Talk:Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas

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Controversy

"Although the character he played was often the subject of controversy in later years, Thomas always defended his work in the series, pointing out the fact that Buckwheat and the rest of the black Our Gang kids were treated as being equal with the white kids in the series. The 1980s animated series addressed the problem by changing Buckwheat into a clever inventor who is always building ingenious machines for the gang."

I'm not sure just what the controversy was. This really needs to be clarified, because the article just makes a vague reference to some controversy but never tells just what it was. WoodenTaco 00:30, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I clarified the sentence. The controversy was that Buckwheat's character contained aspects of the "pickaninny" stereotype. --FuriousFreddy 02:17, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Hal roach gives testimony that, in the early days of the "Our Gang" assembly, while setting the children up for a photo-op, several white studio assistants and the photographer wanted to separaate Bill from Darla, as they were standing next to each other. To subject a child to intended racial violence\hostile intent at the time of official US-sanctioned Segregation was apalling to Mr. Roach-a Jew, to say the least. That was one of the magical things about "Rascals". It showcased how children can be themselves, mischievous, yes indeed, but also delightfully inventive and adventurous. The bastards who tried to harrass the black kids on set wanted to destroy what is a precious right of all children: The ability to be, and to playfully grow with facination, joy and wonder at the world. --24.46.103.28 (talk) 02:54, 24 May 2011 (UTC)Veryverser[reply]

Buckwheat was one of John Crichtons nicknames for Rygel in the TV programme Farscape.

--Hellahulla 12:22, 7 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, I got that. The character John Chricton's put-upon personality was based partly on colliuilisms and slang used by African-American street ppl. --24.46.103.28 (talk) 02:54, 24 May 2011 (UTC)Veryverser Can someone source the allegation that Carla Dartez called a volunteer 'Buckwheat'? Her name was removed with the rest of the sentence remaining. The same allegation on her wiki page Carla Blanchard Dartez has no sources. ScrotalKombat (talk) 07:43, 23 October 2008 (UTC) HAHA DISREGARD THAT, I SUCK lollypops. The source is right there, *facepalm*. ScrotalKombat (talk) 07:47, 23 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The Saturday Night Live section is quite inaccurate -- it implies that the first Buckwheat sketch was the assassination, when in fact, the first Buckwheat sketch ("Buh-Weet Sings") appeared on the FIRST anniversary of Thomas' death in 1981. Jarretc (talk) 21:55, 10 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Move request

This article has been renamed from Billie "Buckwheat" Thomas to Billie Thomas as the result of a move request.

For move discussion see Talk:Allen Hoskins