Both Williams’ use of black stereotypes and participation in the “blackface” type of acting were considered negative and racist ways of portraying black people during this time period. He charmed his way past barriers that blacks had not been able to overcome, with a smile and comical attitude. Williams opened the door for black actors of his generation as well as for generations to come, in the film and stage industry. During this time, blacks were portrayed as “coons”, a stereotypical depiction what a “negro” was at this time: lazy, dishonest, and corrupt. “Blackface” actors represented the blacks as whites wanted to see them.
Perception v. Reality “The mask which the actor wears is apt to become his face” - Plato When viewing the documentary, Ethnic Notions, one might wonder in what ways the stereotypical images viewed have affected the images of Blacks. Although one could argue that the images seen were only devised to appeal to people of that time, these images seen in the documentary have had a lasting impact on the psyches of Blacks even to this day. As the documentary indicates, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Blacks were perceived by America as contested stereotypical characters such as Uncle Tom, Mammy, Sambo and Zip Coon. Mammy, portrayed as being happy and content with her present condition, was used as a strategic aspiration to other female slaves. She was shown as the caregiver for the master’s kids, loving to the master’s kids, a tyrant to her own children, unattractive and pitch-black.
(37) Schuyler felt that by viewing Negro art as unique and separate, it helped to perpetuate myths of racial inferiority. Jane Kuenz points out that though declarations of difference were a large part of the Harlem Renaissance, “they were also frequently forthcoming from white speakers where they were often prefaced by concerns for preserving the racial integrity of white America, by which is meant its economic and social privilege” (Kuenz 182). Schuyler also makes the point that the same language used to defend the “peculiarity” of Negro art was used by slaveholders to justify slavery (38). Schuyler’s opinion that African Americans and Caucasian Americans are much more alike than different, is illustrated in his novel Black No More. Schuyler posits the invention of a machine which can use “electrical nutrition and glandular control” (11) to change Blacks into Caucasians.
To support his thesis, he pointed out that any lower social class was sent to do manual labor. Some however, were simply better and cheaper to have as slave laborers, such as the African Slaves. (Williams 10) Racism was simply a consequence of slavery so that people could justify the idea of employing and owning slaves. For many years, historians and sociologists have debated the relationship between racism and slavery. Some contend that slavery caused and perpetuated racism, while others argue that racism caused and perpetuated slavery.
While Inventions, such as the cotton gin, enhanced the necessity for slaves in the south, slavery was disappearing from the rest of the world. This is why slavery was called the ‘Peculiar Institution’. Americans that did not live in the south or see the true colors of slavery believed that paternalism existed in there, which delayed violence and revolting needed to start the revolution. It was due to the influence of the Haitian Revolution that allowed Americans and slaves to use more violent tactics to get their point across. Violence played a huge role in the outcome of the Civil War.
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.
In order to explore the question further, I have researched the background of slavery and why it began. I looked at How did American slavery begin? By E. Countryman. It explores the origins of slavery and how slaves were treated and viewed by other people in society. I also looked at Arrogance of race: historical perspectives on slavery, racism and social inequality by G.M.
Double consciousness is a concept that Du Bois first explores in his 1903 publication, “The Souls of Black Folk”. Double consciousness describes the individual sensation of feeling as though your identity is divided into several parts, making it difficult or impossible to have one unified identity. Du Bois spoke of this within the context of race relations in the United States. He asserted that since American blacks have lived in a society that has historically repressed and devalued them that it has become difficult for them to unify their black identity with their American identity. Double consciousness forces blacks to not only view themselves from their own unique perspective, but to also view themselves as they might be perceived by the outside world.
After the emancipation of slavery in the 1800’s, African Americans have struggled to be treated with the same equal rights as Europeans. Even with the laws that were pasted to protect African Americans there were states that ignored and created new laws to overturn the laws to protect African Americans. The ignorant of Europeans who denied African Americans the equal rights the laws stated they deserved. African Americans decided to stand up for themselves by developing non violent protest movement to fight for the equal rights of African Americans. ("Civil Rights Movement") Martin Luther King Jr. became the leader of the non violent protest movement in the 1950’s.The development of Martin Luther King Jr. in this era started when an African American woman named Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.
Therefore reinforcing the popular representations of society. The test by angelica Gibbs was written around the 1930’s in America, the main objective of the story was to depict the life of an African American during the times of hard struggle in society. Gibbs used the characters to reinforce the popular representations or stereotypes of society and imparticular the black v white society. During these times America was moving out of the era known as the slave times where a white man could buy a black slave for less then a dog, African Americans were starting to gain rights in society through the help of spokesmen like martin Luther king. However America was still moving slow and a racist society was still in power.