In this episode of Blacktivities, hosts Shannon and Lisa explore the stereotypes that have been placed upon black people throughout history. They discuss the connection between stereotypes like the "angry black woman" and the "violent black man" and the issues faced by the black community today.

Mandingos, Mammies, and Jezebels

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About the Hosts

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• Just a moment...
• When 'Uncle Tom' Became an Insult
• Negative Racial Stereotypes and Their Effect on Attitudes Toward African-Americans - Scholarly Essays - Jim Crow Museum
• Popular and Pervasive Stereotypes of African Americans | National Museum of African American History and Culture

Copyright 2022-2024 Black Panache, LLC

I'm Shannon and I'm Lisa, and you're listening to Blacktivities, a celebration of all things Black,

[00:00:22] Lisa: perspectives, and Black panache.

[00:00:26] Lisa: mean exclusion. Everybody's invited, but you got to come in and have a seat. So let the

[00:00:33] Lisa: begin.

[00:00:49] Lisa: Just like the last episode, I'm sorry, you gotta give us a whisper. Of, of Blacktivities Pod. Today,

And I think if you listen to the end, you're really going to see a connection between some of those historical stereotypes and the things Happening to us today.

We are trying to come up with the best content as possible, but we need the community to step up and help us out. In the podcasting world, more downloads equals more opportunities to monetize and continue to prove the quality of our production. So if you're tired of seeing this dusty camera, If you tired of my mic issues, come on B.

Podcast. Blacktivities. So please, help us grow so that our voices are being amplified. Also, this is my, one of my favorite parts. We want to spotlight on a local black business, Leporsche Harris, located in Dalton, Georgia. She is a freelance makeup artist and beauty infuencer and baby. She has done wonders on me several, on several occasions and Shannon, she hooked you up too, right?

[00:02:49] Lisa: So she has blessed us both with her services in the past. And then also she assisted us with this raffle. If you missed out on that, let me tell you, we had people was like, you know what? [00:03:00] I respect what y'all doing, but let me just go ahead and get some little extra on that. That way I can win that face beat by Portia.

Cause she donated a full beat. Okay, value that 75. Let me tell you, that was dope. All right. So people, after you follow us on Instagram, Facebook, I want you to go and follow her as well. Um, on Instagram and Facebook, this is Slays by Porsche Fay. And we're talking, when we say Porsche, P O R S C H E, okay? And Fay is F A Y.

Now I understand we're African American and sometimes we get a little outrageous with the spelling. But that's why I just wanna, yeah, I just wanna throw that out there. It ain't no special hyphens or, you know, silent letters. There's no Z in there.

Okay. We'll put it all in the, in the show.

Yes. There we go.

She's joining my oldest. So Blacktivities family, y'all pray for me. Mona Lisa da poet has two children in college. Jesus say it, say it. Amen. Say it. Preach. All right. So the challenges of being a woman. Okay, one, a woman and two being broke is kind of crazy, but I have a question. Do car salesman's not come out and greet you anymore?

Like, do they, like, what's the deal with that?

And

[00:05:24] Shannon: So when we pull up in that, they will come and talk to us.

I could have went and withdrew all of the cash. I wasn't there to like put a down payment. I was there to pay cash money for a car. Okay, because I ain't got time for no car payments right now. And I was shocked at [00:06:00] how long we walked on car lots and no one greeted us or even checked to see if we were interested and that turned me off.

That would turn me off too. Yeah, I made a Facebook post and I was just like, dang do car salesmen not greet people anymore? And the first thing one of my friends said was, bro, you look broke. They think you broke, sis. And I was like, dang, that's crazy. So, but what I did was I end up buying from a private seller.

Okay. And she, she out riding around in her car right now. Actually, she took a little sister and they hit the road to see the big sister. So they gone.

[00:06:37] Lisa: Weekend to myself. Ow! City girl. City girl stuff. I'm gonna get in bed though. Acting bad. No, I'll be sleep. Go ahead.

[00:06:53] Lisa: Yes, yes, pretty much. Um, besides being possibly looked at as the broke black [00:07:00] lady. Um, on the cart lot, there has been other times I would get a little frazzled at work or a little irritated. And as soon as that happens, I'm automatically labeled the angry black woman.

