Caricatures in the Past Affect the Present

It was an early Monday morning when I was walking & I saw a young black teenager get his KD bookbag thoroughly searched by a white police officer. He may of had drugs or a weapon on him; he may have not. But the point is, he is thought to be a suspicious character, just due to black stereotypes. These stereotypes were created in minstrel shows two centuries ago. Stereotypes are being repeatedly seen today as they were seen in the past.

The Pickaninny caricature is of a young, happy, poor black girl. These young girls were always shown stealing something or often nude. The Pickaninnies were shown “stuffing their mouths with watermelon or chicken” which was things they usually stole (authentichistory.com). Pickaninnies are shown today through movies & Tv shows. One of our popular blacks actors Eddie Murphy “has replaced the term Pickaninny” with a character he had played (Kibler). The Pickaninny was given a bad reputation which affects society & opinion on it’s negativity for still being represented. This was shown also in elder examples.

The Mammy Caricature is of an obese black women who worked for whites. She was a maid in the households. Mammy “served as an authority on cooking & cleaning” & allowed the whites to walk over her(authentichistory.com) . Due to this, she is now seen in advertisements. Her most famous “commercial Mammy in history is Aunt Jemina” who is featured on a maple syrup bottle (authentichistory.com). Since she was always seen as a maid, she’s modernly still given that role. This is not the only caricature that shows elderly people being treated unfairly by whites.

The Uncle Tom caricature was an old, happy, black slave. He was a loyal servant, yet he was treated badly. He was gentle & loyal, however, he was “sold,
cursed, slapped, kicked, flogged, worked like a horse, then beaten to death” (authentichistory.com). This caricature was later seen as Jim Crow, a later occasion. He was duplicated as one of “those of the 1840’s blackface clowns” (Meer). Uncle Tom was a representation of the stereotype that blacks will always be inferior, no matter how hard they try, & whites will remain the dominant race.
Although Uncle Tom was treated pretty horribly, others were portrayed to be in “luckier” situations in slavery.

The Coon caricature was a joyful slave, who constantly looked like a buffoon. The Coon was “lazy, easily-frightened, inarticulate, good-for-nothing buffoon” who was always seen as stupid (authentichistory.com). We see the stupidity of minorities today in popular movies. In a passing 2009 film, Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen, there was a pair of robots who took on the Coon caricature with characteristics like “rap-jive talkin’, illiterate, gold tooth sportin’, eye bulging, big eared” (authentichistory.com). This Coon caricature impact will give society the impression that blacks are unitelligent.

Can you imagine blacks having to fight for their right into society … again!? Blacks are citizens of the country, and have been for a centuries, just as much as whites are; they shouldn’t have to fight for that equality. Blacks shouldn’t have to stand up & prove what’s theirs. You may think we don’t have this problem anymore, but trust me. We do.