Acting Black? Whatever!

To quote the words of Tina: “There’s something on my mind. Will somebody please, please tell me what’s wrong?” A friend of mine works for a telephone survey company. They are doing polls for various politicians, etc. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Sounds like it has nothing to do with Media Stereotypes, doesn’t it? The cancer of negative stereotypes of the black community still permeates in every facet of American life. Here is proof:  

Caller: Good evening Ma’am. My name is… Is there a registered male voter in the house?

Woman: Sho’nuff

Caller: I bet you’re head of the house? 

Woman: I know you can tell that I’m black…naw it ain’t no man in dis house. Call the white folks; they got men who come home in the evening.

Dailtone…

 What the???? 

Ok, this scenario is so wrong on so many levels. First of all, the woman answering the phone is a stereotypical Black Woman, far from how most black women speak and act. Second, what color is a voice anyway? Is there such a thing as having a ‘black voice’? Third, the Caller indicates the media myth of the black Family. All Black Families are headed by Black Women. This is crazy. The family unit is a far cry from what it used to be, but isn’t that the case among all demographics? But for the media is this cause for concern? No. If it was, more of you would know about the Black Family Reunion that was held in the National Mall in Washington DC. 90,000 people were there as the National Council of Negro Women concluded their drive for a stronger black family. Dr. Dorothy Height, president of the council, says “When you only know that you have problems and do not realize your strengths you cannot deal with the problems.” 

Oops! I got off track, back to this business of “acting black”, “black-associated” patterns”,”black talk or black voice”. Many every day, hard working black people associate these negative behaviors related to “being black or acting black” as being ghetto. Mainstream society associates these negative behaviors as being black or acting black. However, Mainstream society doesn’t associate the negative behaviors of some white people to all white people. I have had many white associates, when commenting on negative behavior by a white person, (ex: Britney Spears) say she is “trailer park” or she is “white trash”. Her negative behavior is excluded from “White People’s normal behavioral patterns”. However, if ‘Lil Kim” acts negatively, mainstream society associates this as stereotypical behavioral patterns of all Black Women, not with being “Ghetto”. Every group of people has bad apples, but when it comes to black people the negative behavior of a few gets lumped in with all Black People.

Acting “civilized and educated “or “speaking with proper grammar” is how anyone fits into a society. Yet, these positive traits are associated with “acting white”, while being ignorant and uneducated is associated with “acting black”. How did this happen? What role did the media play into creating these stereotypes? There are many whites who speak with broken-English, come from uneducated, poor backgrounds, single parent homes and lived in poor communities. The difference is what has been presented to us in the media over the years. Hollywood hasn’t made a big budgeted movie called “Boys in the Trailer Park“ that focuses on or highlights white crack users or meth users with glorified violence. There wasn’t a Redneckexploitation era in Hollywood. There have been movies focusing on gang violence between the Crips and Bloods, but not one single big budget movie focusing on the violence between The Outlaws and Hells Angels. It has always been okay for black people to have good times in the hood. Meanwhile, white people were having happy days in the suburbs, presenting a false fantasy of white life with the Brady Bunch’ Leave it to Beaver, and Father Knows Best. Some white people did have that fantasy life in the suburbs, but many whites didn’t. Some Black people have lived in run-down communities and acted in stereotypical ways. Some blacks have lived well off or in nice working class communities and acted like they have some sense. 

However, Hollywood continues give us an abundance of stereotypical black family reality shows such as: Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood, Gotti’s House, I Married a Baller, Keisha Cole: The WayIt Is, Being Bobby Brown, Flavor of Love,and I Love New York. Remember, one or two positive shows do not balance out all the negative shows. Most of the black shows on television present images, a far cry from everyday Black People and the Black Family. The few positive black shows have in some crazy, subliminal way represented a stereotypical white life. That is some serious game. Even, when we’re doing something right and positive were considered to be acting like them. When they’re doing something negative and crazy they’re associated with white trash, having some kind mental illness or blackness. So in other words, for a white person to do something crazy, something has to be wrong. But a crazy acting person, like Adam”Pacman” Jones, is just being his normal black self. These images are scripted in our imaginations courtesy of Media Power brokers. Many of whom are NOT African American. 

I understand we need to restore the Black Family. How can we get the media to stop contributing to the destruction of the black image?

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