Stereotypes Of African Americans In Literature

The depiction of African Americans in literature, television, films and the theatre have followed the same archetypes for more than a century and a half. On ABC’s hit show Scandal, Kerry Washington plays the role of Olivia Pope, a strong headed, independent African American woman in a love triangle with two white men, one of whom is the married President of the United States. In the film realm, Tyler Perry acts out the role of Mabel “Madea” Simmons, a comical and sassy older woman who is often aggressive, violent, rambunctious, and outrageous in her behavior. She is a caregiver but also a criminal and is known to provide life lessons to her troubled family members and friends. These characters embody many of the same crippling stereotypes of
Dates and Barlow (1990, p.5) state, “Black media stereotypes are not the natural, much less harmless, products of an idealized popular culture; rather they are commonly socially constructed images that are selective, partial, one-dimensional and distorted in their portrayal African Americans.” During the 20th century negroes were categorized as servants or maids, old Uncle Toms, Uncle Remus’, Aunt Jemimas, and Mammy the Maids to name a few. They appeared on rice boxes, baking mixes, soap powders and various other trademarks. They became advertisements and were very familiar to American citizens. But where did these images of African-Americans come from? African Americans were always viewed as inferior and it was the white man’s burden to civilize the barbaric and brutish creatures through a systematic approach. The slaves were viewed as nothing more than property, bought and sold and deprived of their rights. Despite their plight, many slave owners thought that their slaves were happy and from this evolved one of the very first stereotypes of African-American men,
When race relations became particularly bad, comic relief became the answer with the Negro as the butt of the joke. The minstrel show first appeared in the early 1840’s and soon became the most popular form of entertainment in American until the 1890’s. Many historians accredit T.D “Big Daddy” Rice, a struggling white actor from New York City, with the creation of blackface minstrelsy. However, Rice wasn’t the first man to perform in blackface; he made it popular. In 1828, a crippled man dancing on the street inspired him. At the time laws prohibited African-Americans from dancing because it was said to be “crossing your feet against the Lord.” In order to circumvent this, slaves created a shuffling dance where their feet never left the ground. Rice wrote a song called “Jump Jim Crow,” in which he says, “Weel about and turn about and do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about I jump Jim Crow.” Rice painted his face with burnt bottle corks mixed with grease paint and shoe polish to attain a black shine and exaggerated red or white lips. He wore a wooly wig and imitated black music and dance, including the Jim Crow dance. He spoke in an “authentic plantation” dialect. His act became a big hit in the South. Minstrel performances originally began as small parts of shows, sometimes as an opening act. Many theatres did not allow these performances because they were