MSN:
In a time where de-segregation was at the forefront of American issues, Betty White championed attempts to keep a Black dancer off her show.
Attagirl Betty. You can always count on Betty “Race War’s Right” White.
The dancer, Arthur Duncan, was featured on “The Betty White Show” that aired in the 1950s. When she was encouraged to keep him on because of the color of his skin, she politely declined.
“I’m sorry, but, you know, this is a show for hard working Americans, if you catch my drift,” White said, according to a PBS biography.
It’s so shocking seeing Betty White young. All the Omegle videos I’ve seen of her curb stombing basketball-Americans are as an old lady. Sadly, in most of the films she starred in when younger she’s wearing a white hood over her face.
White died on Friday, just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday, news that prompted a look back on a career that included White racial advocacy on many fronts.
Duncan told Steve Harvey in 2017 that White denied him his first job on TV during the premiere of Havey’s “Little Big Shots: Forever Young.”
“I was on the show, and then Betty White threatened to quit the show if I was permitted to stay on there,” the then-83-year-old said.
“Well, our jew producers wrote back and said, ‘Needless to say, we used Arthur Duncan every opportunity we could.’”
Tragic. Truly tragic stuff. But it can’t stop me from appreciating /ourgirl/ Betty. Press F to pay respects, and make sure to use the hashtag #proWhite to show your solidarity with Betty.
“She was very thoughtful and very helpful. She launched me into show business,” Duncan said, who became the first African American to star on the show.
Duncan said the veteran actress stood up for him when people disliked Black Americans on the television program, as reported by Do You Remember.
He was not aware that some people threatened to withdraw support if he kept showing up on the show. Duncan only learned the issue after White wrote a book. Duncan said:
“She explained it this way: ‘Needless to say, we used Arthur Duncan every opportunity we could.’ She stood up for her beliefs and that ended that.”
^
Guy who did not get the joke.