Stymie Beard: Our Gang and The Little Rascals

The Little Rascals and Our Gang were films television comedies with the same children that began around 1922. I watched a marathon last night on the Tubi streaming service and I laughed until I cried for 2 hours. These children were talented, worked well together, and had excellent comedic timing. Even the dog Pete acted on cue which brought back memories of my childhood where my animals and the neighborhood dogs were just like family.

In recent years there has been an outcry regarding racial stereotypes regarding Matthew Beard who portrayed Stymie the main black character. Beard was an exceptional young actor and could stand on his own merit. He took over in 1932 for Farino who was now too old for the gang. Beard was chosen from over 350 children who tried out for the role. It really is a shame what was done to this child but obviously, no one cared and his family probably needed the money.

My grandmother and other African Americans of her generation thought Stymie was funny and never saw a problem with how he was depicted. perhaps their attitude was like that of Latinos who are proud of Speedy Gonzalez while those of other races say he is offensive. As I watched multiple episodes and 2 movies of Our Gang I noticed something that recurred time and time again. Practically every time, after Stymie spoke he would open his eyes wide and grin with all his teeth showing. This was difficult to watch but the child performed on cue.

During a food scene Stymie was given watermelon but shortly after the other children also ate some of it. This brings to mind the stereotype that black folk love fried chicken and watermelon but I don't eat either. I wonder but will never know what was going through the minds of those directing Our Gang and the Little Rascals and why they believed this African American boy should be portrayed in such a manner?

Stymie was funny without the addition of these racially charged scenes which indicates they were not necessary. There was also a little African American girl who was portrayed by Willie Mae Taylor. Initially, she was called Buckwheat and no one was sure if she were a boy or a girl. There were scenes with her where when the camera came close she too widened her eyes and gave a toothy grin.

In one episode Spanky McFarland's father referred to Stymie as a pickaninnie ( Also Pickaninny, picaninny, piccaninny or pickinninie. This term originated in the West Indies as a word parents used to describe their children. It became a slang word for African American children and comes across as just another way to use the N-word. I recall in the early 1970s when pro wrestlers were in the small rings, I walked by my television one Saturday afternoon and saw Rick Flair. He was looking into the audience where a number of black children were in the front row and he referred to them as Pickaninnies. Over the decades this memory at times came back to me when I saw Flair wrestling.

Matthew Beard gave interviews where he said he enjoyed his time portraying Stymie and he has never indicated any racism on the set. Beard's life took a dark turn after he became a teenager and he became addicted to hard drugs but was fortunate enough to recover. he resumed his acting career with guest-starring roles on Sandford and Son, Good Times, and Maude. He was also in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

There is a movement today to eliminate any films with racial stereotypes but I hope the episodes of Our Gang and The Little Rascals will remain untouched by the cancel culture. I think of the phrase that if we forget the past we are condemned to relieve it. How can we realize and appreciate how far we have come if we don't have anything to look back on to remember where we came from? Thankfully I could find no images online of Stymie or Buckwheat with those exaggerated grins. There also are no interviews with Willie Mae Taylor who is believed never to have acted again after Our Gang.