Stereotypes of African Americans

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Stereotypes of African Americans are generalizations about the behavior of African American groups or individuals. They developed in American culture since the colonial years of settlement, particularly after slavery became a racial institution that was heritable. The early blackface minstrel shows of the 19th century portrayed blacks as joyous, naive, superstitious, and ignorant, characteristics related to the way slaveholders in earlier years believed them to be. Such scholars as Patricia A. Turner note "stereotyping objects in popular culture that depict blacks as servile, primitive, or simpleminded and explains how the subtle influences of such seemingly harmless images reinforce antiblack attitudes."^[1] As with every other identifiable group, stereotypes continue today. Blacks are often portrayed as athletic, unintelligent, very religious, poor, musically talented, or criminals.

Contents 1 Overview of black stereotypes 1.1 History of black stereotypes 1.2 Black stereotypes: then and now 2 Historical archetypes 2.1 Black-face archetype of minstrel shows 2.2 "Sambo" archetype 2.3 "Mammy" archetype 2.4 "Magic Negro" archetype 3 Stereotypical portrayal in the media 3.1 Early stereotypes 3.2 Film and television 3.3 Sports 3.4 The news media: criminal stereotyping 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading

[edit] Overview of black stereotypes

[edit] History of black stereotypes

The idea of "race" in the United States is based on physical characteristics and skin color^{[citation needed]}. It played an essential part in shaping American society even before the nation existed independently.^[2] The perception of black people has been closely tied to their social strata in the United States.^{[citation needed]} In early American history, the primary reason that Africans were in the colonies was as enslaved laborers transported by the slave trade.

[edit] Black stereotypes: then and now

Top ten stereotypes of black Americans[3] Year 1933 1995 1 Superstitious Athletic 2 Lazy/Slovenly Rhythmic/Musical 3 Happy-go-lucky Unintelligent 4 Ignorant Poor 5 Musical Loud 6 Ostentatious Criminal 7 Very Religious Hostile 8 Dirty (physically) Very Religious 9 Naïve Loyal to Family 10 Unreliable Dirty (physically)

In the 1930s, studies found a high level of consistency among adjectives used to describe black people. Furthermore, most of these adjectives were negative, and included terms such as superstitious, lazy, and ignorant. Today’s stereotypes are not much different, and include unintelligent, loud, very religious, poor, and criminal. Stereotypes can also be “positive” terms, although this does not make them less damaging to their targets. Current stereotypes of African Americans include athletic and musical/rhythmic.^[3]

African-American youth are significantly less likely to report using tobacco, alcohol or some illicit drugs than either white or Hispanic young people. The reported incidence of weapon carrying and violent behavior was higher among black female students (11.7% and 38.6% respectively) than white female students (3.6% and 22.3%). Black male students (23.1% and 44.4%) had higher incidence of weapon carrying and violent behavior than white male students (28.6% and 43.2%).^[4]

[edit] Historical archetypes

[edit] Black-face archetype of minstrel shows

Minstrel shows portrayed and lampooned black people in stereotypical and often disparaging ways, as ignorant, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, joyous, and musical.

Blackface is a style of theatrical makeup that originated in the United States, used to effect the countenance of an iconic, racist American archetype — that of the darky or coon. White blackface performers in the past used burnt cork and later greasepaint or shoe polish to blacken their skin and exaggerate their lips, often wearing woolly wigs, gloves, tailcoats, or ragged clothes to complete the transformation.

[edit] "Sambo" archetype

This stereotype gained notoriety through the 1898 children's book The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman. It told the story of a boy named Sambo who outwitted a group of hungry tigers. The original text suggested that Sambo lived in India, but this fact may have escaped many readers. The book has often been considered to be a slur against Africans.^{[citation needed]} Tigers were common in India but never existed in Africa.

[edit] "Mammy" archetype

Characteristics of "Mammy" include dark skin, a heavyset frame and large bust, and overall matronly appearance, complete with an apron around her waist and a kerchief on her head. She is overweight and dressed in gaudy clothing, as well as genial, churchgoing, and spiritual to the point of delusion — "Lord have mercy" is a common phrase associated with this archetype.^{[citation needed]} She is compliant in the face of white authority, as in the Aunt Jemima and Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind's Mammy characters, standards of this archetype.

