{"id":27,"date":"2024-11-13T22:47:38","date_gmt":"2024-11-13T22:47:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/?page_id=27"},"modified":"2025-05-10T14:08:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T14:08:51","slug":"moodle-post-4","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/?page_id=27","title":{"rendered":"Dismantling the “Sambo” Stereotype"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As depicted in Marlon Riggs\u2019 Ethnic Nations<\/em>, the \u201cSambo\u201d trope goes far to oppress Black people both before and after emancipation. This stereotype depicts Black men as lazy and jolly, with frequent noisy laughter. Although there are many more, I identify three primary rhetorical purposes for this trope as to the goal of oppressing African-Americans. First, their laziness indicates they deserve their poverty and suffering: it is not a consequence of the system, but rather of their character. Second, their constant happiness demonstrates that the oppression they are being put through cannot be that bad\u2014after all, they still have a big smile on their face. The documentary\u2019s narrator confirms that \u201cMinstrel caricatures mirrored the prevailing belief that slavery was good for the slave since it drew upon his \u2018natural\u2019 inferiority and willingness to serve. Slaves were content. The proof was offered in the image of the happy Sambo.\u201d Third, as Dr. Pyle\u2019s lecture on Jordan Russell Davis established, a certain stigma exists around Black noise\u2014particularly Black male noise\u2014which racists exploit to justify subordination of African-Americans due to their lack of respectability and civility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201csambo\u201d stereotype, like many others featured in the documentary, is not rooted in fact. However, the \u201csambo\u201d is extra puzzling because it seems incoherent with the main purpose of slavery: labor. In Ethnic Notions<\/em>, UC Berkeley historian Larry Levine points out, \u201cOn the one hand, whites like to think of their blacks as sambos in the antebellum period, but they could never have operated plantations with sambos and they knew that.\u201d Thus, the \u201csambo\u201d stereotype has zero basis in reality, for enslavers would have no purpose for completely lazy slaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to right the wrongs of the past, 21st century media has looked to counteract many of the harmful stereotypes perpetuated by the sambo trope, particularly their constant jolliness. No longer is it considered a taboo to depict Black pain: through both historical works like 12 Years A Slave<\/em> and contemporary programs like Fruitvale Station<\/em>, filmmakers are no longer afraid to depict the painful reality of the Black experience in America. Crucially, both of those films had Black directors and featured significant consultation with relevant people and texts. This created authentic emotions, rather than feelings contrived by non-Black movie executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This change in popular culture has important ramifications for society at large: when people see the racism that African-Americans still face and the pain that causes them, they have an impetus to act against such prejudices in society. Furthermore, it humanizes Black people by showing they have a full set of emotions just like anyone else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To counteract the laziness stereotype, from the relentlessness of civil rights activists in the historical film Selma<\/em> to the ambitious businessman identity of Taye Diggs\u2019s character in the Netflix rom-com Set It Up<\/em>, Hollywood has made Black persistence and hard work far more visible. This leads audiences to abandon prior racist assumptions of Black laziness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Properly depicting Black people in movies is serious business. A 2022 study from the Public Religion Research Institute found that 90% of white Americans\u2019 friends are also white. In many cases, this means they have no or few Black people in their life, making pop culture the main medium through which they are exposed to African-Americans. This places great demands on the film industry to represent them appropriately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make no mistake, 21st century media has been far from perfect in combating antebellum stereotypes. Black actors are still too often pigeonholed into roles as criminals or maids. However, it is worth celebrating that the sambo stereotype has been largely extinguished from mainstream pop culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Works Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEthnic Notions.\u201d California Newsreel, 1987.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2019Leary, Megan. \u201cPRRI Survey: Friendship Networks of White Americans Continue to Be 90% White.\u201d Public Religion Research Institute<\/em>, 15 June 2022, www.prri.org\/press-release\/prri-survey-friendship-networks-of-white-americans-continue-to-be-90-white\/<\/a>  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As depicted in Marlon Riggs\u2019 Ethnic Nations, the \u201cSambo\u201d trope goes far to oppress Black people both before and after emancipation. This stereotype depicts Black …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-27","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":315,"href":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27\/revisions\/315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/casey.dcreate.domains\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}