"Playing Indian"

Is reenacting a person of a particular skin color offensive? This is one of the main issues addressed in C. Richard King's article "Arguing over Images: Native American Mascots and Race." One example of racial debate is regarding the Crayola company. The Chestnut Crayon use to be called "Indian Red" or something to that effect. However, there was so much controversy over its racial label that there was a contest to see who could rename the color. The debate of offensive names does not end in a Crayola box. King describes the controversy over sport and University mascots. He poses the question, "Do mascots like Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians and Chief Illiniwek at the University of Illinois perpetuate racist stereotypes?" That is a fabulous question! The problem is, who is being asked? USA Weekend posted a blog for people to state their thoughts on such a subject. The responses varied from accusing people of not being able to "LIGHTEN UP!!!!!!!!!!" to a view that was horrified if someone actually thought it was correct to continue using such mascots. Talk about your polar opposites. Personally, I feel that I cannot properly judge and assess the situation because it is not my ethnicity that is in question. However, I do find some portrayals of the Native Americans are more tasteful than others.

One example would be the two depictions of Native Americans in Disney animated films. Peter Pan has been criticized many times for its insensitivity towards the Native Americans. The song What Made the Red Man Red has caused many controversies over the years.


King points out that images such as dancing, painted faces, dramatized body parts like noses, and wearing feathered headdresses are all ways to convey a negative stereotypical depiction of the Native American race. The gibber language and mannerism are not particularly flattering as well.

Pocahontas is Disney's way of making up for their initial portrayal in Peter Pan. The question becomes is it a fair interpretation that properly apologizes for the previous film? However, the use of the word 'savages' echoes a common adjective associated with the race. On the other hand, Disney uses this scene to portray both perspectives and equally show the savage nature of both races.




So is it correct to use Native American names and images as mascots? Well, I personally believe that is up to the race who is being protrayed.

The White hip hop

Like Jazz, hip hop is a black creation that has been a fad with white people. Kitwana describes in the introduction that hip hop is being musically devoured by white people and has become a part of the American culture. A similar phenomenon occurred with the Jazz era. The practice of jazz music began in the Harlem Renaissance and was adopted by the white citizens. Only when the white people got a hold of it did the music thrive in an economical and financial sense. Now hip hop has become the current generation's version of jazz. White teenagers have participated in the practice of hip hop on many levels. Some enjoy listening to it on occasion while others try to be hard core and break dance to the beat.

In regards to the black influence, hip hop has become a common association with the black race and culture. Kitwana describes an instance where a South Carolina student leader sponsored a Hip Hop Day. The purpose of this event was to cross racial boundaries. Here both groups could come together and appreciate an aspect of the black culture. On our campus, there was a hall who created a ghetto day activity. One girl on the hall commented that she felt the label was inappropriate and portrayed negative connotations about the black race. For Ghetto day, many students dressed in baggy clothes and tried to act black. I am sure many students found this offensive and not a a flattering portrayal of the black culture. The title Hip Hop Day would have been a more appropriate approach to this idea.

Back to how white teenagers love hip hop, I was intrigued by Kitwana's section describing the participation of whites and hip hop music. I believe her underlying theme was that one could not truly excel in hip hop if he or she was not black. In her article she said referred to a dialogue between a group of friends. "Wow you guys are really good. Too bad you're not Black." In high school a group of friends and myself organized a Christian hip hop group. The entire group was all white, but we thought we were the coolest thing hip hop had ever seen. Remember this was high school. The entire time we attempted to act ghetto and imitate dance moves that would be found in a black community. This was quite comical since the demographics of my home town was all white. We dressed like black kids practicing hip hop and tried to imitate their moves and incorporate them into our hip hop ministry. It was fun, but I am sure everyone could tell we were not black!

