Don't tell me you never noticed them. They're there for all to see. It's simply a matter of fact that "The Smurfs" was simply a vehicle for indoctrinating little kids in the 80s with white supremacist propaganda.

First of all, let me say that, yes, they were blue, not white. But that hardly matters any more than their being three apples tall. Everybody knows that blue is a kind of white anyway; and more to the point, it makes them cuter, thus making little kids more susceptible to their message of hatred.

Now, to the proof.

1: The smurf village was organized like the Ku Klux Klan. They all wore white stocking caps and white pants. Their leader (Papa Smurf) wore red. Just like the Klan.

2: Gargamel is such an obvious Jewish stereotype that it offends even me, as a Gentile. Aside from his name itself, there is his practice of godless sorcery, and the overwhelming avarice that drives him to seek out the smurfs.

(Noder's Note: A friend of mine always thought that Gargamel was seeking out the smurfs so that he could eat them. Aside from the questionable nutritious value of blue little critters, there's the obvious issue of, really, how satisfying a smurf could be. I mean, it's only a foot tall. That's hardly a meal.

For the record, Gargamel wanted to capture the smurfs so he could turn them into gold. Need I say more?)

I'm deliberately bracketing the issue of Gargamel's big nose. Yes, that could be another sign of the Jewish stereotype, but all Hannah-Barbera cartoon characters had big noses.

3: This last point of proof is obscure, but significant. In one episode of "The Smurfs," there was a beetle that scuttled around biting smurfs on the behind. When they were so bitten, the smurfs turned evil, running around causing mischief and strife, biting one another on the tails and spreading the infection. All they could say was, "GNAP!" And what colour did they turn?

Black.

(Well, really a dark purple. But black enough to be noticeable as such. Dark purple is to blue as dark brown is to pink.)

4: Is it just coincidental that the smurfs are a German-language creation?

I rest my case. I'll let you, the enlightened reader, be the judge. But personally, I think we should all be ashamed of having enjoyed that show!

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Noder's Note (October 21, 2000): Thanks to Bill Dauterive for help with sorting out which episodes were which!

Noder's Note (November 12, 2000): Okay, okay, the Smurfs are Belgian and therefore a French language creation. Don't tell me the French can't be racist, too!

Noder's Note (January 18, 2003): Master Villain says: Gargamel wanted to eat the smurfs until he visited his godfather Balthazar and found the spell to turn them into gold.

Balthazar is of course the name of one of the Persian Magi from the Bible. This name, like Gargamel, was clearly chosen for its Jewish sound.

Noder's Note (September 11, 2003): Kassi says: Kassi says Hi, I would like to add to Gargamel's possible Jewish sorcery the fact that he created Smurfette out of clay, the same way the golems are created

The plot thickens!!