Image: Mary Ann Jackson, Alan
“Farina” Hoskins, Joe Cobb, Harry Spear, Jean Darling and Bobby “Wheezer” Hutchins
in a 1929 Our Gang comedy, later to
be known as The Little Rascals. (CBS
via Getty Images)
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The kids in the Our
Gang comedies, also known as The
Little Rascals, enjoyed as long a run on screen as anyone, starting in 1922. The child actors would age out of the
comedies, and they’d be replaced. But there was this constant: While most of the gang were
white, there was always at least one black child in the cast. Author Julia Lee
dug deep into the lives of the African-American actors who performed in Our Gang, and she’s written a book about
them called Our Gang: A Racial
History Of The Little Rascals.
‘Our Gang’ Chronicles Lives Of African-American Actors In 'The Little Rascals’