Week 2 Disrupting Racial Myth Assignment #2 – What Ethnic Notions Are

Real? Dr. Mitzi Carter – Anthropology of Race and Ethnicity

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What is a stereotype, what is a generalization? Racial stereotypes are based on very superficial notions about a group of people. Inherently, there is a strong belief that there is something “essential” or there is a characteristic that is always present in everyone in that group, as if it were somehow built into their genes

or “natural.”. When people believe or circulate racial stereotypes, they make no further attempts to learn about the subject of their stereotypes. Their ideas remain conclusive. Generalizations are slightly different. They tend to be the beginning point for understanding common patterns but there is still plenty of wiggle room to account for individual differences and new learning. Anthropologists sometimes start our research with some generalizations about groups of people, but we also know from our research that one small group who can be generalized as doing or acting a particular way, may be very different the very next village over or may change drastically the next generation or with the migration to a new area. We also know that race is a social construct and pay close attention to the processes of racialization (the process of attributing stereotyped and “naturalized” ideas about race onto a person or group of people.)

Many of us generalize and hold racial stereotypes about people based on the myths and stories we have absorbed throughout our lives.

How can we actively challenge those stereotypes so they are fully dismantled? How do we shift racial generalizations so that we hold more educated understandings of how people have been racialized over time?

Goals: The goal of this exercise is to try to identify any stereotypes and generalizations you may possess about African American people and learn how they have been constructed and continue to actively shape narratives of race in the US and transnationally. Without such work, we continue to blindly practice cultural practices that are based on stereotypes. This assignment will give you a foundation from which to better understand how racial stereotypes impact exclusions and belonging in the United States. Each time you complete one of these assignments, you will explore information about authors and texts you have read, seeking out additional factual information to correct or adjust what you thought you knew about a subject or text prior to reading it in this course. Once you do this exercise, you will learn the tools to do the same regarding racial stereotypes of other peoples.

This assignment will take you about an hour and a half to two hours to complete.

Step 1: Begin by freewriting (typed or handwritten notes are both OK) for 10-15 uninterrupted minutes on the following questions. These notes need to be turned in so don’t skip this part:

•1) Look at the images above: Pick one of them (menacing savage/ brute; the happy smiling black mammy; the hyper-sexualized black male or female, the angry black woman, etc.)

• 2) From where do you think that stereotyped image came? Who made them? Don’t worry if you don’t know for sure— try to make an educated guess.

• 3) For what specific purpose do you think those images were created? Or is there even a purpose? Why/why not?

• 4) Why do you think they became so popular and enjoyed by people who used them and/or (continue) to use them?

• 5) How did you first learn about that stereotype that you chose in #1?

• 6) How have you seen that stereotyped image circulating today if at all? Describe in detail. Copy and paste a picture or example. If you believe that stereotype has been eradicated, explain why you think it has left our society?

Once you have finished, set your notes aside and save them. You will be expected to submit these notes in the last step. If they’re handwritten, you’ll need to photograph them but make sure they are legible or they won’t be credited).

Step 2: Set aside one hour to watch the video Ethnic Notions. Go to the FIU Library and stream the video Ethnic Notions. You must be signed in with your

FIU credentials, and you can click this permalink or type in the title in the search field and go the second option, the one with streamable link.

ETHNIC NOTIONS FILM VIEWING GUIDE Directions: Fill in this worksheet as you watch the film. You are required to turn this in for this assignment:

http://ezproxy.fiu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat06026a&AN=fiu.032079724&site=eds-live
As you view the film, take notes on the following 19th century stereotypes about African-Americans. What are the qualities of each stereotype and to whom do they apply?

1. How were Black people portrayed as happy and content while enslaved for White audiences? What kinds of specific characters were used in popular American culture?

2. How were freed Blacks in the North portrayed? (Which caricature was used to describe them?)

3. Which stereotypical images were used to justify racial violence against Blacks during the Reconstruction period (after slavery was abolished)? ___________. How does the documentary explain why these images were used in this period:

MAMMY UNCLE

PICANINNY SAMBO

JACK COON BRUTE OR SAVAGE or the BLACK RAMBO

4. Which stereotypes were used to portray Black people as savages or unworthy of freedom and more specifically which were used to elicit a feeling from White audiences a sense of nostalgia of the days when enslaved were “more grateful” and tolerant of White supremacist ideas? ________________How does the documentary explain why these images were used in this period:

5. Which were the prevailing stereotypes and caricatures used to portray Black people during the Civil Rights era? ________________. How does the documentary explain why these images were used in this period:

6. How did businesses profit from these social stereotypes? Give an example from the documentary.

7. How did cartoons circulate racial caricatures? Give an example from the documentary.

8. How did these racial stereotypes contribute to a system of oppression and inequality?

9. Why did people, including African-Americans, start to believe that African-Americans fit these social stereotypes?

10. Optional: Analyze the following quote from the film. “It’s no disgrace being a Black man, but it is a terrible inconvenience.” What do you think this means?

Step 3: Now look at your worksheet above and identify information that was new and/or surprising to you. You may want to consider: What did you learn about stereotypes, the psychology of these stereotypes, the lasting impact of these stereotypes? Was there information that was new or surprising to you? If so, why was it new or surprising? What doesn’t surprise you and why? Are there other interpretations of the ideas you held about stereotypes before you began? Be specific and explain to which piece you are referring when discussing the new information. Think of at least 3 new points you learned addressing some of the questions above. Hold onto these thoughts and include these into #4 below.

Step 4: Write a short analysis of 350-500 words in which you reflect on your experience of watching this film and how it might have dispelled what you thought you knew about these caricatures. What was it like? What are your thoughts about the topics you researched? Did your interpretations of them change at all while watching this documentary? If so, how have they changed any “common sense” beliefs you might have had as you watched?

Step 5: After writing and revising your analysis, think of a title of a blog post you could write for your peers. Do not refer to this assignment or this class in the title. The title should be about your analysis, separated by a blank line, and centered on the page. It should capitalize any nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs used. This title goes above your analysis.

Step 6: Include one blank line below the end of your title and analysis. Then write down your word count. Include your free write notes from Step 1 after the word count AND the film viewing guide (either as a clear photograph if handwritten or typed). Submit it in the proper drop box on Canvas in the Week 5 folder.

Optional readings:

Serena Williams and the trope of the ‘angry black woman’: BBC article on the legacy of the angry black woman trope today.

How Blackface Feeds White Supremacy: NYT editorial board article on the legacy of blackface and minstrels in the US today.

Hundreds of Spanish teenagers in Spain wear blackface for Three Kings parade: How would you explain to these teenagers the history of violence associated with these images? How would you explain how this fed white supremacy in different parts of the world?

If you are interested in learning more about the ways certain imageries of Black people circulated in harmful ways, watch the Life and Times of Sara Baartman through the FIU library.

Then you will understand why there was an uproar when Kim Kardashian posed for a magazine cover that drew on the imagery of Sara Baartman (aka the Hottentot Venus).

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45476500
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/31/opinion/blackface-white-supremacy.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/spain-three-kings-parade-blackface-teenagers-alcoy-alicante-a8715211.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/spain-three-kings-parade-blackface-teenagers-alcoy-alicante-a8715211.html
Baartman, also known as the “Hottentot Venus”, was “forced to travel as a part of a European freak show, where her body was ridiculed by onlookers. According to South African History online, her owner “began exhibiting her in a cage alongside a baby rhinoceros. Her “trainer” would order her to sit or stand in a similar way that circus animals are ordered. At times Baartman was displayed almost completely naked, wearing little more than a tan loincloth, and she was only allowed that due to her insistence that she cover what was culturally sacred. Baartman died in poverty at the age of 26 in 1816. Her body was then dissected and placed on display at the Musée de l’Homme until 1974.” — Broadway Black

Sample writing assignment format:

Don’t include your name—when you upload it to Canvas, we’ll see it’s from you! Your paper will be peer reviewed so it’s better that it’s anonymous.

1) Title here (see Step 5)

2) Analysis (see Step 4, refer specifically to the freenotes in Step 1 AND the answers to the questions for the film (chart + questions) and the thoughts you had from step 3)

3) Word count of analysis: ______

4) Paste your Free Notes (from step 1)

5) Paste your answers to the Film Viewing Guide (from Step 2)