Very sad.
http://www.supermanartists.comics.org/fawcett/steamboat.JPGFrom a CC Beck interview:
Steamboat was created to capture the affection of negro readers. Unfortunately he offended them instead and was unceremoniously killed off after a delegation of blacks visited the editor's office protesting because he was a servant, because he had huge lips and kinky hair and because he spoke in a dialect. He was always a cartoon character, not intended to be realistic at all, but he was taken seriously by some, sadly enough.
Yes, sad, but not uncommon for the time-era it was written in. Pretty much all entertainment of the time (radio, movies, comics) seemed to feature such ethnic stereotypes of Black people. Needless to say, *this* "Negro" reader isn't exactly mourning "Steamboat"'s death... :-p