Ethnic Notions

The movie was a chronicle of history’s negative representation of African Americans in the media. In cartoons blacks were often, if not always, depicted as soulful, water-melon eating, laundry-doing characters. A common character, referred to as the “Sambo,” was put on the screen as a “simple, docile black man” who was almost always a carefree irresponsible individual possessing a sense of child-like contentment. One such Sambo was called Jim Crowe and was played by T.D. Rice. Rice was a black man who painted himself into a black man. While the show was merely comedic, the stereotype stuck causing people to believe that blacks were willing servants. It perpetuated the idea that “slavery was good for the negro” and that slaves were perfectly content to remain as such. Such images made people feel better about the horror that was slavery. It served as a sort of cop out for those allowing it to go on. The over-use of this stigma led to shifting perceptions within society causing people to see all African Americans in such a light regardless of the validity of the representation. The female version of the Sambo came to be called the “Mammy,” which was always a fat black woman who was also a loyal and docile servant who was protective of her white charges. She was portrayed so grossly in order to serve as the antithesis of the white woman. She was portrayed as good natured and benevolent with the white children in her care but controlling and strict with her own family which was not at all like the way whites ran their families. Whites saw this behavior as against societal norms and therefore incorrect. This was proof enough for whites that the black population would not last. Following the Civil War, the portrayal of blacks went from bad to worse as the old stereotypes were adapted to new governmental order. They were displayed as savages and brutes in need of control, namely by slaveholders. The film “Birth of a Nation” carried on this negative image by displaying the emancipation of the slaves a mistake and grotesquely exhibiting horrid crimes against whites committed by blacks. One example involved the hunting down of white virgin girls. At this point the days of slavery were referred to as “the good ol’ days,” while emancipation was deemed evil. Blacks began to be associated with animals in order for proponents of slavery to justify the abuse of these people. “Coon” jokes became commonplace black actors began to take the stage as despised “nigger” characters. They would take the work in order to eat and just live the most basic life but these actors only perpetuated the stereotypes. One such actor was Bert Williams who, although was perfectly articulate, took on the role of an illiterate plantation-bound black man. He couldn’t even be served a meal in public despite his fame. All that mattered was his skin color and to this effect he said, “There is no disgrace in being a black man, but it surely is inconvenient.”
After this, “black-face” began to dominate the film industry, especially cartoons which inadvertently lead young minds not only to naturally accept the stereotypes as truth, but to laugh at them. These images shaped notions of a black appearance as ugly. “To be natural is ugly.” Features were grossly distorted from reality into something grotesque and laughable.
As blacks began migrating from the country to the city and from the south to the north, they faced a resistant majority of whites who feared the expansion of a black labor force. Many tried to join the war but like in many other cases, this only reinforced their roles in society as servants as they were, more often than not, given low-level jobs such as cooks or maintenance men.
I would have to agree with the main sway of the video. The point of the video was to convey how easily swayed people are by media perceptions and how easily people believe things despite the credibility of the information at hand. I believe everyday life is an example of this. People have no trouble taking things at face value, myself included. It takes more effort to dig deeper into a situation than it does to accept that someone is being truthful and probably wouldn’t just “make something like that up.” The only thing I have to ask in reference to this piece is this; What sort of resistance did these media portrayals meet? I would just like to know if anyone tried to put an end to the madness or if it really and truly was swallowed whole by the public. The answer to that question would probably give people as a whole a little more credit.