Relationship Between African Americans And Crime

As we continue to see the Sapphire in popular culture, we notice that she is more inclined to violence. This acceptance and willingness for violence comes from another stereotype where African Americans are believed to be more violent and more often criminals. This relation between African Americans and crime has been around since slavery, as it was used as a justification for the slavery system. By implying that African Americans were more likely to be violent and dangerous, slavery became more accepted. After slavery was abolished, the stereotype continued to be enforced through segregation and Jim Crow laws. African Americans were arrested for smaller things then whites, and sometimes for nothing at all. By seeing that most of the criminals
The Coon was shown as always up to no good, and someone you couldn’t trust. He was often portrayed lazy, a thief, and sneaky like a raccoon. The Brute was shown as a savage. He was portrayed as destructive, lazy, dishonest, and often times a rapist. Both of these characters were depicted as always the cause of problems, or as criminals that deserved to be punished. They were seen stealing food because they didn’t want to work for it, or raping a white woman because they had too high of a sex drive. Overall, they were shown as the danger of emancipation and were used to intimidate whites. Over the years, these caricatures have combined and become a thug character that is featured in most movies and television
Hip-Hop lyrics describe extremely violent acts that include guns, beatings, and murder. The songs seem to be condoning this behavior and are mostly performed by African American males. By seeing a black man singing lyrics such as, “I’m just waiting for a fool/ so I can use his blood for my backyard pool” (The Terrorists f/ Point Blank, “Dead Bodies” 1991) or “Crack that jaw, what’s more bring it/ Ill rip your fuckin’ arm out the socket if you swing it” (Apache “A Fight” 1992), endorses the idea that African Americans are prone to violence and killing. It shows this reliance on crime to get what they want and therefore ingrains the image further into our minds. (Ettelson,