They'd be like, yo, you don't go in there, don't talk to her, stay away from her. Or they'd be like, I'm chattin with her today, like, mm. Like God forbid I have a personality, I'm the type of person, I don't like to talk a whole lot in the mornings. I need a little time to kind of, mm. And when I go to work, I'm not that one like good morning and they're like, what did you

do this weekend? Oh, jet skis. And I'm saying like, bro,

[00:07:44] Lisa: And see, that's the thing I'm trying to be respectful. So I don't butt into the conversations or anything. I just sit there. Waiting for the meeting to start. I may have like a little Starbucks going and I'm quiet and everybody's going back and forth and [00:08:00] They insert me Lisa.

What did you do this weekend? I'm like, oh And i'll be I just chilled out at home. I ain't do too much of nothing meanwhile Some shit done popped off. Probably me and my children's dad done argued. My momma done came over and told me I need to mop the floor again cause she seen You know, it's just like random stuff.

But who am I to go and tell them all the stuff I went through? I'd be like, oh yeah, I had a good weekend. I just keep it like that. And they'd be like, And it's like, okay, like bro, just like I said, I had a good weekend. Like, just no, like, you know, like come on. But other than that, the angry black woman, I just.

I just want to just chill. That's it. That's it.

[00:08:44] Lisa: Okay. Well, since we're going to do some SAC's facts. Give it to them. Teach me something, baby.

Okay. Well, historically, stereotypes of Black people have been used to justify slavery and oppression. They basically created... Characters to portray us as lazy, violent, submissive, promiscuous, obedient, dumb, dangerous, basically anything that would benefit the systems that they put in place. And what they did was marketed products, created images and movies and such that painted this picture in the minds of other white people that worked kind of like subliminal messaging.

And we had short, flat snub noses, thick protruding lips, and an exceedingly thick cranium, short black hair that was woolly, so like an animal, right? And thick skin. Now all these discoveries led them to the conclusions. that blacks were less sensitive to pain, so we didn't experience pain in childbirth, and it was okay to beat your slaves and murder and torture us, and that we just weren't as smart as white people, naturally.

forced into slavery. They also created the notion that these men were animalistic and violent sexual predators. So this justified the white mobs who came after them for supposedly raping white women all across the country because every city has these stories of a black man who got lynched. because they were inappropriate or raped a white woman, supposedly.

And you might find these Mammy characters in films like Birth of a Nation, which was in 1915, Imitation of Life in 1934, and Gone with the Wind, 1939. Then we had Sambo. Who was an ignorant and obedient black man who was so happy to be a slave and serve his massa, almost like a big little kid, but he was also lazy.

So you talked about that angry black woman. There she goes. There she is. Uncle Tom, we've talked about before, the original Uncle Tom sacrificed his life to save other slaves instead of being obedient to his master, but they changed the character to make him submissive, obedient, and desiring of white approval when the story was adapted into a movie.

So we put that one on ourselves. Mm hmm, Merriam Webster defines Jezebel as an impudent, shameless, or morally unrestrained woman. And historically, the black woman has been described in this way. She was the seductress, who was valued only for her body and a man's sexual pleasure. Of course, this justified the slave master raping his slave woman.

All of this is just absolutely ridiculous and shows how our image in America has been shaped over the centuries. They even shaped the stereotype of black people and watermelon. Watermelon used to symbolize self sufficiency and freedom. Because that's how a lot of freed black people supported their families.

[00:15:05] Lisa: Right. Right.

[00:15:11] Lisa: You,

you taught me something there, like, with sharing with us that, you know, they had to survive off selling watermelon. Like I, I wasn't aware of that. But that was a period where I self consciously didn't eat watermelon in public.

Were you doing it because of the stereotype and trying

to

[00:15:45] Lisa: perpetuate that?

Uh huh. Yeah. But now I tear it up. Baby, I eat my offense on you on peace. Flip it.