Representation of gender in color

Bell Hooks does not hold back in her interpretation of how Black men and women are being portrayed in media. I was offended by her frank description of how Black females are dehumanized in the media. For my thesis at Eastern University, I studied the male gaze and the objectivity women faced in art. However, I found that Hook's study does not have the scholarship and tact of Laura Mulvey. Mulvey does not sugar coat how women are positioned and adorned to attract the male gaze, but I felt her writing had more class. Hook also discusses the Western fantasy of the black female body. Many authors have examined the interactions of early settlers and the "exotic" women. In my post-colonial class, we read an excerpt about the mistreatment of black women by Christopher Columbus and his men. Though this was centuries ago, the attitude towards these women has not greatly improved. As Hook's article points out, Black women are very much still sexualized and objectified for the male gaze. She incorporates very suggestive images of the nudity that is associated with Black women in media. She emphasizes how they are commonly in a pornographic setting with emphasis on the black "butt." Though there are many photographs to display this aspect of Black female representation, I could not bring myself to support such images on my blog.

In her chapter analyzing on Black masculinity, Hooks describes that Black men not only grapple with their identity as males, but also how their race complicates matters. Because of the color of their skin, these men are left as inferior versions of their white brothers. This representation and lack of respect is especially difficult in a patriarchal society. In Buchi Emecheta's book The Joys of Motherhood she explains the difficulties of the position Black men face in a white dominated society. Through the eyes of her female character, Emecheta describes how the woman's husband is emasculated by the white society. He is a treated poorly by the white men in the town and washes the underwear of his white mistress. The woman of the novel struggles with how her husband is being stripped of his masculinity to the point where she cannot respect him as the man of the house. Hook reflects this idea on her chapter by saying "Black men and women who wanted to conform to gender role norms found that this was nearly impossible in a white racist economy that wanted to continue its exploitation of black labor." Another factor that Hook ties to this chapter is the sexual representation and rights to private property. In regards to sexual representation, Black men are often seen as less inferior to white men and also portrayed like women in that they are highly sexualized. Like women, Black men were seen as private property instead of owning such items. The prime example is the events preceding the Civil War. Even after slaves were free and into today's society, Black men are not given the respect they deserve. In my school that was predominately white, I watched my black male peers suffer injustices and judgments from teacher. If my friend was to ask a question of the teacher, he would usually get into trouble. If I asked the same question, I would be greeted with a smile and receive my answer. This always infuriated me. Though some may claim that racism is a problem of the past, I believe it is an issue of the subconscious.

"Movin' On Up

Acham's article "Movin' On Up: Contemporary Television as a Site of Resistance" illustrates the continuing difficulty of portraying people of different ethnicity, especially black, in a positive light in the media. He states that each racial groups comes with its own stereotypes. In an interview with Chris Rock, the actor says that you would never see an Asia in the position of a homeless person. The intervewer replied that they were studying in the library. This dialogue reinforces the notion that Asian Americans have had an easier time assimiliating into the American culture. This could be because Asians have a lighter complexion like the white American.

Blacks and Latinos have had a more difficult time being represetned in a positice light in the media than Asians. Acham comments on the first Balck woman to appear in a police drama was Chrstie Love who played Teresa Graves. The current season of CSI recently replaced their head actor with a Black man. Though not the first Black actor on the show, he adds authority and a fascinating dynamic to the team. However, in a recent episode in this past season, there is an episode where a white police officer kills a black man he believes to be commitng a crime. The cop was in a bad neighborhood and thought that every man of color was a criminal. However, the man he shot was a police officer as well.

Join the Pledge for Equality

I saw this advertisement on USA and found it as a wonderful example of the media creating equality. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tpVjt2IhvQ

The Many Faces of Black Comedy

For many of my examples, I am using comedy as a sub-genre of the shows / movie or as a second genre. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a horror comedy, Smart Guy is a family comedy, Men in Black is an action comedy, and Desperate Housewives is a tragicomedy.



