Ethnic Notions

The video in class showed different stereotypes of blacks that are still used today.  It showed many images of them eating watermelon and chicken.  One of the prime stereotypes of blacks today is the theory that they love to eat watermelon and chicken.  This is a very popular racial remark among whites and other races and apparently got its upbringing from the original television shows.  Another stereotype mentioned in the video that we still use today is the character of Manny, an African American maid.  This stereotype exists today also and there is a theory that exists that maids are fat, black women.  The problem is that blacks were highly discriminated against at that time and still today get mocked from the stereotypes even though racism has dulled down a bit since those hateful days.  This shows that there has been some improvement but not as much as some people think. 

I personally am of the Caucasian race, which has spent many years sending messages and creating the example that we are the "normal" people.  The whites decided what things were considered normal to do and what looks were considered normal just by their actions.  My nationality is Italian, Hungarian, and Irish.  Italian stereotypes include being considered "greasy" and being part of a mob.  Italian stereotypes include the theory that we drink alcohol a lot and that we get angry very easily.  I do not currently know of any well known stereotypes for the Hungarian race.  This might be because my race is not a very common race in America and the people do not get involved in many conflicts.  Regardless of how the stereotypes of my races started up, they still exist today and hurt the people that share the same race that I have.

My other thoughts on the video watched in class was that he television shows that were shown in the video showed blacks that were very joyful and happy to be slaves of white men.  They ate watermelon, danced around, and sang songs.  One show portrayed a message of a black man that was very dumb and did not treat people with manners because he was a free black man.  This insinuated the point that black people are dumb, useless, and classless without white people.  Clearly the messages in the television shows not only said that slavery was a good thing, but it promoted slavery as well.