate, competent American citizen there are two who are simply out to take and scam, regardless of skin color. I got in customers car today(I am a Master Auto Tech), and out of the radio came "M-F this and M-F that and every M-F is this and that" (this is my generic (C)rap music.
So JUST WHAT PART OF THESE PEOPLE FOSTERING BAD REPUTATIONS IS THEIR FAULT.
I can name 10 white guys that I went to school with that are worthless bums, and I can point out 10 black guys who are same thing. YET the 10 white guys will blame the booze, weed, drug, wife, GF, etc.
9 out of 10 of those blacks guys will blame the white working man, then go cash the welfare check, and go buy something other than food, or medicine or a decent home/apartment.
And I can go find 50 white men/couples struggling to STAY off welfare or an kind of handout, but when they get into a crisis point and need a little help, they make too much (at/near/below poverty level) or dont have enough "disabling credits" too qualify.
You talk about Archie Bunkers of the world YET Archie DID make some valid points regardless of Carl's intent, a lot of the views the so called bigots and racists adopt, come from the ACTIONS of the ones they are judging.
I an white, male, mid 40's and right now I'm struggling a little, but I would love some minor help, but couldnt "qualify" unless I learn to milk the system.
I have a brother in law who is black and one of the smartest men I know AND HE WILL ASK ME QUESTIONS namely because he doesnt see black or white, he sees an intelligent human.
And honestly I have yet too meet a person I would not at least call a passing friend, till they give me a reason to NOT. I will talk to anyone on a subject IF I know about it.
Honestly, I can show you 1000 black/non white people who are racist, and for the most part most of the white people I know, could care less about skin color, but who you are.
Racism/bigotry/etc are taught and fostered, and this is a sad commentary.
When I see your picture I see a beautiful woman. Again, I was taught to let the persons actions ell me about who/what they are. and my grand father summed it up very wisely:

"Remember this, there are white niggers, and black niggers! See the word ****** USED too mean numbskull/ignorant person, hence n-igger, and was adopted back in revolutionary times too predominately describe freed slaves with no education, skills, etc." "Yes it WAS used before then but its contextual use was solidified then, and now is used in a derogatory term to describe ALL black people, by people who are basically numbskull/ignorant themselves."

See Archie Bunker character actually described the current version of a Democrat very aptly, bad thing is the party laid claim to oppression, control, and power OVER the lesser people, and then became even worse after they took defeat as the head brand of the Confederate States of America.
AND too many people divided America by D/R politics, they missed the numbskull/ignorance of what their actions and appearance provide for the person observing.

My niece is a 20ish yr old and still thinks her (c)rap music is so great, then I actually broke one down for her and started talking and treating her exactly like the song she so gayly sang at the top of her voice in her truck, and she got MAD, and wanted to hit me I guess. Then her dad came out and told her to step back and listen to the music and words and then pay attention to WHAT I was doing.

Amazingly, she BURNS a brand new CD and all of the same artists CDs she had. I asked her why, and she said she never paid attention to it.

NOW she sees some of what I was trying to tell her in past. I asked her if she ever stayed straight while her "buddies/friends" were getting wasted? She said no. I asked why not. She couldnt tell me. One fact is, she was drugged as a kid (supposedly add/adhd)and still thinks that is normal. She never learned HOW to adapt/control/learn how too work with her "disorder".

I would have been labeled ADD/ADHD, a form of autism, and some other supposed disorders if it was around in 70s-80s. But a person, my babysitter, took time too TEACH me HOW to read, use my imagination, my intelligence to my benefit.
While I have a VERY high IQ, I get bored with math or analytical pursuits, and actually I am a hairs breath away from having a doctorate in advanced mathematics(physics/quantum mechanics based) but if I ever "zone in"on a problem I will spend days/weeks working on it.
And quite without knowing I have taken 3 legal pads and 2 weeks to finish a computation.
BUT I am a superior diagnostic technician working on cars AND even when other jobs are gone, something mechanical will need fixed, or built.
I can design and build in my head as I work.
I met a black kid with same talent the other day, but he was sold on the fact he NEEDED welfare, and food stamps, and state aid to go to school to get a junk degree that would put him in probably 1/4 million dollars in debt, so he decided to not go. To do nothing and be nothing, a drone to be fed, and his car and demeanor actually showed he was going to go that way all his life.
Probably had at least a 150 IQ or better, but smoke some dope, scam and steal and milk the system.
That was his direction.
So I asked him what else he loved doing, he told me he loved building things, like houses and such. Had a picture of a dog house he built in school, in a shop class (never knew there was still shop class).
It was beautiful. So I asked him if he were given a chance to be the best at THAT would he give up being a deadbeat bum.
He said no one would give him a chance, he was just another ******.