[00:16:04] Shannon: I definitely think that the angry black woman is still there. I also feel like the violent Black man is still there. Mm hmm. The thug. Yeah. I feel like that is residual from history. Right. Right. And so that contributes to Black men getting killed by police and the incarceration rate being higher, a higher percentage.

But something inside them, that's like ingrained in them may have that bias and that perception. You know what I'm saying?

He is a retired firefighter, and he was the first like black firefighter in this area. Mm-hmm. . And because of the last name, I would have people ask me often was I related to him or was he my father? And I would be like, oh no, I'm not from here, [00:18:00] but I do know who you're speaking of and I am. You know, I went to school with their Children.

Um, but it made me sick to my stomach because they were trying to find a way of saying That he was one of the good ones. Yeah, he's one of the good ones and I think I even heard the guy say that and it's just like, I was like, well, what do you mean? Because you know, I don't know what you mean good ones.

And we laugh about that every time we encounter each other, but here it is, you have a man who wanted to break the stereotype and wanted to be a good father and wanted to make something of himself. He walked with confidence. He wasn't thinking about what nobody else, he had a family to take care of. And instead of just acknowledging this was a fellow man, you had to point out that.

He was black and he was one of the good ones and I think that's just crazy. That's ridiculous. Why, why did he have that? Like, what's as opposed to what that's, that's what I wish I could put that on the shirt. He was one of the good ones as opposed to what, like, you know, like, why, why did you even have to say that?

[00:20:02] Shannon: Even if he had said, you know, he's a really good guy, like that would have been better than saying he's one of the good ones.

This is where I make my awkward exit. I do those well. laughter

Alright, well, do you think that we as black people sometimes live out or perpetuate these stereotypes? I do. I have to agree.

[00:21:07] Lisa: Well, this is the thing, though. This is the thing, though. I feel like we in a damned if we do damned if we don't. So when it comes to us, like we do try to have fun, we do try to, we're, we're ourselves, we're our own culture and everyone acts different. Like we've talked about this before in previous episodes, like how we, our culture is kind of like it influences other things.

So that I have been in situations where I'm like, bro, don't come on, man. Why she got that on out there? But sometimes we can't help that. We have a little extra. You know what I mean? A little extra thighs and hips, you know?

It's like you have to actually try [00:22:00] to be this way. Right,

[00:22:09] Shannon: I do not know. I would have to think about that.

And then we gotta see where that, where it comes from. Is our ghetto and ratchet sometimes misunderstood for us just having confidence? Or... Like, let me give you an example. So, in a professional setting, everyone is sitting up, everyone's doing this, everyone's being fake. Right? And sometimes with us, we gotta know when to turn it on and turn it off.

That's one of those stereotypes. Y'all contributing to the thug stereotype, and that's not okay. What's the point? I have yet to find a person tell me a good enough reason to sag your damn drawers, but go ahead. Anyway, damned if you do, damned if you don't, but anywho, I just, I feel like when we do have our own swag or the way we talk or how we do things, it is kind of like playing into the stereotype, but I feel like to our confidence in the way that we do flow and we do things is given off or automatically is assumed that we're ghetto.

Does that make sense? Yeah.

It's a time and a place for everything. So, you know, when somebody's in the wrong setting and they're acting ratchet, that's where I'm like, come on, man, like,

I don't even listen to the radio because I feel like every time I turn on the radio, pound, pound is [00:25:00] on.

[00:25:06] Lisa: For the people that's not looking at the video, I'm covering my face right now because I'm so ashamed because I'm in the car with my children and on the radio, you know, they're getting into where they can say stuff now.

You know what I mean? But the fact that I'm sitting in the car driving and she say. Her coochie pink and her booty hole brown. Oh, no. On the radio. Come on, y'all. And everybody just like, yeah, yeah. This girl was at the freaking award show. Singing her song next to, what's his name? Doctor, uh, what's his, the pastor, Bobby Jones.

[00:26:06] Shannon: I wish they would, because it's gotten to be a little too much.

Police ourselves first before we police other people. We gotta clean up what we have going on first. Now don't get me wrong. I have my songs, and I'mma say it again. I have my songs I listen to. Okay? But this me by myself. Okay? I'm not riding down the street, bumping it really, really loud. Okay?

