stereotypes in early america
Post on 23-Mar-2016
56 Views
Preview:
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
Stereotypes in Early America
Minstrel Shows• American entertainment consisting of
comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music, performed by white people in blackface or, especially after the Civil War, black people in blackface.
• Minstrel shows lampooned black people as dim-witted, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, happy-go-lucky, and musical.
• Several different types of stereotypes
Toms• The Tom caricature portrays black men as faithful
and happily submissive. • Used to defense slavery: how could slavery be
wrong if black servants were contented and loyal? • Smiling, wide-eyed, docile, non-threatening to
whites, loyal, gently forgiving• Donald Bogle: “Always as toms are chased,
harassed, hounded, flogged, enslaved, and insulted, they keep the faith, never turn against their white masters, and remain hearty, submissive, stoic, generous, selfless, and oh-so-very kind. Thus they endear themselves to white audiences and emerge as heroes of sorts” (5-6).
Coon• The coon was portrayed as a lazy,
chronically idle, inarticulate buffoon.• Didn’t know his place: thought he was
as good as a white person and “put on airs” but…
• While he often spoke in a high style, he used words/phrases incorrectly (malapropisms) that undermined his intelligence
top related