Eddie: There are three things that Black people need to tell the truth about. Number one: Rodney King should've gotten his ass beat for being drunk in a Honda in a white part of Los Angeles. Number two: O.J. did it! And number three: Rosa Parks didn't do nuthin' but sit her Black ass down! ("Barbershop (2002))
When it comes to the true experience of minorities in the media, film or Television, an elderly black man gets to speak his mind on a number of issues.
Opinionated black men like Fred G. Sanford from "Sanford and Son" or Eddie from "Barbershop" get to speak the truth, tell it like it is, blowing up all pretensions of political correctness.
White audiences enjoy these characters in part because they speak their mind — not just their own mind as outspoken characters in themselves, but also speak for the resentful unrest of those who see the color divide as an excuse which enables an entitlement victimhood mentality among minorities.
Sanford and Eddie can tell the truth about certain black folks, yet not be tagged as racist or prejudiced. If a white person made the racist, off-color, or politically charged statements by these black men, they would be ostracized, labeled racist, or even demagogued with civil rights lawsuits.