Is there a stereotype that I live up to or have in the past? I feel like I'm almost the anti stereotype. [00:27:00] Really? Yeah, because I'm like, I don't know. I'm a nerdy black girl.

But I know when, a time and a place. Yeah. Time and a place. That's, that's important.

[00:27:41] Lisa: So the thug, yes, obviously with the police brutality and things that have occurred and um, the Jezebel, everybody wants to be similar, courageous and everybody want to be BL and [00:28:00] Anybody want to talk on headlights on it

[00:28:15] Lisa: But think about this, though, when it comes to our music, what is more successful? What will be number one first? I know

[00:28:27] Lisa: Uh huh. And who's behind music? White people. It ain't all black. It ain't all black folks. So, they make money off of it, right? So, it's hard for us. Like, the people that are positive.

But anyway, the people that put it out there, that put the positive stuff out there, they don't, they don't blow up as big. They don't, you know, they're known freaking Rhapsody, like Cardi B. All right, she cool. Um, all that, but Rhapsody, man, I'm like, Oh my God, somehow, man, let me tell you. Let me stop for, I forgot, Big K. R. I. T. That's another one. Like, there are so many people that give out positive things and things Like, Killer Mike just had a new album drop that was fire. Informative, you know what I mean? But, they don't Blow up, but they don't get that same recognition as people that's, you know, out there twerking on headlights and letting people know what color their coochie hole is.

[00:29:52] Lisa: You better not blur that out. You better not blur that out either.

[00:29:55] Lisa: You better not.

[00:30:02] Lisa: Right. That's just another thing with the, with the Jezebel and, and they're trying, they mean well, especially what you said Aunt Jemima, um, early in your SAC's facts.

And they're trying to make changes, but I feel like they going in the wrong direction. You're paying attention to the wrong things just to, you know, say they working with us. Let me tell you something, ain't nothing changed since they done took down Aunt Jemima off the, uh, syrup box.

[00:30:33] Lisa: They worried about the wrong thing. It's all about that money reparations, y'all playing.

She should have got something all these years that they used her image for Aunt Jemima. And what about Uncle Ben?

[00:30:48] Lisa: Right. So, y'all worried about the wrong thing, boo. You heard about the wrong thing.

They use the Ain't Your Mama bottle, they just use it as a refill. Oh my goodness. But yeah, those, those are the ones, mostly, is, is, is the Jezebel and, and, and those, those things. They got us effed up, man.

[00:31:35] Lisa: If we trying to analyze, debunk, do anything like I said before, we need to figure us out first. Cause how we gonna go out here and tell somebody how to properly treat us if we can't even treat each other right? True. And that's just my opinion. We gotta have, you know, our leaders step up and tell people it ain't right.

I feel

know. Us ourselves, we do it to each other. We stereotype and do it to each other.

[00:32:17] Lisa: Let a crackhead come running down the street, baby. I'm locking my car door so goddamn fast.

[00:32:26] Lisa: It don't matter.

[00:32:33] Lisa: I know. I don't be tapping on my window. I ain't got no change. Gone, baby. I ain't got, uh uh.

So it's very important that we have Black activities and things like that to address these topics.

[00:33:11] Lisa: Feedback. Yes, all right, so let's have some fun. All right

So what we're gonna do is because I am a creative and I know I talk about music and film a lot Um, we're going to focus on black stereotypes in film and television. I found an article from thought. com that talked about the five most common stereotypes when it came to African Americans in film and television.

Okay Always the thug. And I can open up first if it's okay. The one guy who played at Junior in Players Club, have you ever seen him play a positive character? Cause he also played a thug in Men in Society.

[00:34:35] Lisa: Yes. Yes. So, can you think of a movie about the thug?

[00:34:51] Lisa: I do. They good. They good. Come on. Now, the fact that the world was able to make Denzel Washington a thug in [00:35:00] Training Day. Wow. And he did it oh so well. He killed it. he kills every part. Yes.

