ETHNIC NOTIONS

ETHNIC NOTIONS
This is a film that shows depictions of black Americans through images that shows the stereotypes that have been labeled on blacks through out history. Some of the popular depictions include the mammy, the pick ninny, the coon, the sambo and the uncle. These stereotyped images were seen in cartoons, songs and other form of media. The images were used for decorations and were greatly abused. The narrator states that these images “taken for granted, worked their way into the mainstream of American life. Of ethnic caricatures in America, these have been the most enduring. Today there's little doubt that they shaped the most gut-level feelings about race.” Some argue that these cartoons were not taken seriously, but when you see hundreds of them, in all parts of the country persisting over a very long period of time, they have to have meaning. The greatest problem however, is that blacks are seen that way, perceived that way, even in terms of public policy. One wonders why these images continued to exist for such a long time if they did not mean anything. Levine, one of the contributors in the film states that looking at these images often enough, makes black people begin to look like that, even though they do not. Viewed in such a way, these images then have a great impact in our society. She further states that “they [images] therefore tell us both about the inner desires of the people who create and consume them, and also they tell us about some of the forces that shape reality, for large portions of our population.” Indeed, with the excitement that came with viewing cartoons with these images, one can conclude that there must have been a lot of meaning in them to the viewers and listeners. The images served as amusements to the viewers and made them laugh. But the narrator of the film states that “Today there's little doubt that they shaped the most gut-level feelings about race.
Through these cartoons, they were also images of happy slaves which made people think that blacks were happy to be slaves hence making slavery not seem that bad if the slaves themselves are happy. The narrator further states that “In the early 1900's images and songs portrayed a simple, docile, laughing black man: the Sambo.
This image became one of the classic portrayals of black men in film. Care free and irresponsible, the sambo was quick to avoid work while reveling in the easy pleasures of food, dance and song. His life was one of child-like contentment.” This is how people ended up seeing blacks. They were seen as people that could be used for labor in exchange for food and such things as shoes. The irresponsibility stereotype was taken so serious that a black man needed to be cosigned by a white to enter a pub. To this the black man sang: “even though I have money, I cannot buy a drink.” Therefore, it did not matter what a black man possessed. What they could buy out of their earnings did not matter. All that mattered was that they were blacks and therefore, should not freely enjoy what white people enjoyed. They were slaves owned by whites and so needed to be watched by their masters.
The effects of these images at that time perpetuated the issues of racism that even exist today. They led to a magnification of the thought that blacks are always inferior. The belief that Africa were these slaves came from is a dark continent, an assault to civilization.
As I watched the film, I agreed with the narrator and contributors that the effects of these images are still prominent. People still think that blacks are inferior, that they are the only ones to do the hard work. An example of this is how supervisors at work will assign a larger portion of work to a black and lesser work to a white. This gets us back to issues of privilege and white supremacy, where people are treated better simply because they are white.
But, as I watched the film, I wondered if they are any negative stereotypes labeled against whites apart from the privilege ones that we know.