Black Mammy, The Happy Sambo And The Brute

At this time period, the mammy image served the political, social, and economic interests of mainstream white America as proof that blacks -- in this case, black women -- were contented, even happy, as slaves. It was true, Pauline did feel happy working for the white family. Although, her motives are contrary to popular belief. It is there and there only that she feels as if she is a part of something valuable. The uncompromising perpetuation of white ideals, formed a clear difference between her and others in her mind.

The Mammy concept that many African American women professors, such as Andra, experience is a historical concept that many African American women has had placed upon them. In the chapter Andra mentions that as a professor at a PWI many of the white students and their experiences with African American women comes from their first

All African-Americans have been portrayed in stereotypical roles since their arrival into American society for the entertainment and amusement of others. Many people find it difficult to appreciate the diversity of the African American women. So instead of trying to do this, they create identities based on negative stereotypes. There are several negative stereotypes associated with the African American woman. The Mammy archetype is the one chosen to be analyzed in this essay. Collins described the mammy as “-the faithful, obedient domestic servant. Created to justify the economic exploitation of house slaves and sustained to explain Black women’s long-standing restriction to domestic service…” (72) She is commonly seen trying to soothe

I do not believe white southerners were sincere in their proposal to honor Black women because they choose to use a “character” image of “Mammy”, instead of a true representation of black women. “The proposal of the “Black Mammy” statue came during a time of heightened racial tensions. White southerners were still angry that slavery had been abolished, so they continued to lynch blacks (the Rosewood Massacre happened Jan. 1923), the United States Supreme Court passed laws authorizing the sterilization of less desirable men and women, and the KKK was publicly recruiting members. I believe black women rejected the proposal because the statue was a symbol of white superiority and slavery; a way for whites to remind Negro women that no matter their accomplishments, they will always be seen as slaves. Mammy was born on the plantation in the imagination of slavery defenders”, (Pilgrim, David Dr., 2012, Jim Crow

Her dark skin tone and shiny/sweaty veneer connoted the hard work ethic she embodied, much like the skin tone a field slave. The bandana on her head symbolized her no fuss attitude and lack of time for personal appearance or kept hairstyles due to all of her time being in the kitchen. It’s color, canary yellow, accentuated her joyful attitude in the servant hood to her master. The white maid’s uniform emphasized not only her lowly position as the servant of the house, but her expertise in the preparation of food for the home. All of these attributes noted a certain type of woman, not just any ol’ Black woman that can cook.

appeared, and the 1870's, the minstrel show was one of the most popular forms of entertainment in America. White performers wearing burnt cork or black shoe polish on their faces assumed the roles of African American men and women. A typical minstrel show would have songs, dances, jokes and grand hoe-downs. The minstrel show tried to capture the "happy-go-lucky" slave that ate watermelon and shuffled about. However, this idea of the "happy slave" was very wrong. Since this was before the civil rights movement, African Americans were caricatured and often stereotyped as the lazy, shuffling,

The second mythology placed on black women was that of Mammy. ”Mammy was the woman who could do anything, and do it better than anyone else.” (White, 47) Mammy was basically the super nanny of the plantation who lived in the house, she would oversee the kitchen, manage the household and at sometimes raised the white children. Mammy was also so respected that she often served as friend and advisor to the master and mistress. (White, 48) Mammy was often called around the clock to and was expected to be available for assistances and nursing at anytime. From the chapter it could even be concluded that Mammy was asexual, maternal, and virtuous with nonexistent sexuality, the complete opposite of Jezebel. The Mammy mythology is as misleading as the Jezebel image. The image

Many of the stereotypes we see of black people in media date back to slavery, and are simply updated over the years to fit the untrue narrative people are used to. A large number of these stereotypes were used to justify and excuse slavery. The fact that they’re still in circulation is disgusting. For example, the Buck stereotype is the stereotype of the violent male sexual predator with a lust for white women. An old example of this stereotype is in the 1915 movie “The Birth Of A Nation”.

Multiple stereotypes about African Americans arose from slavery during the 19th century including: The Uncle, the Auntie, Sambo, the coon, and the pickaninny. However, there were other stereotypes, including the Mammy and the Jezebel, that were specifically directed at black women. These degrading stereotypes are illustrated in Octavia Butler’s novel and comic book, Kindred, by attributing female characters with various traits that typically accompany these stereotypes. Thus, this essay will discuss the ways in which each prominent female character either embodied or challenged the characteristics that coincide with those two stereotypes. Sarah is a character who most obviously typifies the Mammy stereotype.

