Essay on afro-american men dealing with cultural intolerance
It is known that stereotypes have always been used in our daily life through media, religious issues and politics. In most cases, the tendency to use stereotypes is connected with personal beliefs, with humor and with descriptions of others. It is found that in the USA, African American males often become victims of stereotyping. In the essay Black Men and Public Space, Brent Staples describes his feelings about being an object of racial fear. He writes, “I often witness “the hunch posture” from women after dark on the warren-like streets of Brooklyn where I lived, where I often see women who fear the worst of me”. (Staples, 1986) The author of the essay represents many examples of stereotyping of Afro-American males as aggressive and frightening. This is really a great problem for African American men in our society who are often mistaken for rapists and murderers, or lazy and unintelligent people.
How to hire an Afro-American essay writer
My goal in this essay is to discuss what causes stereotypes of African American men in our society and identify the impact of stereotyping on their life.
Definition of the term “stereotype”
The term “stereotype” can be defined as a widely spread belief concerning some specific types or features of individuals in our society. The concept of stereotype stands for some standardized conception of certain groups that are based on the prior assumptions. Walter Lippmann, the famous American commentator, was one of the first experts who introduced this concept as “the pictures in our heads”. (Kurylo, 2011, para.1)However, in scholarly literature, the term “stereotypes” is often defined as “characteristics, attributes and behaviors of members of certain groups”. (Kurylo, 2011, para.2)
Types of stereotyping
There are several types of stereotyping which include racial and ethnic stereotyping, gender stereotypes, sexuality oriented stereotyping, and socio-economic stereotypes. African American stereotyping is related to racial and ethnic type of stereotyping that is why most of stereotypes are closely connected with racial issues, including appearance, color skin, figure, and so on. (Marvin, 2005, p.4)
STEREOTYPES OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN IN THE UNITES STATES
The majority of American citizens are against racism and racial discrimination. Moreover, they consider themselves to be absolutely unprejudiced in relation to representatives of different groups. However, it is found that in most cases African American males are thought to be the first suspects of any crime. It means that in many cases, stereotypes of African American men are associated with crime and violence. For example, the news media in the USA represents young African American men as aggressive, lawless and violent. (Rome, 2004, p.2)
One of the stereotypes on young African American men is that “they are engaged in drug abuse in disproportionate numbers”. However, according to the statistical data, represented by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, only about 8% of young African American men are drug users, but even 11% of whites use the same drugs. (Rome, 2004, p.2)
Moreover, stereotypes of African American males are represented in the following historical archetypes: “black face”, “Sambo”, “Magic negro”, “Mandingo negro”, and others. It means that each of the above mentioned historical archetypes has its negative impact on today’s African American males. “Black face” is considered to be a type of theatrical makeup that was used in order to represent lazy, joyous and ignorant black people. “Sambo” is a term taken from the book The Story of Little Black Sambo written by Helen Bannerman. Sambo stands for the black boy who is always happy, rather lazy, absolutely irresponsible and free. The term Sambo is often used offensively as it is considered to be a slave name. (Marvin, 2005, p.31) The term “Magic negro” is also an offensive term as it refers to a poor black man who is ready to help the white protagonist. Although he has some magic and power over others, “magic negro” uses it in order to help the white character in the movie and make him famous. (Marvin, 2005, p.21)The other term “Mandingo negro” is connected with the notion that African American males have animalistic nature. It means that “they are almost wholly subservient to the sexual instinct”. (Marvin, 2005, p.35)
THE MAJOR CAUSES OF STEREOTYPES OF AFRO-AMERICAN MALES IN THE UNITED STATES
Stereotyping of Afro-American males in the United States has several causes which are closely connected not only with African American culture and the history of African Americans, but also with media, literature, sports.
First of all, stereotypes of African American males are caused by media, including movies, TV programs and shows. It is known that for a number of decades, Hollywood portrayed African American males in a negative light as drug dealers, pimps, rapists, and so on. That is why the representation of African American males in the media creates different stereotypes and influences the life of African Americans in the United States. (Smith, 2008, para.1)
Secondly, stereotyping of African American men in the United States is closely connected with historical facts when African Americans were used as slaves and had no rights in human society. In this case, some African American males can be regarded as “brute negroes” or “contented slaves”. (Wilson, 2011, para.2)These stereotypes can be found in literature and movies of 1930-1940. For example, the movie Gone with the Wind is a true example of stereotyping of African Americans as contented slaves.
Thirdly, numerous positive stereotypes of African American males are based on their achievements in sports. It is known that African Americans are good football and basketball players. They are good athletes who become winners in such kinds of sport as boxing, running, basketball and others. The numerous studies prove the fact that racial stereotyping of black athletes by sport commentators is a systematic one. For example, it is found that white football players are always praised more frequently than African American players. (Don et al., 1995, para.5)
THE IMPACT OF STEREOTYPES ON THE LIFE OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MEN
It is very important to pay attention to the impact of stereotypes on the life of African American men. First of all, it is related to young African American boys who are treated unequally at school. The white children openly joke about being scared of black boys. Lawson Bush discusses this issue in his article Stopping the Stereotype. He considers that negative stereotypes of African American men in our society “have become so persuasive that many teachers regard even the youngest Black males as unworthy of empathy, compassion, love, effort and high expectations.” (Bush, 2005, para.8)As a result of such attitude, young boys become “expendable to society”. They lose self-confidence and self-esteem, become nervous and weak. These facts create serious psychological problems which should be solved with the help of specialists. Stereotypes impact on the academic progress at school and higher education institutions. (Bush, 2005, para.9)
Secondly, negative stereotypes of African American men directly influence the relationships between African American men and women. When African American women hear negative stereotypes from their mothers and the media, “they have preconceive notions of Black men, and when they finally do meet a good Black man, they think something is wrong with them because they are not accustomed to positive relationships between Black men and women”. (Smith, 2008, para.17)Besides, many women are afraid of abuse and infidelity, and relations with Black men become rather vague what leads to the fact that “many Black men search for love in other places.” (Smith, 2008, para.18)
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, it is necessary to say that stereotypes of African American men in the USA can be both positive and negative. In most cases, stereotypes have their roots in personal experiences and in media, in literature, movies and TV. As African American males have always been portrayed as violence-prone, lazy and unintelligent, today these negative stereotypes have enormous impact on the life of African American men, their relationships and communication. Many African American males have fear of confirming stereotypes. It means that it is necessary to stop stereotyping African Americans in our society in order to prove the fact that the USA is a country of equal opportunities where people treat each other decently.
