User:Nkechimoro/Stereotypes of African Americans

—Stereotypes about African Americans are misleading beliefs about people of African descent residing within the United Stares, originating from racial prejudice held by American colonists during the period of slavery during the country’s colonial era. The most common beliefs of this kind are that African Americans are ignorant, stupid, lazy, unsanitary, violent, and overall inferior to people of other races, particularly white Americans and Europeans. These are closely associated with African American culture, and have become imbedded in much of American social and political culture.—

Nineteenth-century minstrel shows used White actors in blackface and attire supposedly worn by African-Americans to lampoon and disparage blacks. Some nineteenth century stereotypes, such as the sambo, are now considered to be derogatory and racist. The "Mandingo" and "Jezebel" stereotypes sexualizes African-Americans as hypersexual. The Mammy archetype depicts a motherly black woman who is dedicated to her role working for a white family, a stereotype which dates back to Southern plantations. African-Americans are often stereotyped to have an unusual appetite for fried chicken, watermelon, and grape drink.

--The first major display of stereotypes about African Americans were the minstrel shows, beginning in the nineteenth century, which had White actors wearing blackface, a style of face makeup that made the actors’ face resemble a Black person, and attire supposedly worn by African-Americans, perform various entertainment styles, most commonly singing and dancing, to mock African Americans’ appearance and mannerisms. Blackface in particular was used to effect the countenance of an iconic, racist American archetype: that of the "darky" or "coon" (both are racial slurs). White blackface performers used to use 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.

The most common forms of minstrelsy were a variety of character archetypes meant to illustrate a derogatory image of African Americans, as well as certain foods which African Americans were portrayed as having an unusual appetite for, including fried chicken, watermelon, and grape drink.—

In the 1980s and following decades, emerging stereotypes of black men depicted them as drug dealers, crack addicts, hobos, and subway muggers. Jesse Jackson said the media portrays black people as less intelligent. The magical Negro is a stock character who is depicted as having special insight or powers, and has been depicted (and criticized) in American cinema. In recent history, Black men are stereotyped to be deadbeat fathers.

—Advancing into the 1980s and following decades, emerging stereotypes of Black men as criminals and social degenerates, with the most common portrayls including being drug dealers, drug addicts, homeless people, and street/subway robbers.—

Stereotypes of black women include being depicted as welfare queens or as angry black women who are loud, aggressive, demanding, and rude.

—Stereotypes of black women include being depicted as welfare queens or as angry black women who are loud, aggressive, demanding, and rude.—

Historical Stereotypes

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

— Minstrel shows became a popular form of theater during the nineteenth century, which portrayed African Americans in stereotypical and often disparaging ways, some of the most common being that they are ignorant, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, joyous, and musical. One of the most popular styles of minstrelsy was Blackface, where White performers 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 give a mocking, racially prejudicial theatrical portrayal of African Americans. This performance helped introduce the use of racial slurs for African Americans, including "darky" and "coon".

-The best-known stock character is Jim Crow, among several others, featured in innumerable stories, minstrel shows, and early films with racially prejudicial portrayals and messaging about African Americans.

(Jim Crow)

The character Jim Crow was dressed in rags, battered hat, and torn shoes. The actor wore Blackface and impersonated a very nimble and irreverently witty black field hand. The character’s popular song was "Turn about and wheel about, and do just so. And every time I turn about I Jump Jim Crow." .

(Sambo, Golliwog, and pickaninny)

- The character Sambo was a stereotype of black men who were considered very happy, usually laughing, lazy, irresponsible, or carefree. The Sambo 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. This depiction of black people was displayed prominently in films of the early 20th century. The original text suggested that Sambo lived in India, but that fact may have escaped many readers. The book has often been considered to be a slur against Africans.

The term Golliwog is most often represented as a blackface doll, and dates to American children's books of the late 19th century. The character found great popularity among other Western nations, with the Golliwog remaining popular well into the twentieth century. The derived Commonwealth English epithet "wog" is applied more often to people from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent than to African-Americans, but "Golly dolls" still in production mostly retain the look of the stereotypical blackface minstrel.

