Have you ever watched a movie with African Americans acting like fools but you laughed and forgot about it? Or maybe used an Aunt Jemima pancake syrup and didn't care about the picture of the African American woman on front? Well, guess what? You were blinded at the moment. You were completely blanked out! You didn't really know that small things in your life actually repeated history: racism for people of color. These small things repeat African American caricatures or stereotypes in the past that are truly awful but still exists in entertainment and society today.
Let's start all the way back to the pickaninny caricature. This black caricature was meant to show how black children were naturally poor, ugly, and animal like. The usual traits of these kids were that they were “unkempt” and had “bulging eyes, big red lips, and they speak in a primitive, stereotypical dialect”(Authentic History). Movies in today's world like Beasts of the Southern Wild show the pickaninny through their main characters. You probably saw several more movies with black kids looking ridiculous but this movie takes it to a whole other level. Hushpuppy, the protagonist, showed traits of the pickaninny by having “her hair-sticking out in every direction” and “being dreadfully dirty and half-naked” (DeBerry). Pickaninnies make colored children seem as if they are unappealing and scanty with Hushpuppy supporting this idea. Black kids would be valued less and given poor quality things in society as a result since they are expected to be natural with being treated less than others. These kids will become hurt by this bad treatment and start to lose confidence in themselves; consequently, they would try to change and avoid their identities as blacks. It's pretty dreadful to not like who you are. The pickaninny lowers black children in all ways of life. It's only the beginning though of many other caricatures a**ociated with people of color of all genders.
A caricature that was made to support the system of slavery was the Mammy. The Mammy was an obese black women who was shown as happy and satisfied with slavery. She usually had a “wide grin, hearty laughter, and loyal servitude” when serving her master and doing work (Pilgrim). Over the years, the Mammy was updated and shown in present day movie characters like the popular Tyler Perry's Madea. Madea is a “full-figured women with strong and defensive attitudes” who held weapons like “a heavy fist...a gun and...a chainsaw”(Kowalski). Now, you're probably wondering how something so funny could be taken so seriously. Well, the traits of the Mammy in the past and today with people like Madea show how black women are viewed as inferior and sometimes savage like. Black women would show a demand of being controlled which makes them forcefully controlled by others. It not only makes them lose respect but also puts them in invisible shackles. Although this caricature shows how submissive black women are, there always has to be an example for black men in the minds of the stereotype creators.
Uncle Tom was caricature created to show how black men relied on whites. He was an old black man who was dedicated to slavery. Whites portrayed him as someone who was “eager to serve… psychologically dependent on whites for approval”(Pilgrim). Believe it or not, there are many Uncle Toms in politics today who are black Republicans. One Tom is Condoleeza Rice who “served under George W. Bush” and never said a word when someone in the Republican Party was kicked out of their convention since “she threw peanuts at a black CNN employee and said, ‘this is how we feed the animals'”(Campbell). This is pretty insane but it actually happened! This caricature makes blacks but specifically black men seem weak and fragile. Condoleeza Rice, although a woman, shows this weakness with her acceptance of racism and dependence on white politicians. Blacks would now become viewed as vulnerable and easy to manipulate. People in the world would then start to lower blacks and believe it's acceptable for blacks but specifically black men to be treated like trash without problems. It's a cycle that happens over and over. Pretty ridiculous, isn't it? The Uncle Tom shows black men as feeble but also a bit more civilized. When looking at modern entertainment though, black men are portrayed more as “insane in the membrane” than obedient!
If people were looking for a stereotypical figure that made black men seem worthless and inferior, it would be the coon. The coon was a black man with big red lips and raggedy clothes that was childlike and lazy. His main abilities were only “strutting, styling, fighting avoiding real work, eating watermelons, and making a fool of himself”(Pilgrim). Modern day movies like Scary Movie 1 and 2 show coonery between its male black actors. You probably have watched both movies on MTV and cried laughing to the end, but they were pretty racist. Marlon Wayans, a black male actor, played Shorty Meeks in the movies and he “due to his often high state, and lack of academic intelligence, his friends often call him ‘idiot' or “moron'” (Scary Movie Wiki). This caricature is dangerous to black men. It causes them to seem primitive and mindless with Shorty Meeks encouraging this idea. Black men are a**umed to have less abilities and are then placed at low positions in society; consequently, they end up having restricted lives and horrible treatment in society. Everything that you see today regarding to treatment of black men start with caricatures like the coon.
African American stereotypes from the past has placed people of color in a deep chasm today. They are still being portrayed today and they destroy black images. They also lock them in invisible shackles. You may be informed about this now but what will you do after you finish reading this? Will you continue to let these caricatures past or will you speak up about them? Will you watch these movies and just laugh or will you watch and ask why? It's up to you to change the direction of how people of c