Coleman discusses seven faces of blacks in comedy. One of them that I found particularly interesting was the case of the “tragic Mulatto.” I found this term used many times during my research on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Race is not a topic I think of when I consider Buffy because it features a white cast. The main group of characters incorporates vampires, demons, witches, and werewolves, but no one of a different ethnicity. Coleman describes the Mulatto as “female, bi-racial.” These two elements are crucial to the character Kendra in Buffy. Kendra is a vampire slayer like Buffy. She enters the scene for only a few episodes to help Buffy to defeat evil. Her mixture of race can be seen as either a way to blend the two races or to transition from one to the other. At first I saw Kendra as a blend of both. However, her accent was so strong and distinct. This had to be intentional on Whedon’s part (the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). On the other hand, the more I personally observed of the character Kendra and through the research I encountered, I see her as a tragic character who is trying to act white. Buffy is a white Slayer and therefore sets the standard in the audience’s mind regarding the paradigm of the Chosen One. In some ways it is refreshing to see a human as strong as Buffy and a kung-fu companion to create even more dynamic scenes to add to the action. However, Kendra, with her rule book Slayer mantra, tends to get on the viewer’s nerves as she criticizes Buffy’s technique and more importantly her known identity. Kendra believes that the Slayer should be an isolated figure and fight alone. Buffy proves that life is much better with a core group of friends. Besides, where would Buffy be without the Scooby Gang? In regards to the Mulatto being a tragedy, like I said earlier, Kendra is only on the show for a few episodes. She is killed in the heat of battle. As seen here, the Slayer who is full of herself is the one who ironically is killed as the “lazy” Slayer preservers.


Buffy is a representation of the face of Blacks in comedy as a side genre in horror. Another type of comedy is the family shows such as The Cosby Show. Though I have never seen The Cosby Show, I have seen Smart Guy, which is a Disney teenage portrayal of a Black contemporary family. Coleman’s fifth type, the “comic Negro” is found in this show. Each teenage character depicts a different aspect to the family. The daughter is the only female in the family unit and must therefore defend herself and be a loud presence in the house. The older brother is a dumb, lazy interpretation of Blacks. He slips by school. He is okay with this image until his elementary age brother is moved up into the high school. I see the younger brother as trying to act white and fit into the Anglo-middle class demographic.


Coleman’s seven types are all negative. However, I found a few more identities of the Black race. One I found is a negative form in that many times Blacks are seen as attempting to be White. I have found that some Blacks can be portrayed in a positive light. One of those actors is Will Smith. The movie I correlate to his Blackness is Men in Black. The title alone is a fascinating example of racial analysis. The idea of “in black” portrays a dominate color for the show. There are many racial interpretations within the film, particularly the second movie, as it comments on Will Smith’s ethnic identity. In the beginning of the first movie, we see Smith chasing down a bad guy and creating a blood-pumping high action thrill. He is chosen to participate in an exam to become a Man in Black. When he enters the testing facility, his peers are white high class military people who take themselves too seriously. Smith lightens the mood and does not conform to the environment. While the others are struggling to find a writing surface in their odd chairs, Smith makes a scene by dragging a table. During the shooting test where there are aliens for targets, Smith only shoots the little girls because she is carrying a Calculus book and is therefore more of a suspect than the aliens. He is chosen for the field and becomes a member of the secret government agency. In the second movie, Smith makes a comment about the racism in law enforcement. When he picks up his partner K, he uses a remote to call his car. An inflatable white man is sitting in the seat and then is sucked into the steering wheel. K comments on the technology and Smith replies that he used to have a black man driving, but it got pulled over too many times. Ouch!

In regards to acting White, I see two characters in the show Desperate Housewives as portraying such an image. Carlos and Gabrielle Solis are two Latino characters in the show. Gabrielle was a New York supermodel and Carlos is a big executive who earns a lot of money. There are moments of growth between these two characters, but they always revert back to their standard of shallow lives and materialistic views. There is one part where they lose all of their money, but they would rather be penniless and live in the suburbs with their white friends than move to an apartment they can afford. They both strive to live out the American dream. Gabrielle is so obsessed with her image that it takes a toll on her children. Her oldest daughter, who is a rather large child, becomes self-conscious because her mother is on the cover of Vogue magazine. This feeling of inferiority causes rebellion and a tense household. Many times, Gabrielle, through her pictures and image as a model, fits Coleman’s Black type number 6 – the “exotic primitive.” She is seen as a possession to her husband. She uses her sexuality to make him jealous and attract another boy.