The term pickaninny, reserved for children, has a similarly broadened pattern of use. It originated from the Spanish term “pequeno nino” and the Portuguese term “pequenonino” to describe small child in general, but it was applied especially to African-American children in the United States and later to Australian Aboriginal children. Although not usually used alone as a character name, the pickaninny became a mainstream stock character in white-dominated fiction, music, theater, and early film in the United States and beyond.

The term pickaninny, reserved for children, has a similarly broadened pattern of use in popular American theater and media. It originated from the Spanish term “pequeno nino” and the Portuguese term “pequenonino” to describe small child in general, but it was applied especially to African-American children in the United States and later to Australian Aboriginal children.

(Black children as alligator bait)

A variant of the pickaninny stereotype depicted black children being used as bait to hunt alligators. This motif was featured in postcards, souvenirs, advertisements, and other artifacts of popular culture. Although scattered references to the supposed practice appeared in early 20th-century newspapers, there is no credible evidence that the stereotype reflected an actual historical practice.

A variant of the pickaninny stereotype depicted black children being used as bait to hunt alligators. Although scattered references to the supposed practice appeared in early 20th-century newspapers, there is no credible evidence that the stereotype reflected an actual historical practice.

In 2020, the University of Florida banned the phrase "Gator Bait" as a cheer at Florida Gators sporting events due to the phrase's racist associations.

(Mammy) - No Changes Made

The Mammy archetype describes African-American women household slaves who served as nannies giving maternal care to the white children of the family, who received an unusual degree of trust and affection from their enslavers. Early accounts of the Mammy archetype come from memoirs and diaries that emerged after the American Civil War, idealizing the role of the dominant female house slave: a woman completely dedicated to the white family, especially the children, and given complete charge of domestic management. She was a friend and advisor.

Early accounts of the Mammy archetype come from memoirs and diaries that emerged after the American Civil War describing African American women household slaves who served as nannies giving maternal care to the white children of the family and receiving an unusual degree of trust and affection from their enslavers. The personal accounts idealized the role of the dominant female house slave: a woman completely dedicated to the white family, especially the children, and given complete charge of domestic management. She was a friend and advisor.

(Mandingo)

The Mandingo is a stereotype of a sexually voracious black man with a huge penis, invented by white slave owners to promote the notion that black people were not civilized but "animalistic" by nature. The term mandingo is of 20th century origin; a corrupted word for the Mandinka peoples of West Africa, spanning from Mali, Guinea, Senegal, the Gambia, Côte d'Ivoire (or Ivory Coast), Ghana and Guinea-Bissau with minorities located in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

The Mandingo is a stereotype of a sexually voracious black man with a huge penis, invented by white slave owners to promote the notion that black people were not civilized but "animalistic" by nature. They asserted, for example, that in "Negroes all the passions, emotions, and ambitions, are almost wholly subservient to the sexual instinct" and "this construction of the oversexed black male parlayed perfectly into notions of black bestiality and primitivism."

The term mandingo is of 20th century origin; a corrupted word for the Mandinka peoples of West Africa, spanning from Mali, Guinea, Senegal, the Gambia, Côte d'Ivoire (or Ivory Coast), Ghana and Guinea-Bissau with minorities located in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

(Sapphire)

The Sapphire stereotype is a domineering black female who consumes men and usurps their role, characterized as a strong, masculine workhorse who labored with black men in the fields or an aggressive woman, whose overbearing drove away her children and partners. Her assertive demeanor is similar to the Mammy but without maternal compassion and understanding.

The Sapphire stereotype is a domineering female who consumes men and usurps their role. She was characterized as a strong, masculine workhorse who labored with black men in the fields or an aggressive woman, whose overbearing drove away her children and partners. Her assertive demeanor is similar to the Mammy but without maternal compassion and understanding.

One social scientist has claimed that black women's matriarchal status, rather than discriminatory social and economic policies, was responsible for social pathologies in black families.

