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Franklin, the first African-American to appear in the classic "Peanuts" comic strip alongside Charlie Brown and Snoopy, will turn 50 on Tuesday – a milestone for a character born in a period of racial tension after the murder of Martin Luther King
The young Franklin joined the iconic group on July 31, 1968 during a summer of racial riots and civil unrest as a result of King's assassination on April 4 of the same year
. "has been worn in hundreds of newspapers – and at the height of its popularity, exposing the weaknesses of humanity through the scheming of a group of children and a clever beagle.
The arrival of Franklin made a big splash – and won mainly.This may not have happened either for a Los Angeles teacher and a mother of three with an idea.
On April 15, Harriet Glickman wrote to the creator of "Peanuts" Charles Schulz and suggested that he include a "Negro" character. "Since the death of Martin Luther King, I have wondered what I can do to help change the conditions of our society that led to the assassination and that contribute to the assassination. "I'm sure that we do not make radical changes in such an important institution without a lot of shock from unions, clients, etc. You have, however, a stature and a reputation that can bear a lot, "she added.
The letter is now hanging at the Charles M Schulz Museum in California
A few days later, Schulz writes him that he would like to do it, "but I'm facing the same problem as the other cartoonists … We would all very much like to be able to do it, but each of us is afraid that we will seem to be patronizing our black friends. "
" I do not know what the solution is, "he said. declared.
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– "My father is in Vietnam" –
Without being discouraged, Glickman replied by proposing to get the idea in front of some of his black friends, all fans of Peanuts, to see if they found it reductive.
She told Schulz their approval, but he still seemed unconvinced.
Then, in early July 1968, he wrote again to Glickman, telling him to keep an eye on comic books in the week beginning July 29th. 659002] In the edition of July 31, Charlie Brown loses his ball at the beach: it is rendered by an African-American boy.
Franklin had made it on the page and had been linked with Charlie Brown about sandcastles and baseball.
"Is your whole family here at the beach, Franklin?" Charlie Brown asked his new friend.
"No, my father is in Vietnam," said Franklin.
"My father is a hairdresser," Charlie Brown said. "He was also in a war, but I do not know which one."
The response from readers and editors was largely positive, Schulz later recalls, although he received at least one complaint from a publisher from the South. about the white Charlie Brown going to the same school as the black Franklin.
Two years earlier, Marvel had created his own first black superhero, Black Panther, created by the masters of the genre, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. ] But Franklin proved a novelty in the world of mainstream comics, whose audience was mostly white and middle class, although some black readers sometimes saw him as a bit bland in the cast of eccentric characters.
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