Thomas Hart Benton Slide 7 America Today Analysis

Wilson stated that ''The truth is that often where there are esthetic criteria of excellence, there are also sociological criteria that have traditionally excluded blacks.'' He then continued on to say ''... raise the standards and remove the sociological consideration of race as privilege, and we will meet you at the crossroads, in equal numbers, prepared to do the work of extending and developing the common ground of the American theater.'' Through these powerful words Wilson is saying that in order to reflect American culture in the theater, the history of African American’s must be reflected. There have always been systems in place that have excluded African Americans and white Americans will never understand the way that sense of oppression felt. White Americans will never understand how it feels to be enslaved, be powerless in protecting your family, and being sold off as property, as Eliza Harris from Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and millions of other slaves felt. Photographing the “American Negro” by Shawn Michelle Smith presented the idea that white Americans have tried to take away the histories of other races in America. People have always turned against embracing the histories of the African Americans because they were seen as alien to their owners. Their different skin tone separated them from the white Americans who thought of them as uncivilized before they were brought to work for them. Ultimately Wilson calls for Black Theaters to prevent the culture of the

A visual feature Melfi uses to show the his intention for the film is costume, this helps highlights the themes of racism and sexism. For example in the film the white men wear white tops and a tie, this shows that these men uphold a status of that they are knowledgeable. Meanwhile the white women wear a dress or a twin set, heels and pearls. These costumes displays the sexism during that time period as men and women are expected to wear those types of clothing. I believe this is still a factor in today’s society for instance girls in schools have to wear skirts or dresses and boys have to wear either shorts or pants. The girls uniform restricts movement and increases the chances of hypothermia. I believe that girls should be focused on their education instead of concerning about their modesty in these expected uniforms. Women’s clothing, from skirts to heels, was designed to restrict women’s movement, whereas men’s clothing is all about freedom. The effect of the use of costumes is that it shows that sexism is still present in today’s society as that it restricts freedom and expressing or identifying who you are as a person. The costumes also identifies the theme of racism as the African American women could not afford to own pearls. For example when the N.A.S.A workers lined up to meet the potential astronauts, the males, white females and African American women were segregated into different sections. The costumes made the racism and sexism obvious. Most of the

When looking at the social changes in American culture at the turn of the century, we see extraordinary differences in the accepted behaviours and thoughts of American citizens. The century saw a major shift in the way that people lived, with changes in politics, society, culture, economics, and technology. At the beginning of the century, discrimination based on race and sex was significant, but by the end of the 20th century, women had the same legal rights as men and racism had come to be seen as detestable.

Another allegory for our times with relevant themes was racism. It seems that Gary Ross uses the history of racism in America to show how extremely silliness the views of Americans looked at treating people badly or unfairly because of their race in the past. It also seems that he basing this movie on what was happening to African Americans and how they were treated in the 50s & 60s to how the black & white people of Pleasantville are treating people that are in color. There are many examples of this relationship is when a sign in the store window is shown that reads "No coloreds" (movie). This is making inferences to when blacks in America weren't allowed in specific places of business using signs much like the one in the movie. Another example

Often in many films that undermine African Americans, they are depicted as thief's, murders, or unintelligent. These images are used to show that African Americans are unlike their white counterparts. According to Friedman, "This formulation undermines the racially and sexually based violence toward African Americans, wiping out the memory of rape, castration, and lynching of slaves that occurred in the past" (Friedman). The development of African American films, or films that truly put African Americans in any type of positive light did not really start to occur until the 1970's or 1980's. Before then films were often negative in spirit. Paula Massood describes the Hollywood depictions of African Americans in the previous era as, "failing to recognize the sociopolitical changes in the American landscape. African American characters most often appeared within a southern setting, largely ignoring the black city space and culture that figured in the lives and the imaginations of a vast majority of African Americans" (Massood). However, in the following years the development and progression of African American films was able to be seen.

