Black Sexual Politics : African Americans, Gender, And The New Racism

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

The Shadow of Hate helps illustrate the evergoing history of racism that is portrayed within the United States. It emphasizes that since the beginning of United States history to the present day, racism still remains a critical topic that many individuals need to be informed about. While this film talks about racism in the United States as a whole, it goes deeper in pinpointing specific racial groups that received the cruelest treatment throughout U.S. history. Once finishing the film, I found myself mesmerized by the fascinating stories and clear depiction on how the severity of racism has had an impact on the past as well as how it will influence the future. It truly shows that racism is still prominent in society, considering people from the past condoned to this type of behavior. When finding the points made throughout the film, I was able to categorize them and look at them through all three sociological perspectives- the interactionist, the functionalist, and the conflict paradigms-to understand the deeper meaning behind them.

In The Venus Hip Hop and the Pink Ghetto, Imani Perry argues that the over-sexualized, unattainable bodies of black women in popular culture will lead to the breakdown of feminism and the positive body image of the everyday black

Schulman, Gary I. "Race, Sex, and Violence: A Laboratory Test of the Sexual Threat of the Black Male Hypothesis." American Journal of Sociology 79.5 (1974): 1260. Web.

Both racism and violence are large themes of not just, Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space, but also of America during the mid-1900’s. Unfortunately, there still exists the same themes in today’s world even though the population is becoming increasingly more educated. Hate and discrimination are taught evils, not innate ones, and in order to prevent the need for stories such as Brent Staples’ to be told, society as a whole must band together to eliminate the occurrence of such a destructive, devastating

The films represent the community and sometimes can alter how society think they should feel. Ramsey discusses “guiltsploitation”, which addresses the guilt associated with not following a certain cultural norm (Ramsey,311). The message of many films suggests that to prove that one is proud of their Black heritage they must live in ghettos, do crack and rap (Ramsey, 311). This representation creates a different message to the past and present youth—can I climb the corporate ladder and still be loyal to my race (Ramsey, 311)? Films have the power to create an image in society that makes it difficult for the African-American culture to feel comfortable going against this social norm. This article suggests that many African-Americans may avoid education, or a different social class because of this inner

Black women’s bodies have always been seen as different. They are deemed as exotic and highly sexual because of the protruding nature and curvaceous shape of their hips, butts, and breast. An example of this exoticism and ridicule can be traced back to the early 1800s. Sarah Baartman, also known as the “Hottentot Venus” became an object of fascination, degradation, and humiliation. Her features were not foreign to Khoisan Women. However, the Europeans who kidnapped her and the people who went to view her body as an exhibit could not believe how big her butt, breast, and hips were. Sarah did not fit into the white standardized image of the body, so her body was seen was unnatural and even un-human. One online magazine writer asserts that, “what

Throughout America’s history there have been many struggles with equality amongst the many racial identities that live in this “melting pot.” Acceptance of the many races is a continuous goal in the war on racism in America. Once accepted, many racial identities go under huge scrutiny by the media, society, and their other racial counterparts, etc. Black Sexual Politics by Patricia Hill Collins is a critical analysis of blacks in America and blacks as a race. The book analyzes this race on various levels, and these levels include, but are not limited to the following: the concept of “new” racism, gender ideology within the race, and the potential for progression of

“The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.”- Malcolm X. Black women have been stripped of their humanity for so long in popular culture that society can’t even see the truth that lies in front of them. Black women can’t express their anger, or they’re just another angry black woman stereotype. Yes, black women are angry, they are fed up with white women flaunting around their culture like it's a fashion trend, black women are tired of having to work twice as hard just to gain respect in the workplace, and most importantly they are tired of being hypersexualized. Through music videos, black women are hyper-sexualized, which maintains the sexual glorification of a black female body, while also strengthening the abhorrent stereotype of the Jezebel, which is linked back to times of slavery. The Jezebel stereotype was the slavers justification for raping and assaulting black women. Black women were depicted as sexually promiscuous and “whores” by nature. This image generated the belief that black women couldn’t be victims of rape because they lust for sexual relations. The hypersexualization of black women is a danger to black women and girls. Black women can still be seen in a Jezebel like an image in hip-hop/pop music videos. Their hardly accoutred bodies are often adorned on expensive cars or caressed by male rappers.

The idea of hypersexualization of women took shape when women were deemed men’s property. African American women have been warped into that idea as well. Hypersexualization is over sexualizing a person for their body parts and to use those body parts in a degrading manner to publically humiliate a person or for personal gain. Looking back at slavery era, slaves were raped by their masters. This idea that as an African American woman, she had no rights, she was her masters’ slave. One of the most infamous representations of the

“Through history, culture, and media, Black women have most often been portrayed in some combination of three images: (1) as highly maternal, family oriented, and self-sacrificing Mammies; (2) as threatening and argumentative Sapphires; and (3) as seductive, sexually irresponsible, promiscuous Jezebels.”(West, 1) The stereotypical black woman is also often loud, angry, and over the top, which has been used to add humor to today’s television programming and a lot of today’s media. Even though today, images of black women are more common than in the past the same stereotypes remain.

Over the hour and a half of Samuel L. Jackson reading Baldwin’s words , I Am Not Your Negro presents us with a range of interviews and digs into the murky, racist history of Western popular culture. The film is not subtle: sections are bookended with stark, black and white title cards, Doris Day’s smiling face morphs into a lynched body hanging from a tree, the end credits burst on screen to the sound of Kendrick Lamar’s ' The Blacker the Berry'. But the film’s power comes from its punch, and the punch is a strong one.

These bodies are limited to being displayed only as their stereotypes allow, which continues the pattern of black bodies being the "other body.. the grotesque" when compared to the "beautiful white female body" (Nelson 525) this negative comparison is displayed to all varying types of media viewers. By using Baartman's body as entertainment, the mainly white individuals who saw her began to associate her body and looks with her nudity and sexuality which was assumed to be overtly bold, thus she was considered hypersexual. Due to white power, the creation of these stereotypes through Sarah Baartman's nudity and blackness being viewed as part of " the pornographic" (Nelson 526) created long lasting problems for women of color and the way they are depicted.

“They never seen black people kissing or making love on screen” (Lee ,1987).After decades of black love not being portrayed in the film industry, one young black director, by the name of Shelton Lee, also known as Spike Lee, brought this new visual aspect of African American love. Lee was the first to display black love, both figuratively and physically, on the big screen. It is not only the intimacy of black people that attract larger audiences but it is the inclusion of black female sexuality. The look of a woman through a male gaze quenches the subconscious thirst of a male’s fantasy. In Lee’s films, males portrayed on screen as multidimensional, and are defined by their unusual characteristics and attributes. The women, on the other

The article begins with the author telling the story of a friend who at 13 years old and introduced to the idea that as a black women her power comes from her perception that she is good at sex. The article goes into depth about how black women are seen as sexual objects always down for a good time and then shows us how the media influences this idea, and how it is constantly perpetuated in prime time television and movies.