Blog #2 what stereotypes are associated with black

culture?
By: Sergio Schiavone
Research question
Based on the broad amount of negative stereotypes that surround African Americans, is
there a stigma to black culture? Lets find out.

Welcome back to my blog, where controversies always find their place in the front page. Todays
blog is about stereotypes surrounding a group I am currently researching at school: blacks.

Big topic, not only for its social weight, but for all the factors that carved it. There is no denying
how blacks, which amount to 13.3% percent of the United States population (info from 2016 US
census), contribute a great extent to contemporary American Culture trends, despite them being
a minority. Historically speaking, African Americans have struggled their way into being regular
citizens. Blacks in the United States have been completely free from chains since 1865
(Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution) and are as valid citizens as any with an ID. They are
to be seen under the law as equals, as those born in the US are foremost Americans, with race a
nonfactor, yet there still exists prejudice and social differences, which hopefully time will forget.

Yes, blacks have had a rough upbringing, fortunately they currently live as equals, both in
human rights and opportunities (potentially face similar opportunities), which is what their
ancestors worked brave and tireless for a proof of this progress is that popular black social
movement protests now may/tend to revolve around trifles that include being mad at non-black
Americans who like something about their culture and adopt it (which is an unprecedented
improvement from the life limiting social inequality that was protested in the last century). They
call it cultural appropriation and it gives a bad name to the rest of African Americans, those
who never asked for them to be their spokesperson (thought that is what deputies are voted for).
The concept revolves around: if you are not black, it is not yours to adopt it is not technically
racism, but entitlement, it enforces segregation and this type of viewpoint is quite similar to those
who disregard multiculturalism: nationalists. Being entitled and being verbal about not wanting
other races to mix with their heritage can be thought of as racism if we were talking about whites.
This we call a double standard. (I did warn you this was a heavy subject)
As a bonus I wish to tell you how I have come to think of the root of double
standards. I want to make it easy for you to find them on your own and incorporate
this concept if you will. (If not, skip, I wont ever know who it is I should hold a
grudge against!)

Think of double standards as a concept similar to hypocrisy; textbook definition

being: the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior
does not conform; pretense.

Now, consider this: most people have no real, own opinions, as most are formulaic:
based on how a society thinks. Say a boy who in this example will be myself (in
order to stay in the first person narrative), I, state everyone is equal, yet as a
seventeen year old I cant help but be biased in some aspects, after all it is near
impossible for me to achieve such unbiased thinking at my age with no practice; this
biased thoughts can be about who I think good and bad people are, the appearance
of criminals, the rich, those who triumph, the ignorant, religious, drug users, etc. (I
can go much more specific, but I feel I am already dragging on). Since I am not
neutral in my thoughts, there are no chances I will really think we are all equals,
because if I have a bias towards a person, quirk, hobby, thoughts, group, race,
culture, country, occupation, style, you name it, that sets it apart either in a positive
or negative way. Negative labels devalue what a person is worth, or well: say my
scale is tipped down when there are bad labels, making the valued at a different level
from me, making it easier for me to feel different about them based on who they are
and why. To make this long idea clear to you I want you, dear reader, to think about
this:

1) Is everyone equal?

2) If so, what if a person commits a heinous crime such as murder, is he still equal to
you?

This changes your perception on him, doesnt it? If he is no longer equal to you, then is he
below you? How can this be manifested in real situations?
 3) If a person will die tomorrow, and it is down to you to pick who it will be, should
the person you pick matter as they are all equals? Or will the murderer be a better
pick? Say, a more deserved death? (You may substitute this to different type of felons,
perhaps an ISIS soldier, anything that devalues a persons status).

If you think the murderer should be the one to die, then that is a double standard to the
thought that we are equal. To stay away from friendless thinkers that will spot your double
thinking, you should take into account how stating an opinion such as we are all equals
might not back up your statements, which might come across somewhat entitled, even if
done unconsciously. If a generalized opinion betrays your arguments, you might come off
as hypocritical as well (they are similar concepts; many will confuse them, yet you wont
anymore).

And so, we continue with this piece. I do not think we are all equal, plain observation and inner
monologue will make you know that, and so, others also notice they are not the same as everyone
else, yet there are many with traits in common and so, even though thought as unbiased, regarded
as intuition/common sense, they form groups, and live so. Not a lot of high class kids play in the
same playground as poor kids, do they? No, because one is rich and one is poor... rich and poor
have different playgrounds.

Equals belong to groups, further separating themselves in their own balloon. It is easy to imagine
how a group in a balloon can have stereotypes as fixed images of a group can be created by the
smallest factor of a group (call it the black sheep). Lets go back to black culture, where we find
blacks of all types: hard workers, unemployed, rich, poor, young, old and then we have criminals.
Blacks are stereotyped as prone to committing crimes. Saying all blacks are criminals, or tend to
be so is prejudice, yet stating that they are the source of 52% of crimes committed in the US is
merely reading off a 2014 FBI statistic.

First stereotype: Blacks are more likely to be criminals

True? Not more than any other race, yet it is well documented that there are many factors
contributing to it. Lets look at one.
Which leads us to rap, a subculture that dominates the music world, with its popular foundations
revolving around gangster rap: a genre that solidified an image of the hood, and has affected
the community in both positive and negative aspects.

More stereotypes: Blacks are extremely violent, misogynistic, drug dealers and drug users, love
guns, are ignorant, disregard education in order to live the hood life, ignorant, vulgar,
promiscuous, etc.

True? There is no denying that there are those who embrace the lifestyle and others that dress it
up. Rap is a varied genre that has encapsulated the black community and they have evolved
together, though not all subgenres have gotten the same attention. Rap has glorified some aspects
that are negative to society and detrimental to their immediate environment (family life).
Something I plan to research in the future is the reason behind why minorities end segregated
either alone or with other minorities (Chinese, Italians, Hispanics, blacks, etc.).