Another portrayal of Blackness in this dramatic comedy is the new neighbors who move to Wisteria Lane in the second season. The Applewhites create a mixed identity through their name. By having “white” in their surname shows how they attempt to fit into a white suburbia neighborhood. However, from the first episode that introduces this family, they are sketchy. The teenager Mathew begins to date one of the white girls Danielle. Danielle alludes that her mother is racist because Bree allows her son to have his gay lover over to the house, she invites over her AA counselor and sex addict boyfriend, but her daughter is not allowed to be seen with a “hott black guy.” Matthew is portrayed as aggressive while his brother is mentally challenged. Both boys are framed for murder and do not portray flattering depictions of Black characters.

Thelma and Louise: A Comic or Tragic Duo

As I watched the movie Thelma and Louise for the first time, it was for a class on analyzing gender through the lens of media. Throughout the entire movie, I was perplexed as to what I was going to draw from the film in regards to gender ideology. At first I examined the women in the film.

Thelma is the typical submissive, abused wife of the time. She fears her husband and claims she must ask his permission, as if he was a overbearing father, so that she could go out with her friend. From this angle, I see Thelma as a child because she is not treated like an adult in her marriage and I do not believe she considers herself as an adult - period. She has no concept of how an adult woman should behave. I traced all of the misfortunes in the movie to be Thelma's fault. If Thelma had not flirted with the sketchy man in the bar, Louis would not have had to defend her ditsy friend. Also, when Thelma robs the store, she frames them even more and creates a trail of suspicion that draws more attention to their actions. The icing on the cake for Thelma is when she falls for Brad Pitt's sketchy character. She gives herself to him and then, after knowing of his criminal background, willingly leaves him in a room with an envelope that contains all of their money. Contrary to my argument about how Thelma is the root of the problems in the movie, I see her as the character who grows the most during the duration of the film. She evolves from the confined housewife, to a wild woman, to an adult who is seeking freedom from her husband and the patriarchal society as a whole.

Louise represents the strong feminist character in the movie. She is an unmarried woman and demonstrates that she does not need a man to define her identity. She encourages her friend Thelma to come to the same realization. She is the one who tells Thelma to view her husband as a spouse and not a father. She corrupts her friend to seek freedom and enjoy a little "girl time." She is the one who protects Thelma from the initial problem. If it were not for this daring and caring character, Thelma would have been raped. This scene also reveals the depth of Louise's character. We discover later that she was raped in Texas. With this information, we as the audience can gain a greater appreciation for her action in the beginning of the film. In many ways, I see the shooting as a way for Louise to take revenge on the man who raped her. She becomes a very empowered figure as she represents the justice that should be sought for women's rights. It is Louise who takes it upon herself to solve the problems at hand. She also treats Thelma as a child in a way. She tells Thelma not to worry and sends her to the pool while she comes up with a plan. It is Louise who grapples with the consequences and takes matters into her own hands.

The ideology surrounding these characters reminds me of the figures in Mona Lisa Smile. The girls at Welsley come into their education with the attitude that they are being trained to become sophisticated wives. Their degrees are just a way to pass time until there is an engagement. These college student characters are very similar to Thelma in that their mindset of life revolves around a husband/masculine figure. On the other hand, Professor Watson represents Louise. She challenges the girls to be more than their husband. She inspires them to break out of the shadow of men and gain a name for themselves. Watson realizes that she has the privilege of educating the brightest women in the country, but also realizes that their greatest concerns do not go beyond china patterns and children. One of my favorite conversations is between Julia Roberts (Watson) and Julia Stiles (Law student Joan). Roberts asked Stiles what she will do after college. Stiles replies that she will be married. Roberts persuades her student to be more than a wife. Stiles challenges the professor by claiming that she wants to raise a family properly, but that does not mean a woman does not have depth or intellect. Though I consider the characters in Mona Lisa Smile more developed and stronger examples of women in film, I feel that there is a fair comparison in regards to the attitudes of a woman's role in society.

