Can't wait for someone to misconstrue this...

I live in a somewhat small town in Kentucky, where a lot of folks still have those old racist/bigot beliefs. My dad's family are farmers, rough necks, and pretty much the regular stereotype of the "Justified" characters. My mother's side of the family, a lot of them reside in Newport, Kentucky(Just across the river of Ohio). It's a really diverse city in itself. I've had tons of discussions about racial topics all my life(And even gotten into fights for being stereotyped myself). So I try and stay away from the topic and don't give it much thought.

But watching the episode, when Teague was flirting with that black woman I was reminded of 'American Horror Story' season 2 when Kip had to keep his marriage from his black wife a secret. So yeah, it kind of stood out to me when I seen that scene. The only other Noir I can recall black people being prominent in film/tv is Chalky White in 'Boardwalk Empire'.

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is the absence of black people in pretty much every other film noir as anything other than the token jazz band or the hotel bellboy the actual inaccuracy

No. Historically you are correct. The minute I saw the black cop I knew how inaccurate the show was going to be. It has nothing to do with racism. It has to do with historical accuracy. We're taking about California at a time when interracial marriage was even illegal. I don't think there would be a black cop in an type of command in the (I think it was 1920's) or Teague openly flirting with the black waitress in the 1940's.

Mr. Grady, you were the caretaker here.

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...or is the absence of black people in pretty much every other film noir as anything other than the token jazz band or the hotel bellboy the actual inaccuracy?

Yes. Hollywood cozied up to the Southern market by not hiring black people or limiting them to stereotypical and subservient roles, but that wasn't the case on the street. The west coast and LA in particular was far more welcoming to black people (where they were a very small minority anyway) than many other places in the US. There were clubs in the 40s/50s that weren't segregated and there had been black police officers since the 1880s (and while not LA, other places in California had even had black mayors by this point).

The first black woman officer in the LAPD was hired in 1916 already, before women even had the right to vote in the whole nation:

http://www.lapdonline.org/home/content_basic_view/47101

The first black police officer killed on duty was a member of the LAPD, in 1923:

http://www.odmp.org/officer/14217-policeman-charles-p-williams

As for Teague flirting with the black waitress... it's a shady club and he doesn't give a *beep* This is the place where a guy would come to do whatever he wanted, and who would stop him if he wants to do so? He's flirting with her, not marrying her after all. I've heard this is a late recast and the original actress was a blonde northern European doing an American accent though. But I don't think it's that important anyway.

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