Alright. Let's go with the uh, let's find a movie where there's either a single black female, single black mom, or the angry black woman. I'm gonna go with all Tyler Perry movies. But go ahead. Laughing.

[00:35:30] Lisa: Was she won an Oscar for losing Isaiah?

Oh, I hate that movie. Monster's

[00:35:37] Lisa: Yes, and she won an Oscar for that. That was terrible. Girl, bye. Out of all the stuff she did. Yeah, so that right there, a perfect example. Um, what's Taraji P. Henson's movie? What she did for, yeah, Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

[00:35:57] Lisa: Yeah. What's the [00:36:00] alchemy, alchemy, acrimony, acrimony, yeah, acrimony, mm hmm, crazy. All right, how about this? The Magical Negro.

[00:36:14] Lisa: So when I say the Magical Negro, I'll give an example. Think about the movie where Will Smith played, um, Well, Matt Damon, the ledger, uh, the legend of Badger Vance, I think is what it's called.

The Green Mouth.

[00:36:34] Lisa: Ah, you see what I'm saying?

[00:37:00] Shannon: And he healed her.

But they try to portray like he always knew what they needed. And you know. Just a black man there to take care of the white. Alright, the black best friend.

[00:37:34] Lisa: Yes, ma'am. Stacey Dash played that role.

And bless her, she still, she Let me stop. Okay.

of other ones.

[00:37:54] Shannon: I feel like they always have a black best friend. Because I feel like that's their attempt [00:38:00] at diversifying or whatever.

Was it Scrubs? Yeah, Scrubs. We had Donald Faison. Oh, yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah, of course. It was also in clueless. Yeah typecasting, but go ahead And then my ultimate favorite the domestic So when I say the the domestic we're talking about the um, like you stated in sax fax The person is there to keep the household together.

Okay, so think about like the movie the help I

[00:38:40] Lisa: Girl, that profile felt bad for a little bit. Um, I got this from the article Driving Miss Daisy. Driving Miss Daisy. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Now, I also want to share with you, um, I think I told you, but I did go ahead and check out that [00:39:00] book.

Um, and, um, the movie, The Green Book. Mm hmm. Okay. That was a very The setup was, I mean, it was crazy and just to give y'all a little synopsis is basically this black man who is rich. He is a famous recording artist. He had, he travels with his own band. He goes on tour and the record company hires, um, an Italian man to be his driver.

The Italian man who just recently lost his job was needing money really, really bad to take care of his family. But they do show little pieces where he is kind of racist. Okay, so he had to do what he had to do. And he ended up driving for this black man. He was provided with the black book, but he didn't go by the black.

And of course the black man would run into issues and the driver had to find himself protecting him. And they kind of built a bond and relationship based off of that. Very, very good movie. Y'all check it out. Okay, I'm done. Get off my soapbox.

Let's go ahead and hear that piece then Lisa.

Well, let's get it. This is basically a simple, it's called stereotype. And I tell you, As much as I want to prove I am far from your thoughts, it's challenging. As much as I can prove my intelligence, prove my intentions and grace, it's utterly a stretch beyond your mind. One degree, two or three, erase because your own people take pride in those stereotypes.

So you tell me, how do we conquer a stereotype?

But that's not the case.

[00:42:52] Shannon: Yes, these people deserve to be there. They just weren't getting noticed. Right.

[00:43:00] Shannon: Stereotypes.

Just remember who you are and keep it moving, but also do your part to not buy or contribute to any of the negative stereotypes. Mm hmm.

Yes, ma'am. And I've been to therapy several times, but next week we're going to talk about why black people might need. Therapy is a concept that is becoming a little more acceptable in the black community, but it still kind of has a stigma. [00:44:00] So we'll also talk about why that is.

[00:44:05] Shannon: Yep. Look for us on IG and Facebook because we are around, especially since I'm off right now.

I'm checking stuff every day. If you're on Facebook, just search Blacktivities and on IG we are at Blacktivitiespod. Make sure you spell Blacktivities right.

[00:44:25] Shannon: Hit us up and let us know that you're out there and that you listen. I will most definitely shout you out because our listeners are super important.

Until next week though.