Stereotypes

1/27/2009

The images portrayed by the media are dynamic. They change with the times. We watched a part of the film "Ethnic Notions." This film described and depicted the images of Black Americans before, during, and after slavery in America. Some of the common images were:

-The Black Mammie: an overweight, asexual, strong woman, who is very loyal to her white family.
-The Sambo: the laughing, carefree, lazy man.
-Jim Crow: a dancing man with tattered clothing.
-Zip Coon: a buffoon, who tries to dress well and is trying to fight slavery.
-Pickaninny: an animalistic child who is often depicted in trees or by a river.
-The Brute: a violent, and animalistic person who is out of control due to the lack of enslavement.

The intentions of these depictions were to justify slavery as well as entertain people. I thought these depictions were sickening. But, following the film, we discussed how these images have either lingered or changed over time. The modern stereotypical images are often brought about by the Hip Hop or Rap culture. We see Black women depicted as very sexy and beautiful, as demonstrated in music videos. The stereotypical black man is either seen as a rapper (again, along with the Hip Hop culture) or as a criminal (as discussed in the reading).

The Kivel reading discusses how Blacks are generally feared. An example given in the reading was, when a Black man walks near you, do you clutch your purse / wallet, or if you're in the car, do you lock your doors. This behavior, for many, is a natural "instinct" that has been ingrained into our culture from the images portrayed in the media. Black men are seen as dangerous in our culture. This stereotype aids in racial profiling. Why else would we have such a higher of percentage of Black men imprisoned than the ratio actually is in the free society?

This same stereotype is left-over from the "Brute" image seen during the reconstruction period after the Civil War / Slavery. Blacks were seen as violent, dangerous individuals. Some films even depicted Black men chasing after White virgin women.

What's interesting is that, as Kivel says, most (80%) assaults / batteries / rapes are committed by people that the victim knows. And it's usually someone of the same race (often its a significant other, or other family member).

Often we justify our fears of other races by the usage of stories. You hear people say, "It's unfortunate, but my one negative experience (with a particular race) was..."

Well, I was thinking about that. And realized, I don't have any outstanding negative experiences with people of a different race than me. And it's because, the most negative experiences (not that there are really all that many) I've had with people are with people who are White, like myself. Then I started to wonder why that was. And I realized, it's because for the majority of my life, I've been surrounded by people just. like. me. Despite not having any negative experiences with people outside my race, I found myself answering "yes" to some of Kivel's questions: "Have you ever been in your car when a person of color drove past? Did you reach over to lock your car door?" Kivel explained that these reactions were woven into our cultural fabric. But, I think that the education (social education, outside of the school setting) I received about different races was very biased. I now understand much more than I did when I was in third grade and am able to make decisions for myself instead of just thinking that the "right" viewpoint was what my father would say about the O. J. Simpson case, for example.

As uncomfortable as the movie "Ethnic Notions" made me feel, I'm really glad it got me thinking about stereotypes in a new way. I don't usually think about the ways that people outside of my own group are depicted in the media. But, it's good to be aware.