Stereotypes are defined as an oversimplified image or idea about a specific type of person. It is believed that stereotypes about African Americans began in the United States around the 18th century. Anti-Black stereotypes arguably the most developed racist stereotypes in racial framing and have been used as foundations for the capture, enslavement, and later, the subjugation of African American people. Stating that stereotypes are just a joke is an understatement of the consequential after – math racial images and stereotypes have on the African American population. Even stereotypes that are considered positive are often concealed with negative implications and reasons as to why they exist. Most people may think they only hold stereotypes in the back of their head, but studies show that people are more likely to fall back on them in making judgments when they feel challenged, face uncertainty, or experience sensory overload. Using information from class, comparisons from the films we have watched and Ed Guerrero’s Framing Blackness, this paper will analyze the stereotypes in the television show Empire.

In Patricia Hill Collins’ “Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images,” she illustrates four main stereotypes that Black women face. The first controlling image applied to African American women is “The Mammy.” The mammy is the faithful, obedient servant to the white family and the stereotype attempts to hide the fact that black women who work for white families are being exploited. By loving and caring for her white “children” more than her own, the mammy symbolizes the dominant group’s perceptions of the ideal black female relationship to elite white male power. The smiling mammy signals her agreement with the situation, seemingly accepting her subordination (Collins, 71). Next is the image of the Black matriarch (Collins, 73). According to the stereotype, they spend too much time away from home, are overly aggressive and unfeminine, and allegedly emasculate their lovers and husbands. This stereotype attempts to control conduct by punishing black women for assertiveness and hides the oppression by making it seem that black women are naturally this way (Collins, 74-75).

“Daayyyuummm b*tch, dem animal prints on your jeans are hella on fleek.” Who do you picture when you read this quote? A young boy? A grandmother? You are most likely picturing a black woman. But why is this? Have you actually ever heard a black woman speak like this? My guess is probably not. So then why do you picture a black woman? It could be because black women are often portrayed in movies and television shows as loud and obnoxious characters, often accompanied by very vibrant body language and proclamations of how independent they are. The trope of the sassy black woman became popular on The Amos ’n’ Andy Show. The show featured a woman named Sapphire, the demanding, finger-waving wife of her husband George. Since the popularity of this show, and specifically this sassy character, other shows started to use it as well.

Along with the Mammy stereotype, the portrayal of Black women as being lecherous by nature is also a continuing stereotype. Lewd, hypersexual and loose are a few descriptive words associated with this stereotype (Thomas et. al, 2004). The Jezebel is everything the Mammy is not. Physically, she is seen as being a mixed-raced woman with Eurocentric features that those who fall into the physical characterization of the Mammy try to achieve. She has light-skin, less kinky hair, smaller lips and a more slender nose. Although the Jezebel fits the Eurocentric beauty standards, this image “branded Black women as being sexually promiscuous and immoral” (West, p. 294) due to the sexual violence committed against them during slavery. Hutchings et. al (2010) argues that, “explicit racial cues are not necessarily a thing of the past and under certain conditions they can be

Minstrel performers where as the film described, a group of white Caucasians that would perform with black face paint and mock African Americans. This form of entertainment grew popular and provided one of the strongest depiction of the Sambo. Right next to the Sambo was the Zip Coon, a dandy, and a buffoon, a Zip Coon would attempt to imitate whites. But with poor grammar and with little to no intelligents the Zip Coon's attempts proved to be a nothing more then a racist mockery. Therefor creating a generalization of Stupidity with in the African American population and creating a notion of Racial inequality. Also with the Sambo and Zip Coon was the Mammy. The mammy is described and viewed as a jolly, obese, African American women, the strongest Mammy depiction was first evident in the film Judge Priest in 1934. The Uncle figure was depicted in similar nature as the Mammy but in male form and a depiction called the Pickaninny provided a generalization of silly and worthless African American Child.

Different archetypes have been used to represent black people through television, live performances, and film. These stereotypes consisted of “Coon”, “Mulatto”, “Mammy”, and “Tom” (site—Johnson). Prior to films and television, African American’s were depicted by white actors wearing “blackface” in which white people entertained audiences through plots that portrayed African Americans in stereotypical ways that had prevailed since the time of slavery. “Coon” for instance, was created as a from of comedy and amusement for white individuals, as this image allowed for comic relief through idiocy. “Coons” had, in essence, a low level of intelligence with minimal common sense. Their dull-wittedness advocated the view that African American people were unintelligent beings who were incompetent and unable to formulate intelligible thoughts. This further reinforced the idea that African American people were in need of instruction and guidance from white individuals—just as they did during slavery—in order for African Americans to sustain and remain alive, or else they would be damaged by their own incapabilities. Similar to the “Coon”, Mammy was also a common character who was portrayed as an obese and grumpy woman who also provided comic relief to white folks. Mammy’s creation was