Continuing Positive Black Characters on the Show
                       "In the Heat of the Night"

     In past television series, shows portrayed African-Americans
as being nothing more than the shadow of the white man.  Shows of
the sixties and seventies such as Mod Squad, I Spy, and Mission
Impossible did not have role developed for African-Americans, but
instead placed Africans in what seemed to be a white man's role, in
what result as the "Salt and Pepper" combination.  Issues such as
ethnic background or Civil Rights were never discussed.  Blacks
were never given their own identity.  The purpose of the African-
American was to either act as the comic relief or to fill the role
as the white man's sidekick.  Although progress has been made,
still the African-American is not portrayed accurately.
     Too many times are blacks featured as either the athlete, the
musician, or the comic relief of a show.  Currently, a television
show is not considered believable unless the black characters are
involved in drugs, violence, or some other social ill.  Blacks are
rarely shown in an everyday working environment.  Roles featuring
African-Americans as intellectuals and respected members of the
community are few and far between.  One show that has been give
praise for showing a more accurate portrayal of the African-
American is "In the Heat of the Night."  The show dispels the myth
that the South is totally bigoted and that there is no room for
racial harmony.
     The show is set in Sparta, a fictitious town in Mississippi. 
The series is based on an oscar winning movie made in the sixties
starring Rod Steiger and Sidney Potier.  The premise of the story
is about a small Southern town that hires its first black man as
Chief of Detectives.  The initial reason he is hired for the job is
because the Mayor of Sparta wants to run for Congress, so he
integrates his police force by hiring a black detective in order to
establish a civil rights record.  The detective, Virgil Tibbs,
formerly of the Philadelphia Police force, has an attractive wife
who is ambivalent about the job and about living in Mississippi. 
Tibbs accepts the job and proves himself to be a very talented
young detective.  The main appeal of this particular show is the
relationship between Virgil Tibbs(the black detective) and Bill
Gillespie(the white Chief of Police).   Their mutual respect is
very endearing.  Tibbs knows about all the current techniques and
technologies used in identifying criminals, and Chief Gillespie
knows the people in the town.  With Tibbs' technology and
Gillespie's instinct the make an undefeatable team.  Also, the show
doesn't overemphasize the race issue, and doesn't deliver sermons
more than every so often.
     The four main continuing black characters are Detective Tibbs,
his wife Althea, Harriet the City Councilwoman, and Sergeant
William Sweet.
     Detective Tibbs is apparently very well educated.  In fact, he
appears to be the person of the highest intelligence on the show,
when comparing him to characters such as Bubba Skinner, a
punchdrunk redneck type who half respects Tibbs and half resents
him.  The viewer concludes that Tibbs far excels in both formal
education and general knowledge compared to his white counterparts,
including Chief Gillespie.  Tibbs is looked up to by both blacks
and whites.  An example of this is shown in an episode where a
white desk sergeant is showing off his detective skills.  He boasts
in a childlike manner that Det. Tibbs taught him everything he
knows.  The show places Tibbs above the rest and implies that he is
the most knowledgeable and a great asset to the town of Sparta.
     His wife Althea is an attractive light skinned black woman. 
She is a well respected school teacher who plays the traditional
role of the supportive wife.  She is very loving towards Virgil. 
They are the ideal married couple and appear to be able to survive
any crisis.
     Another main African-American woman is the City Councilwoman
named Harriet.  She is highly successful and is the main love
interest of Chief Gillespie who is white.  She is very affectionate
towards the Chief and the relationship doesn't focus on the racial
issue.  It deals more with the trials and tribulations of any
relationship.  She is very light skinned which is why the
relationship may be more acceptable.  Had Harriet been cast as a
dark skinned black woman with more distinct African-American
features, the racial issue may not be passed over as readily.
     Lastly there is Sergeant William Sweet, an aspiring young cop
who sees Tibbs as his mentor.  Sweet is an honest, very respected
person who is very likable.  He is very ambitious and seems likely
to succeed.
     The characters all have one thing in common, they are all
individuals who have their own identities.  They are all very
unique.  They are not depicted as followers of the white man, but
as leaders, who are intellectually advanced, a trait not shown in
previous shows.  From the episodes I viewed, I concluded that the
continuing African-American characters appeared to be more advanced
that the white characters, and are free of bigotry and prejudice.
     The aim of the show appears to be the integration of blacks
and whites in a small rural Southern town.  The show proves that
people of different races can live harmoniously together, and can
even acquire close personal relations.  A scene from one episode
disproves the notion that it is in poor taste for two races to live
together in the same household.  In this particular episode, Althea
introduces a prejudiced old black woman to an orphaned black youth. 
The old woman knows that the boy has recently moved to Sparta and
naturally assumes that he is living with Althea and Detective
Tibbs.  When she discovers that Chief Gillespie has taken the youth
in she is puzzled, and is left speechless.  By the end of the
episode, her bitterness appears to have lessened and the show
implies that she finally lets go of her anger towards whites.  We
are accustomed to expect that racial misunderstandings must be
remedied through violence or segregation.  This story teaches us
that there are alternative methods of eliminating bigotry, and the
woman makes the effort to do so.  Scenes such as these are not
numerous, yet the show has an underlying racial tone.  However the
show does not focus solely on bigoted issues.
     What I really found interesting was that the town of Sparta
seemed to clash with the filmmaker's initial thematic notions. 
When scouting for a Southern spot to film, they found the sight of
black and white teenagers cruising in cars together was not
unusual, and people of both races mingled easily across the street
from where filming took place.  The filmmakers also discovered that
two of the five City Council members happened to be black as well
as 1/4 of the 48 person police force, a conspicuously higher
percentage than that which could be found in either Los Angeles or
New York City.
     Therefore it leads me to believe that not only is the
portrayal of African-Americans a positive one, but a realistic one,
and with more shows like these, the African-American can be given
recognition for having high intelligence and high school status and
can stop being typecast as the clown or criminal.
     In summary, what I really like about this show is that black
characters are not typical non-threatening characters linked with
a strong white counterpart.  African-Americans in this show have
strong identities and are given respectable storylines.  In order
to give blacks equal opportunity to express themselves in a
positive manner, we need more show similar to "In the Heat of the
Night" and with the show going into its sixth season, producers
might recognize that shows such as this are in demand.