The term Mammy is a variant of mother, used most prominently by black people in the South during and soon after slavery. White people used the term, as well, to refer to black female slaves, servants and caregivers, who often cared for white children of the slaveholder household. It became a general term for black women. White people often used it in a sentimental way, but many black people considered it patronizing or insulting.^{[citation needed]} Today, the term mammy, when applied to a black woman, is considered highly pejorative.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] "Magic Negro" archetype

The magical negro (sometimes called the mystical negro, magic negro, or our Magical African-American Friend) is a stock character who appears in fiction of a variety of media. The word "negro", now considered archaic and offensive, is used intentionally to emphasize the belief that the archetype is a racist throwback, an update of the "Sambo" stereotype.^[5] The term was popularized by Spike Lee, who dismissed the archetype of the "super-duper magical negro"^[6] in 2001 while discussing films with students at Washington State University^[7] and at Yale University.^[8]

[edit] Stereotypical portrayal in the media

[edit] Early stereotypes

Early minstrel shows of the mid-19th century lampooned the supposed stupidity of black people. In 1844 Secretary of State John C. Calhoun, arguing for the extension of slavery, wrote,

“

Here (scientific confirmation) is proof of the necessity of slavery. The African is incapable of self-care and sinks into lunacy under the burden of freedom. It is a mercy to give him the guardianship and protection from mental death.

”

^{[citation needed]}

Even after slavery ended, the intellectual capacity of black people was still frequently questioned. Movies such as Birth of a Nation (1915) questioned whether or not black people were fit to run for governmental offices or vote.

In 1916 Lewis Terman wrote in The measurement of intelligence,

“

(Black and other ethnic minority children) are uneducable beyond the nearest rudiments of training. …There is no possibility at present of convincing society that they should not be allowed to reproduce, although from a eugenic point of view they constitute a grave problem because of their unusual prolific breeding.

”

^{[citation needed]}

Stephen J. Gould's book The Mismeasure of Man (1981) demonstrated how early 20th century biases among scientists and researchers affected their purportedly objective scientific studies, data gathering, and conclusions which they drew about the absolute and relative intelligence of different groups, and of men vs. women.

Some critics have considered Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as racist due to its depiction of the slave Jim, among other black characters. Some schools have excluded the book from their curriculum or libraries.^[9] The word "nigger" appears numerous times, and is used to describe Jim and other black characters. While the term was contemporary for the period when Twain wrote the book, some modern readers have found it offensive, particularly those who do not understand the book. Other critics have noted that Twain's portrayal of the relationship between Finn and Jim overturned stereotypes of the time, and recognized Jim's humanity and strength.

[edit] Film and television

According to Robert M. Entman and Andrew Rojecki, authors of the The Black Image in the White Mind, in television and film black characters are less likely to be the "the intellectual drivers of its problem solving." Entman and Rojeki assert that media images of black people may have profound effects on the perceptions by both black and white people about black intellectual potential.^[10]

Political activist and one time presidential candidate Rev. Jesse Jackson said in 1985 that the news media portray black people as "less intelligent than we are."^[11] Film director Spike Lee explains that these images have negative impacts "In my neighborhood, we looked up to athletes, guys who got the ladies, and intelligent people," said Lee. "[Now] If you're intelligent, you're called a white guy or girl."^[12]

In film, black people are also shown in a stereotypical manner that promotes notions of moral inferiority. In terms of female movie characters shown by race:^[13]

• Using vulgar profanity: black people 89 percent, white people 17 percent
• Being physically violent: black people 56 percent, white people 11 percent
• Being restrained: black people 55 percent, white people 6 percent^{[dubious – discuss]}

[edit] Sports

In Darwin's Athletes, John Hoberman writes that the prominence of African-American athletes encourages a de-emphasis on academic achievement in black communities.^[14] Several other authors have said that sports coverage that highlights "natural black athleticism" has the effect of suggesting white superiority in other areas, such as intelligence.^[15] Some contemporary sports commentators have questioned whether black people are intelligent enough to hold "strategic" positions or coach games such as football.^[16] In another example, a study of the portrayal of race, ethnicity and nationality in televised sporting events by journalist Derrick Jackson in 1989 showed that black people were more likely than white people to be described in demeaning intellectual terms.^[17]

[edit] The news media: criminal stereotyping

The Black Image in the White Mind illustrates ways in which negative media images of African Americans are disproportionate and arguably harmful to race relations:^[13]

• A mug shot of a black defendant is four times more likely to appear in a local television news report than of a white defendant.
• The black accused is twice as likely to be shown physically restrained in a local television news report than when the accused is white.
• The name of the accused is two times more likely to be shown on screen in a local TV news report if the defendant is black, rather than white.

According to Lawrence Grossman, former president of CBS News and PBS, TV newscasts "disproportionately show African-Americans under arrest, living in slums, on welfare, and in need of help from the community."^[18] African-Americans are misrepresented for several reasons. Although FBI statistics show that most violent crimes involve people of the white, or hispanic race, there is a common misconception that crimes by black people against white people are more common, although statistics prove otherwise.^[19]

[edit] See also

• African characters in comics
• Blackface
• Black matriarchy
• Blaxploitation
• Coon song
• Ethnic stereotype
• Racial profiling
• Stereotype threat
• Uncle Tom
• Uncle Remus

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Patricia A. Turner, Ceramic Uncles & Celluloid Mammies: Black Images and Their Influence on Culture (Anchor Books, 1994).

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