Americans should be more aware about race issues
February 19, 2016
Dear Editor:
Around Martin Luther King Day people love to relish in the idea of ai???How far weai??i??ve come as a society.ai??? However, the explosion of social media magnifies how far we really havenai??i??t come and how desperately we as a society need to go regarding race relations. Whenever blatantly offensive events occur, those with basic understanding are almost programmed to say, ai???But itai??i??s 2016. How are these things still happening?ai???
These events still occur because more people are more concerned about being called a racist than trying to have the necessary hard and uncomfortable conversations to solve racism. Martin Luther King said that most people ai???prefer a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.ai??? Itai??i??s almost as if calling someone the R-word causes more upset and backlash than calling someone the N-word.
Recently a Stroudsburg student posted a photo in blackface with an offensive caption and a Black History Month Snapchat filter. So in light of recent events I would like to spark the necessary and hard conversation to explain why blackface is offensive and unquestionably racist.
What is blackface? Blackface is when people who arenai??i??t black, typically white people, whether using makeup or even Snapchat drawing tools, make their skin appear black. In the 1800s blackface originated during minstrel shows. Minstrel shows were a form of entertainment where white actors would dress up as black people and recently freed slaves and perform comedies. Their skin was usually pitch black, hair unkempt, and bright overdrawn big lips. This form of entertainment is responsible for perpetuating most of the stereotypes concerning African-Americans that are still present today. If youai??i??ve ever heard someone say ai???Black people are so lazyai??? or ai???Black people are all dumb and criminalsai??? you can thank blackface and minstrel shows. Some of the characters from minstrel shows included:
- Zip Coon (developed in 1834) was played by George Dixon. Dixon portrayed an arrogant, freed black slave that tried to be dignified, but fell short in his appearance and incapability to correctly pronounce his words.
- The Mammy: usually a heavyset domestic black woman loyal to her master.
- The Buck: An intimidating and frightening black man who loved white women.
- The pickaninnies or children with unkempt hair. In minstrel shows pickaninnies were disposable. Children were usually depicted as unintelligent and impulsive and were easily hurt or killed in minstrel shows.
- The Uncle Tom: A black man devoted to white ideals even though they might be damaging to his own race.
- The Wench: A sexualized black woman or seductress, usually played by a man in a dress.
A major problem with minstrelsy and blackface was that many of the audiences viewing these shows had never been exposed to black people. So the audiences believed this is how black people actually acted and what they looked like. The first encounter some white audience members had with a black person was really a white actor with blackface using comedy to perpetuate harmful stereotypes. ai???Minstrelsy desensitized Americans to horrors of chattel slavery. These performances were object lessons about the harmlessness of southern slavery,ai??? Blair L. M. Kelley. Kelley also said, ai???By encouraging audiences to laugh, they showed bondage as an appropriate answer for the lazy, ignorant slave.ai???
After the Civil War ended minstrelsy was then used to breed the idea that Emancipation produced racial unrest and social violence. It perpetuated the idea that newly freed slaves were incapable to survive without the order and control slavery provided. Jim Crow, who was actually a white performer named Thomas ai???Daddyai??? Rice, would wear blackface while performing the song ai???Jump Jim Crow.ai??? This character would disrupt calm settings of white people, typically set in a public area like a restaurant. This act resulted in the term Jim Crow being equated as to why segregating black people from white areas was justified. Thank blackface for propagating the laws that enforced racial segregation, spurred the Civil Rights Act and didnai??i??t end up until recently in the 1960s. Ai??
Stroudsburg Area School District has done well at fostering an inclusive environment for students of all backgrounds. Though this is a school open to diversity, some are still misinformed or unaware of the history and implications of things like blackface. Blackface was used to subjugate and oppress African Americans and has no place in a school that is supposed ai???To empower all students in an active pursuit of knowledge.ai???
Emem Inyang
Senior
Natalia McLaren • Apr 13, 2016 at 10:26 AM
Emem Inyang titled her article “Americans should be more aware about race issues,” and I could not agree more. Although racial issues have decreased since the times of slavery and segregation, “minute” racial discrepancies still occur because Americans are ill informed. An example used in the article is black face. The article states “In the 1800s blackface originated during minstrel shows” (Inyang) These minstrel shows were used to degrade African-Americans; they created stereotypes that may still play on people’s minds today. Without knowing these facts, many Americans may either never understand the severity of racism, or may even believe certain stereotypes. These issues must be addressed.
Ariella Engel • Apr 13, 2016 at 10:10 AM
Many would say that as a society we have come extremely far in the movement against racism. But, as this letter states, it is very true that even though we have come far, we still struggle as a society to keep racism out of our lives. For example, stereotyping is still a large issue in today’s society. Being a Jew automatically makes you “cheap”, being a Asian makes you “smart”, being black automatically makes you “ghetto”. These stereotypes may seem like “jokes”, but in reality, they’re racism hiding behind a laugh. The letter says, “These events still occur because more people are more concerned about being called a racist than trying to have the necessary hard and uncomfortable conversations to solve racism,”(Inyang). This means, that people are too scared of being criticized for their opinions; people are too afraid to speak out and try to put a stop to racism. It is because of this fear that race is still an issue. Too many people are afraid to do something about this issue, and therefore it is still an problem that needs to be resolved.
Chelsea Nwanne • Feb 26, 2016 at 10:55 AM
Great letter, and I think many people, especially of the white, have never been exposed to people in there everyday lives telling them what they thought was okay such as calling all your friends the n- word or saying that a black person was not “black enough” because they speak proper English and don’t play a sport. I think it’s time Stroudsburg stops laying a giant blanket over the social and racial problems that exist in our school, because as it is now nothing will ever change.
Mr.Lanfrank • Feb 23, 2016 at 7:37 AM
Fantastic letter Emem…..For those interested in an example of Blackface history check out “The Birth of a Nation” a movie from 1915 by D.W. Griffith that portrays exactly what Emem stated in her letter about the minstrel shows…..This movie was made only 100 years ago…..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation