African American Stereotypes Research Paper

Racial stereotypes have always been a serious issue in society. The stereotypes impact many aspects of our life. We more or less get carried away by our perceptions toward race, and judge people in a certain frame unconsciously, as Omi set forth in In Living Color: Race and American Culture. Taken by Hilary Swift, this photo presents an African American woman, waiting for a bus that can take her to the Kitchen of Love, a food pantry that located in Philadelphia aiming to feed people suffering from hunger, where she volunteers. It happens in dawn so it’s still dark outside. The surroundings give us an idea that it should take place in a black neighborhood (Stolberg “Black Voters, Aghast at Trump, Find a Place of Food and Comfort”). The woman is staring at the direction where the bus is coming, with a smile on her face. As a photojournalistic image, this photo is aiming to portrait a kind and helpful African American woman, however, does this photo really “positively” portrait an African American woman?

Asians always have perfect scores on the test and aspire to be doctors. African Americans have serious attitudes, are thugs and live in poverty. While all Hispanics are illegal immigrants, who can not speak English and commit vicious crimes. If you watch much television, all of these previous statements may seem true. Television is a powerful source of knowledge that in some ways help us understand others in humanity and ourselves.

Stereotypes seem to be very present in our country, especially stereotypes towards African-Americans. For the longest time, like it has been instilled as a fact in my brain, black people have been directly related to the words “ghetto” or “hood”. I don’t remember a time where I actually can remember the words “ghetto” or “hood” without the picture in my mind of an African-American person. I think that this is a big problem in today’s society because it is not true but still seems to be taught. In politics, society, and everyday life, it feels like African-American’s are being slammed for being hoodlums. This is a problem because there are millions of African-American people who do not fit this stereotype, but still get degraded and treated badly because of this age old belief.

A stereotype is a popular belief about specific types of individuals. Stereotypes are standardized and simplified conceptions of groups based on some prior assumptions. African Americans have been perceived to be someone they are not in the media, history, and in everyday life. Although some stereotypes are true, many are harmful and inaccurate.

African Americans have been oppressed ever since slavery was abolished and it seems to be a never-ending cycle. White Americans oppressed the black population because they needed a way to remind everyone of their so-called supremacy. They did this through many different ways but the most common were by theatrical performances. Ever since the minstrelsy shows the negative stereotypes of African Americans seem to keep growing. According to the book Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks, “in almost every American movie in which a black had appeared, filmmakers had been trying to maintain the myth that Negroes were naturally rhythmic and natural-born entertainers.”

As we all know, African Americans did not originate from the United States. We were abducted from our homeland and brought here on slave ships by the hundreds. Before we were taken we were living a sustainable lifestyle that fit our basic needs. We ate fruits, vegetables, and meat from game that we hunted and gathered from the land. We also used herbs and natural remedies to cure us of our ailments instead of prescribed medication and radiation treatments. Today, many African Americans face countless health issues such as diabetes, asthma, HIV/aids, high blood pressure, obesity, and the list goes on. Many of these health issues come from the lack of education of our past, where we reside, and many stereotypes that are embedded in us in society.

In this world there are ideas that separate people by race, and these are the stereotypes or labels. Stereotypes are put on African Americans, Asian, and even white people, or they could get more specific and go into a certain type of person like their actions or their personality; however labels could also be on different levels such as positive,neutral, and negative.

Throughout the history of motion pictures, prejudice directors have used film to control how the general public views certain demographics of people. In particular, the black community has historically been viewed in a negative light. Stereotypes were created through literature and film that still affect African Americans. Directors and writers would create relatable stories and attach demeaning traits to black people that have qualities in common with Black Americans. This would force readers and viewers to subconsciously attach these stereotypes black people. Examples of these stereotypes can be found in Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Birth of a Nation. Derogatory terms such as “Bucks,” “Toms,” “Coons,” and “Mulattos”, have put African

Throughout the world, society habitually puts every group into multiple categories. Those groups can vary from gender, to race, to religion, while those categories can fluctuate from what society believes each group is supposed to act by. This method is often referred to as stereotyping, which is a widely held label that each particular group follows in society’s eyes. Though many groups in society have stereotypes, the African American race has numerous. Though the way of living for African Americans have changed throughout time, the stereotypes from the past still haunt us today. Based off of societies stereotypes of the African American race, commonly known as “blacks”, each subgroup of this race reacts differently toward the stereotypes.

The Second major group that is strongly affected by stereotypes is Hispanics. As a latino society the first stereotype that people use to judge is by assuming that they are all undocumented and selling drugs living in the United States. Not all Hispanics living in the United States are necessarily criminals and undocumented. They wrongly judged for their drastic decisions that are made to provide a more economic and safe living for their family members. According to the reading of Black-Brown Relations and Stereotypes it states that “Hispanics are still portrayed as wetbacks coming over

African Americans are underrepresented in various aspects of American society. On television I am bombarded with commercials, cartoons and other genres of visual entertainment and one fact is prominent, there are few African Americans seen on television. When Blacks are on television it is a criminal on the news or single Black person to meet the diversity quota of the network or not at all. Though some will argue that cartoons should not be in this category for the simple fact that they are understood to not have a race I disagree. When there is a fairy with light pink skin and Caucasian features that represents a Caucasian individual. Many times there are no cartoon with brown skinned characters which, in my opinion is a tragedy. Children

Differences seem to be the only thing we see in our world today- different appearances, different ideas, different cultures and beliefs. They are what define us; what give us each a uniqueness that is the reason our species thrives. But, when we are not accepting of our differences, when we refuse to see that our outlook on life is not the only one, many conflicts can arise. Unfortunately, this happens all too often, with differences often being seen in a negative light, casting the shadow of conflict over the world. However, there is an easy fix to this problem, although simple is not always equal to easy. Yet, I believe that when we connect to those different from ourselves, we can open up a path to a more peaceful society.

I absolutely agree with you LaQueisha! Especially, at my work I see this happening all to often from your examples. Constantly, I see a higher expectation for Asian Americans rather than African Americans when doing their job. From what you said in your post and what I mentioned, could it be the results of negative self-image inflicting this negative stereotype being placed on these two groups? This kind of stereotyping based on the assumption that Asian Americans have more education than African Americans is inappropriate. With that said, I know a few African American co-workers who I work, with that went to college and got their masters. I sometimes think that cumulative causation may have something to do with or has

African Americans are often portrayed on television unfavorably. According to previous research, television often presents African Americans in stereotypical roles. These unfavorable representations can have an influence on the perceptions of viewers. Research indicates that television viewers have used these images as indications of real portrayals of life and of others, causing viewers to rely on these stereotypical images in face-to-face interactions. Although prior studies have considered the impact that these images have had in the minds of people different from the images, little research has considered how images of African Americans have influenced the perceptions of African Americans. This proposed study was designed to focus on the

Black people have been known to be able to do incredible things from themselves and others. They are able to turn nothing into something and use it for the greater good of their own communities. Since the Great Renaissance and the inception of the Black Wall Street, African-Americans were a force to American society. Through the Black Wall Street, with their own money, Blacks were able to open up jobs and business that would recreate and maintain the socioeconomic flow within their own communities. Businesses, shops, banks, and health care facilities came out of the Black Wall Street. Since its destruction in 1921, African-Americans and their sense of having something that they can call their own has not been revitalized. Till this day, Blacks rely on their white counterparts to fulfill their needs in day-to-day living. There are a few ways that African-Americans can give to themselves, which will continue to give throughout the year. In return, this will make them (as a people) stronger, more unified, and powerful than ever before.