No, I did not forget men. I see three basic types of men in the movie Thelma and Louise. The husband is an example of an abusive slob who cares only for himself and views his wife as his property. He also treats her like a child instead of an adult. This is part of the reason Thelma has no concept of the role and behavior of an adult woman. When he talks sweetly to his wife on the phone, she immediately knows that the police are listening and hangs up the phone. Before this scene, the husband laughs when the officers encourage him to speak kindly so his wife will not be suspicious. Yeah right! The second type of man in Louise's boyfriend. He is sweet and willing to assist Louise at any cost. He is devoted to her, but is more of an equal than overbearing. Many times I viewed Louis as wearing the pants in the relationship. The final male character, and my personal favorite, is the head police officer. He is kind to the women and wants to try and bring them justice without harsh consequences. At first I thought this was really sweet and a great example of caring men. After a while, I realized that he did not see Thelma and Louise as accountable adults, rather he saw them as children who had no concept of right and wrong. This thought rather disturbed me. He was feeding off of the stereotype that lumps women and children into a universal category. Even in the final scene, he calls them girls. This movie demonstrates three types of men and none are terrible flattering.

The negative tendency

In my high school's attendance office there was a poster of a cat covered in spaghetti. The caption underneath said: "When I do something right no one remembers, but when I do something wrong no one forgets." This is a similar idea to the statement made in the article The Racial Chameleon. Entman and Rojecki state that "psychologists have found more generally that people remember negative information most readily." This is very true in regards to the issue of racism. The media has portrayed blacks and Latinos as being the epicenter for criminal action. If you watch any crime investigation show such as CSI, Law and Order, or NCIS to name a few, you will find cases where more times than not the criminal is black or Latino. Even though I know many wonderful black and Latino people, I still clench my purse when I pass a stranger of color on the street. I have noticed that even on my safe college campus I never bat an eye if I pass a white female, but as soon as I see a black male student coming my way my body tenses. As the article Culture, Media, and the White Mind: The Character of Their Contect states, it is due to schemas and frames that these notions are developed. These are the basis for the development and storing of preconceived knowledge. They are our sources of storing and referring to previous experiences or learned information. I have never personally been attacked, but the encounters in the news and in the paper are enough to invoke caution in my step. Are the media solely respnsible for this unnconscious reaction? Stuart Hall comments on this very question in his article The Whites of Their Eyes: Racist Ideologies and the Media. "The media are not only a powerful source of ideas about race. They are also one place where these ideas are articulated, worked on, transformed, and elaborated." This is a straightforward answer to the question of the Media's power over racial tendencies and perceptions in society. It is through the various sources of medium that racial ideologies are formed.

Postcolonial literature and the White way

"...Many writers see black literature in the US as an aspect of internal colonialism/postcolonialism. Any study of post-colonial literature also needs to distinguish the work produced in former white settler colonies - Australia, Canada and New Zealand - from the literature of black African or the Indian subcontinent." This quote from Barker brings me back to the literature I have read from post-colonial societies written by women who have seen the other side of colonization. This other side of colonization that I speak of is not pretty by any means and becomes terribly degrading for people of color. Edwidge Danticat wrote a collection of short narratives about post-colonial women and their families who reside in Haiti or have moved from Haiti to the United States. In the story "Caroline's Wedding," the older sister describes life as an immigrant in the United States. The narrative opens with her describing her accomplishment of earning her citizenship. Her sister Caroline is less than thrilled for her sister and regards the accomplishment as no big deal. However, the narrator describes that Caroline does not understand how valuable the citizenship is for the narrator because Caroline was born in the United States. Another significant aspect of the character Caroline is that she has a prosthetic arm. This becomes a symbolic theme in the story as the narrator alludes to the fact that the missing arm represents the missing cultural link between Caroline and her family's Haitian heritage. Caroline disregards any type of tradition and believes herself to be fully white because she was born in America. As the generations become more accustomed to the White Way of thought and culture, the colonized heritage begins to dissipate. Edwidge Danticat describes this transition in many of her stories and how the White tradition has dominated not only the people of color, but their culture and way of life.