Keith Westerman
Afras 120
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Essay #5
Misrepresentation
The Media’s misrepresentation of African Americans as degrading archetypes has, despite its immorality and fallacy, not changed since its institution in the early 1900’s and has helped facilitate racism and white supremacy ever since.
Bibliography
Bogle, Donald. “Black Begginings.” Get it Together. Ed. Anokoye and Brice-Finch. Longmani New York 2003. 206-215
Tony Green. “Ali, Foreman, Mailer, and Me.” Everything but the Burden. Ed. Tate. Broadway New York 2003. 153-163
Bamboozled. Dir. Spike Lee. perf. Damian Waynes, Jack Picket. DvD Universal, 2000.
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While not being outwardly racist or supportive to any specific cause, the media portrays and has portrayed a skewed depiction of all thing including a broadened idea of what they think is representation of a Race. The Media’s misrepresentation of African Americans as degrading archetypes has, despite its immorality and fallacy, not changed since its institution in the early 1900’s and has helped facilitate racism and white supremacy ever since. The first and most well known of this is of course Television, in the form of variety shows and sitcoms. The use of the Supremacist view is, however, not limited to this as this misrepresentation is seen on the Internet, in movies, and even in cartoons. This broadened view stretching into all forays of the public shows that this is not a problem effecting only sitcom enthusiasts or moviegoers but all people; and when these views is so widely spread, it in not surprising to see the ideas some adopt.
The earliest example we can find of this on the Silver Screen is not surprisingly, the first full-length movie to ever be shown on it, “The Birth of a Nation.” This movie represents African Americans as raiders leaving, “ruin, devastation, rapine, and pillage”(Bogle 211). The public acceptance of this is shown in the movies success as the first box office smash,
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grossing over one hundred thousand dollars in 1915. This sets forth the most threatening Black archetype, “The Brutal Black Buck”. This along with other representations marks African American males as large, stupid, and violent. The Brutal Black Buck is able to take anything he wants from the white man including his house, his wife or daughter, and his life. This model is not only limited to what he can do with his fists. Spike Lee’s movie, “Bamboozled” portrays Mos Def’s character, Big Blak Africa, as a fairly normal sized individual. This does not prevent him from being a threat as late in the movie, he uses his gun, a symbol of the street, to take a man’s life. Hollywood, knowing that the public sees this brutality as novel used this archetype to fashion a hero in the 2006 movie, “Snakes on a Plane.” Samuel L. Jackson served as the forefront of this movie in several trailers yelling, cussing, and carrying a large gun. Despite his role as the hero, Jackson’s character was of course, the Brutal Black Buck. This, as previously stated, leads to public views outside the media. In the text, “Ali, Foreman, Mailer, and Me” the author, Tony Green, describes George Foreman as a man, “Capable of lifting grown men off the ground with an uppercut.” This analysis of strength is not negative until those with ignorant views see it as threatening.
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Overnight, Foreman went from having fans with childlike admiration to being viewed as a brawler, a Brutal Black Buck.
Though the Brutal Black Buck was the first stereotype to grace film, he want not the first broadened view of a black person. Before there was the Brutal Black Buck, there was the Coon. The “Token Black Guy” in sitcoms and sometimes movies usually fits into this archetype. The Coon (Also known as the Uncle Remus) is the flirtatious jokester who is always shooting his mouth off. The Coon brings to many movies what poor stand up comedians bring to ignorant audiences. “All Black people talk or act like ‘this’.” The adolescent version of the Coon was the Pickaninny. The Pickaninny was generally just a “Screwball”(Bogle 20 cool .”Whose eyes popped, whose hair stood on end with the least excitement, and whose antics were pleasant and diverting.” The Pickaninny, unlike the Buck, was only a threat to someone not wanting his watermelon eaten or chickens stolen. Because the Pickaninny was simply a child, a Pickaninny could be a boy or girl leading to the form usually relegated to the Coon’s ranks, the Mammy.
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While not as well-known as the Coon or the Black Buck, the Mammy is a very prominent archetype. The Mammy varies into two forms but is always “Big, fat, and cantankerous”(Bogle 210). She is generally the big Black woman with a big Black attitude that doesn’t take any guff from anyone. This negative attitude towards whites led to a more acceptable offshoot, the Aunt Jemima. The Aunt Jemima was always friendly and genial, the “user friendly” Mammy.
Though these stereotypes are old and partially debunked, the cultural examples of them show their lasting prominence. The use of these archetypes simply plays into the negative ideas put forth by stereotypes. The ignorance fostered in these misrepresentations is the root of contemporary racism. The way to fight this misrepresentation is simple; don’t endorse it by ignoring its offense. With effort we can abolish these roots and work towards positive change.
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