Onto other popular stereotypes, popular ones you will find hidden as jokes, which unbeknownst
to most, come from the nineteenth and early century, which have now evolved to just jokes, but
the roots were oh, so racist. I am talking about black entertainers, cartoons, you name it.

Common stereotype: Blackface cartoons have stigma behind it, yet stereotypes, such as that
blacks love watermelon and chicken, prefer white women, want to be white, steal, angry black
women, are simple minded, have transcended into the twenty first century in a joking manner (yet
unknowingly reinforces stereotypes created as derogatory).

True? (I am not directing to you, dear reader, but for dramatic effect think it like I am talking to
themwho? Keep reading).

This blog can go on forever as there is an ample supply of black stereotypes. A question arises
for another blog: who is behind this stereotypes? Though I could and perhaps will answer this
thoroughly in another post, I can state it here in fewer words. I have found a thought
demographic, I have observed and asked (dont call me weird I just record some questions I ask
on purpose in notebooks its more of a habit nowadays), and have concluded that this
demographic thinks in labels, perhaps it is their way of recording information in a simple way,
but its applied use of labeling goes out of hand with people who are negative, deep into
criticizing, or have noticeable low self-worth and counteract it with the defense mechanism of
jumping on others to give themselves some solace. This three character traits seem to be possible
roots of hate, or badly intentioned mockery because they know they are free from backlash.

Well, if you are willing to label everyone with one trait, and you are not doing this out of mockery
or just as a goof, then I will judge you as you judge others: with a label. We are talking about
individuals who label, not as a skill of simplifying, but of compressing something complex and
leaving everything but one exaggerated trait out. This singulars are everywhere, I have seen
them in my class one called Socrates, a man who did not fit with Greek customs, mentally ill,
completely neglecting how exceptional everything about him was, first of all his teachings.

You can find this kids hating a person because they are hypocritical, or disliking someone because
they are dumb or ignorant. How about a girl who is just pretty is that it? Isnt there anything
else to her person? I dont know, tell me what makes her apart from others, is it that she has no
individuality? No, of course not, she is fine, its them who devoid her of it... this hollow thinkers
that see pretty as the only trait, which is valuable, yet jealous ones will find faults and label them
accordingly (think of: she is just pretty). A girl can be pretty or dumb, yet there is more to them.
The fact that you can be a grown person and regard someone by a word that way of simplifying
something so deeply complex into a word is thinking one-dimensional; say you regard this person
as simply stupid (subconsciously thought to them as only capable of perpetually displaying
stupidity), and if you give everyone you dislike one label, that makes you as one dimensional as
you think they are. If I judged in labels as you do, as I tried in this last paragraph, then that is my
sentence to you, one dimensional thinker, who thinks so vaguely of others, and are so vague
himself. The fact that there are so many individuals who criticize others disregarding their
individuality when they hide all they are behind ONE trait does tell you a bit about how
underdeveloped a thought process can be. This type of awareness is not taught in school, though
it is common sense to me.

The vague thinking is an ever so evident show of how individuals take their educated guesses
using their intuition, which comes off as prejudice. When somebody has no experience on a
subject and disregards facts, anything he says is as ignorant as can be. To answer my research
question, the more I ponder on the articles I read, the clearer to me how ignorance is the endless
supply that enforces stigmas.

The only message I have, if you let me gift to you with hopes youll cherish it as I do, my dear
reader, is that there is no problem in using stereotypes as a punchline or an occasional goof to
break the ice, but it should not cross your mind if you think like I, to carry a belief, an idea so
simplified engraved to an individual, when a) you have no experience on the matter, b) neglect
facts and base yourself on intuition, c) judge disregarding the possibility of being subjected to
similar double standards.

I also hope my boring explanation of how I understand a double standard is a detailed version of
what goes on in your thoughts that makes you catch double standards.

Ms. Melanie, if possible, Id like some feedback regarding how well my research question holds
(this question is just for this blog).

I could also use an opinion on what I can improve when writing a research paper with opinions.
Try to use more than one word

Thanks.

REFERENCES

Black-face.com. (2017). Blackface! - The History of Racist Blackface Stereotypes. [online]

Available at: http://black-face.com/ [Accessed 10 Sep. 2017].
ThoughtCo. (2017). Common Black Stereotypes in TV and Film. [online] Available at:
https://www.thoughtco.com/common-black-stereotypes-in-tv-film-2834653 [Accessed 10
Sep. 2017].
Merriam-webster.com. (2017). Definition of HYPOCRISY. [online] Available at:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypocrisy [Accessed 10 Sep. 2017].
Extra Newsfeed. (2017). Blacks make up approximately 13% of the US population while
they commit 52% of crime... [this article cites directly from the FBI stats, making this
article usable, I do not know much about the rest of their content] Available at:
 https://extranewsfeed.com/blacks-make-up-approximately-13-of-the-us-population-
while-they-commit-52-of-crime-5f14cab1cc64 [Accessed 10 Sep. 2017].
Census.gov. (2017). U.S. Census Bureau Quick Facts selected: UNITED STATES.
[online] Available at: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045216
[Accessed 10 Sep. 2017].
Medium. (2017). Recognizing Racist Stereotypes in U.S. Media Suzane Jardim
Medium. [online] Available at: https://medium.com/@suzanejardim/reconhecendo-
esteri%C3%B3tipos-racistas-internacionais-b00f80861fc9 [Accessed 10 Sep. 2017].
Google Books. (2017). Cultural Appropriation and the Arts. [online] Available at:
https://books.google.com.mx/books?id=oxyOsvs4Zw0C&dq=&redir_esc=y [Accessed 10
Sep. 2017].