(Jezebel)

The Jezebel is a stereotype of a sexually voracious, promiscuous black woman, and was the counterimage of the demure Victorian lady. The idea stemmed from Europeans' first encounter with seminude women in tropical Africa. The African practice of polygamy was attributed to uncontrolled lust, and tribal dances were construed as pagan orgies, in contrast to European Christian chastity.

The supposed indiscriminate sexual appetite of black women slaves was used to justify their enslavers' efforts to breed them with other slaves, as well as rape by white men, including as a legal defense. Black women could not be found to be rape victims in court cases because they were said by whites to always desire sex. The Jezebel stereotype contrasts with the Mammy stereotype, providing two broad categories for pigeonholing by whites.

The Jezebel, a stereotype of a sexually voracious, promiscuous black woman, was the counterimage of the demure Victorian lady in every way. The idea stemmed from Europeans' first encounter with seminude women in tropical Africa. The African practice of polygamy was attributed to uncontrolled lust, and tribal dances were construed as pagan orgies, in contrast to European Christian chastity.

The supposed indiscriminate sexual appetite of black women slaves justified their enslavers' efforts to breed them with other slaves. It also justified rape by white men, even as a legal defense. Black women could not be rape victims because they "always desired sex." The abolitionist James Redpath wrote that slave women were "gratified by the criminal advances of Saxons." During and after Reconstruction, "Black women... had little legal recourse when raped by white men, and many Black women were reluctant to report their sexual victimization by Black men for fear that the Black men would be lynched."

The Jezebel stereotype contrasts with the Mammy stereotype, providing two broad categories for pigeonholing by whites.

(Tragic mulatta)

A stereotype that was popular in early Hollywood, the "tragic mulatta," served as a cautionary tale for black people. She was usually depicted as a sexually attractive, light-skinned woman who was of African descent but could pass for Caucasian. The stereotype portrayed light-skinned women as obsessed with getting ahead, their ultimate goal being marriage to a white, middle-class man. The only route to redemption would be for her to accept her "blackness."

Uncle Tom

The Uncle Tom stereotype represents a black man who is simple-minded and compliant but most essentially interested in the welfare of whites over that of other blacks. It derives from the title character of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, and is synonymous with black male slaves who informed on other black slaves’ activities to their white master, often referred to as a "house Negro.", particularly for planned escapes.

It is the male version of the similar stereotype Aunt Jemima.

Black brute, Black Buck

Black brutes or black bucks are stereotypes for black men, who are generally depicted as being highly prone to behavior that is violent and inhuman. They are portrayed to be hideous, terrifying black male predators who target helpless victims, especially white women. In the post-Reconstruction United States, Black Buck was a racial slur used to describe black men who refused to bend to the law of white authority and were seen as irredeemably violent, rude, and lecherous.

Tragic mulatta (did not change citation 17)
A stereotype of the tragic mulatta is usually depicted as a sexually attractive, light-skinned woman who is of African descent but could pass for Caucasian, portraying that light-skinned women as obsessed with getting ahead, their ultimate goal being marriage to a white, middle-class man. The only route to redemption would be for her to accept her "blackness", which is meant as a placeholder for racial inferior.

This stereotype was made popular through media productions such as the 1933 novel Imitation of Life and its 1934 and 1959 film adaptations. The "tragic mulatta" is depicted as mean and unsympathetic, but her "mammy" counterpart is presented as a positive role model. The 2014 satirical film Dear White People has the protagonist fall into and then subvert the stereotype, and the secondary characters explore other black stereotypes.

Replaced: “Stereotypes of African Americans and associated with their” with “Stereotypes about African Americans are misleading beliefs about the”

Added: “of people of African descent residing within the United States”

Added: “,”

Moved: “ These beliefs have evolved within American society dating back to the slavery of black people during the colonial era.”

Replaced “ Nineteenth-century minstrel shows” with “ The first major display of stereotypes about African Americans were the minstrel shows, beginning in the nineteenth century, which had

Added: “criminals and social degenerates”