If a movie of this sort had such an emotional impact on me, it is no wonder people embraced these ideas back then. The use of new and popular media methods in those days was more than adequate in transferring the black inferiority ideas to the general public. Beginning at the early 19th century with the happy, dancing, toothless, drunken Negro with big, bold and white lips to the image of the mid 21st century African-American, the media has always used these images to convey inferiority. These images implied inherent traits in the black community. This whole community was represented in the new media as one who can not be collateralized and integrated in to society without being happily enslaved. Most of these images had great commercial values that made it all the more impossible for the rest of the nation not to embrace the African American stereotypes.

Although each of the objects found within the image represents some of the struggles that were encountered by African-Americans, everyone that is included within the image helps us understand the perspective of those who dealt with the issue of slavery. The figure on the left is a depiction of an Irish-American who lived in New York during the 1860’s. Although the man lived in New York, he was an immigrant and therefore couldn’t make much money. This fact helps explain why he is depicted as wearing clothes that were commonly associated with the working-class. During this time, there was also a stigma against Irish-Catholics throughout the United States due to the fact that vast amounts of them immigrated to the United States following the

The fact that racist elements make a work more appealing is a stark reflection on the inherent racism present in the 1920s, and the fact that the average American citizen believed in racial stereotypes and wanted them to be found everywhere in society, from

Particularly, in Civil War era films, African American women were predominantly shown as having a robust figure, a constant smile, and a happy disposition, i.e. mammies. “By the time the flood of Civil War features began in 1908, these racist cliches were set in stone” (Chadwick 80). The archetype of Mammy became a stereotype created by white producers in an effort to portray African American women in a more pleasing light, to satisfy white audiences. Filmmakers actions created an intensified racial stereotype and instilled a false image of African Americans. Chadwick called this “the Hollywood black”: a racial viewpoint filmmakers created about blacks.

The posture of the marchers in the very front of the picture, where the marchers have outstretched legs and thrust-back shoulders, in unison, portray that these marches are determined, and strong. The downward angle that this photograph is taken from enhances the amount of people, making them look bigger in number and stronger. The weather in the background foreshadows what is about to happen in the next upcoming days. The gloomy, almost storm like weather, seems to foreshadow the attacks these marchers will encounter. Photographs and other forms of art that portray the civil rights movement have helped shape people opinions and have influenced people to get involved in the civil rights

Racism and stereotypes are two major themes that took part in the 1940’s. Racism is the hatred or intolerance of one race over another. A stereotype is qualities that is assigned to different groups of people related to their race, nationality or sexual orientation. Both of these themes have been shown in some modern day events that has occurred. Racism and stereotypes were unreasonably used against African-American people. One example of this is shown in the movie 42. Also these themes are shown in the essay by Brent Staples, called Just Walk on By.

For instance, when Troy was complaining to his boss how it is unfair that the whites are the only ones who can drive. He then goes on to report that to the union (Wilson 963). When he reports the action and gets promoted to become one of the first colored drivers it represents how things in that decade were

In the video The Men Who Made America names such as Rockerfeller, Vanderbuilt and J.P. Morgan were mentioned. These names are possibly some of the most iconic names linked to some of the most iconic men who as the name suggest "made america". The video compares them to our modern day Bill Gates or Steve Jobs. Names in which we associate wealth, power and innovation. What we do not seem to understand is that is without the names of Rockerfeller, Morgan and Vanderbilt our country would not be what it is today. These men paved the way thought hard work, intutuion and what some consider brute force the very essience of who we are and what we have grown accustome to may not be what we see today. Vanderbilt linked the country with itself through

The purpose that the artist want portraying is small rural American family during the 1930s, when farming was seen as the culture or the mid-western Americans. The painting could represent that the mid-westerner lived simpler lives.

Hollywood and the media continues to promote social stereotypes as the white male is portrayed as upper-middle-class professional who is family-oriented while African Americans are depicted as thugs, funny, maids, best friends, and servants. The media sacrifices objective depiction of races to gain better ratings and earnings. Further, in most movies, blacks are depicted as foolish, lazy, submissive, violent, animal-like, and irresponsible. The 1915 film The Birth of a Nation was one of the first films to feature a strong stereotype by portraying blacks as subhuman.