So I called a buddy who does upscale renovations, told the kid to go on over and talk, show his dog house picture. THEN offer to start at bottom and learn every facet of the trade.
This was about 6 or 8 months ago. My buddy just put him in charge of an interior finish crew, they hand build, on site , custom wood work and cabinets, got a semi trailer full of tools.
Derrick, the boy, is NOW a skilled laborer, doing AWESOME work, and he dosnt wear saggy jeans any more, listens to lots of different music never smokes dope or drinks much, and is driving probably a $50k Ford truck.
He came in and shook my hand, and told me if not for me, he would still be a dumbass ******.
Archie Bunker was a development of a liberal, left wing writer, that while never saw a single thing in his work that disproved his intent, yet did write about things with a comedy twist.
Used to watch All in The Family at grandpas, every Saturday night, and never used to understand WHY Grandpa would watch AND laugh. But EVEN men like Carl Reiner could put together as much fact,fiction and comedy and make it profitable and not know he was actually pointing out a lot of the effect, caused by people trying to fix things they were never taught how to decipher.
The old racism was born of generations getting tired of trying to "fix stupid".
New racism is born of STUPID.
Plain and simple.
Remember the phrase "Stupid is as Stupid does" look to the picture of the black girls facebook post. Her picture is in dictionary with millions of others under STUPID. and o one ever taught her to look in the mirror of that definition. So she will wear that "badge" proudly. And probably pick up her EBT card, buy food, pay for her phone, and typically show ME that if the definition fits, wear it.
Sorry this is so long and hope you could follow. You dont appear to be stupid, either in picture nor your writing.

the 'these people' when it pertains to a whole race is what is being spoofed in Archie Bunker, the idea that anyone can feel so completely superior to BILLIONS Of other people because of where their ancestors were from is hilariously insane

the disregard for the immediate environment, culture, and opportunities the individuals making up whichever 'these people'(any group applies) are being discussed is at the root of the old racism, racists weren't trying to 'fix stupid' with slavery and jim crow,,,,they were trying to keep their power


I am impressed that you personally KNOW 1000 white OR black people, I am saddened that they are all of the character you describe,

I cant make such a claim,, but I do know the black person in the mirror, the black people I woke up to and slept in the house with all my life, the black people who loved me and raised me and guided me, and all the black folks around them,, so the ARCHIE BUNKER stereotypes, for me, are far from founded or real, even if they do describe SOME black people,, and the ones the media prefers to spotlight most often,,,


I really saw nothing in Archie but a hilarious unhappy bigot who was in need of someone else to feel superior to.

I am not offended and hope you understand that I respect your right to your perceptions, even if I don't share them.

"them"........ UGH!.....perhaps my 2nd least favorite word

I know of one Archie Bunker and he is every bit grouchy as the TV character. Never thought I would know someone like that.

grumpy people drain me,,,,,I hope you don't have to be around him often,,,,

If that is the case, then perhaps you should avoid the "Politics" forum.

I have learned to laugh at a lot of things, especially irony and hypocrisy

a lot of grumps are full of both,,,,

That's why you should laugh at them like this:

In light of recent posts in other threads, I have changed my mind about Archie Bunker. Although he is on life-support, his descendants aren't. If you want to find them, then just ask people for their opinion about interracial dating.

different levels hon, different levels,, people aren't always blatantly awful or hateful when they are racist,,,,