(Litwack 8) The Jim Crow system gave Southern whites a legal way to reclaim all-encompassing control over the lives of blacks after the Civil War and Reconstruction. “The phrase Jim Crow dates to the 1840’s when a white performer, imitating a ragged slave, made popular a song and dance routine, ‘Jump Jim Crow’” (Valk and Brown 12). It is difficult to understand how a song and dance thought up by a black stableman and mimicked by a white man to entertain other white people, became synonymous with the methods designed by whites to segregate the races. For whites in both the North and South, the minstrel shows further supported their already distorted views about blacks. (Litwack 7) At the onset of its usage around 1840, the term Jim Crow was used by Abolitionist newspapers when they spoke of separate railroad cars for whites and blacks.
For most of the seventeenth century, for example, when the high death rate in the southern colonies made inexpensive white indentured servants far more numerous than costly African slaves, enterprising bondpersons relied more on self-purchase than the sword. It was only after landless whites and hard-used white indentured workers under the command of Nathaniel Bacon burned Jamestown in 1676 that southern planters made a concerted effort to replace white servants with African slaves. The comprehensive Virginia Slave Code of 1705, the first of its kind in colonial North America, crushed the hope of industrious slaves that they might be upwardly mobile. In April 1712 twenty-five Coromantee Africans burned several buildings in New York City and killed nine whites. Several rebels committed suicide before they could be captured, but those taken alive were broken on the wheel and hanged in
Zip Coon is portrayed as a buffoon that is in constant violence and one that cannot handle his freedom. Although Blacks looked nothing like the images that were being portrayed through minstrelsy, over a vast period of time, these images appealed to the slave inhabited South, the North and throughout the Mid-West. These images were widely accepted as the Black image by people in the North and Mid-West who had never seen Blacks. As a product of minstrelsy and characters such as Mammy and Uncle Tom many people had the false assumption that Blacks were happy in slavery and in bondage. When examining the images and legacy of minstrelsy in modern
Endemic discrimination began for African-Americans when the first African slaves were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619, to aid in the production of such lucrative crops as tobacco. True, Asian-Americans experienced some discrimination for their ‘yellow’ skin, and I am not minimizing the discrimination they faced, but to compare the kind of institutionalized discrimination that African-Americans faced for centuries (and still continue to face in disguise) to the nature of discrimination faced by Asian-Americans is intellectually dishonest, if not out rightly fraudulent. It would be a Proper Analogy to compare Asian-Americans to other immigrant groups such as Black immigrants from Africa. You will find that the mind-set of these two groups is similar even though their skin color is different. They both left their home countries in search of better opportunities in America, and for the most part, both groups are ‘doing well’ in America.
As his character develops in the novel, he comes across as calm, empathetic and nonjudgmental. He also is one of the few who can see things from another’s point of view. In the 1930s in America, racism was a big issue based on discrimination against black people. Most white people, in the novel discriminate against the black people because they fail to see life from their point of view. As the reader begins to see the unfairness of the actions against black people, mostly because of Atticus’ speech, the theme of discrimination is developed through the motive of ‘walking around in their shoes.’ The title, To Kill A Mockingbird is very symbolic and meaningful.
Zook stressed that just like the Jacksons, other African American had great hopes for starting broadcasting and cable ventures; but very few have been succeeded. Zook expresses that African American programmers have troubled perceptions of what black audiences really want. Zook says some programmers think black people like to watch their lifestyles. Zook wrote an essay for The New York Times Sunday magazine, describing her account of no African American owned television and radio. Zook later said those that thought black people preferred gum-smacking, jive-talking sitcoms were proven wrong once again.
Between the 1800's and 1950's, society was controlled by what was called “Jim Crow laws.” Where the term Jim Crow originated was from a song performed by an artist named Daddy Rice during the 1830s. Daddy Rice covered his face with charcoal paste to resemble what is supposed to be a black man, and then sang and danced in character of a silly black person. By the 1850s, the Jim Crow character was one of several stereotypical images of blacks in the nation's culture. People would refer to African Americans that way. How it became a term with segregation of African Americans in the late nineteenth-century is unclear.
The word “nigga” is one of the most popular words of hip hop enthusiasts. Contrary to the traditional derogatory meaning of the word, hip hop enthusiasts use the word as a term of fondness. People can also hear a Caucasian, Oriental, or Latino hip hop enthusiasts saying, “TJ is my nigga,” which stands for “TJ is a good friend.” The language of the Hip Hop culture changes constantly. What might be a cool statement today might be “played out” (outdated) in a year. Young African Americans have adopted the style of dress of upper class Caucasians as a manifestation of their lack of power in American society.
Minstrel shows were meant to make fun of black culture at the time they consisted of comic skits, talent acts, dancing, and music all performed by whites in blackface. They were created to entertain mostly all white audiences. With the civil war newly freeing the African Americans the minstrel shows began to incorporate the zip coon and the urban coon into their shows. The zip coon was a freed black who dressed up in nice clothes as if he was equal to whites. Because of the way the zip coon dressed and spoke as if he was white whites thought he was ignorant and foolish and used that as humor in their minstrel show.
Amos ‘n’ Andy - a funny African American sitcom that based its comedy on stereotypical cultural personalities provided the time for blacks to discuss the issue of cultural bias with the world. (Yvonne) The portrayal of racial stereotypes in “Amos ‘n’ Andy” impacted the viewing audience by allowing them to view and understand the racial prejudice that was surrounding a minority group at that time. (Crystal – edits in red) The television show “Amos ‘n’ Andy” was originally on the radio where the characters were portrayed by white actors. Then it was moved to television at a time when racial activism and social movement was growing and because the American public needed a change with regard to their perception of African Americans as a whole. (Crystal) Amos ‘n’ Andy permitted the viewer’s to watch each week a middle class minority group that projected very negative stereotypes for a laugh.