Blogger: Nana Ampofo (Criminology)
From the time of Thomas Rice and Jim Crow, the depiction of black people has been largely negative and perpetuated through various means such as television, social media, and other traditional forms of media such as newspapers and magazines.
Historically, there has always been a difference in the way in which black people were perpetuated in comparison to the way white people were perpetuated. An example of this is The White Pickett Fence Family, a symbol of the model middle-class, suburban life, nuclear family, with a large house and peaceful lifestyle has been an idiom for the ideal American family and The American Dream, depicting the American white middle-class family as the essence of The American Dream. On the other hand, Black Family stereotypes are inherently imperfect, with the ‘single-mother’ and ‘broken family’ being a common trope in the societal perception of black families. It’s interesting to see how white people are perceived almost as a synonym for perfection and purity, even down to religious symbolism, in which imagery of angels and saints are all illustrated as white, completely ignoring historical and geographical context. Perhaps its attributable to eurocentrism – which is deeply ingrained in the foundations of the western world, with the rest of us having to deal with the consequences of it.
Black stereotypes aren’t even just about appearance – speech, dictation, and simply the way one talks has somehow been roped into stereotypical conduct. The speech stereotype of ‘sounding black’ links African American Vernacular English, Black British Slang and, Jamaican Patois to ‘ghetto’ behavior and criminality. A study reveals that speech stereotypes activate racial stereotypes and expectations about appearance which lead to bias in suspect descriptions or eyewitness identification. The way in which we link stereotypes for a social group to individuals is through the extent that the individual is perceived as an emblematic member of that group, with individuals that have features related to their social group more closely connected with stereotypes concerning their group. However, haplessly for black people, in particularly Black Americans, these stereotypes directly link and associate them to criminality, and influences the way in which stereotypical ‘black people’ are treated by the criminal justice system. Black individuals or groups who are deemed to fit in the stereotypical schema are more likely to be associated with crime or the criminal label by both the police and general public.
Black racial stereotypes have a long history of ruining and ending black lives. Racial profiling due to stereotypes remains to be a prevalent issue within the Criminal Justice System. Racial profiling is the targeting or discrimination based on negative stereotypical conventions constructed by one’s race, ethnicity, or skin colour. There is a clear apparent agenda within the criminal justice system which has always been existent since is development of racial prejudice in the criminal justice system. This can also be credited to the large media diffusion of African Americans related to crime and the negative implications that come alongside with it. This has an impact on the criminal justice system considering the recurrent rate in which black people in particularly black men have been specific victims of misguided police aggression concludes the indisputable role that racial stereotypes play in the incorrect assumptions of criminality through the media. It is very harmful to generalize a whole demographic, and this is very apparent in the most recent example of the Black Lives Matter Movement.
(Seen Above: George Floyd)
One of the most recent and prevalent victims of the Black Lives Matter Movement, George Floyd lost his life in a heartbreaking manner due to racial profiling as a result of the ‘thug’ stereotype of a black man. And unfortunately, its not just George, it’s Daunte Wright, Andre Hill, Manuel Ellis, Stephon Clark, and many more that have been victims of stereotypical racial profiling that has caused an unfortunate end to their life. Racial bias, discrimination and prejudice are all derived from stereotypes. This is very harmful since the perceptions of race as stereotypical, demeans, invalidates and harmful to those on the receiving end of it.
The question now is, How do we overcome these racial stereotypes? Due to the harmful impact of racial stereotypes, it is essential that we try to overcome racial stereotypes. Recognising that we are all human and that race is socially constructed ergo racial stereotypes are also biased and constructed is critical. The initial acknowledgement that racial stereotypes exist and are negative is important for social progression, in some cases ignorance is indeed bliss, however not in sensitive cases where lives are being negatively impacted. Honest dialogue and rational thinking are ways in which negative stereotypes can also combatted through educating ourselves, by which we will gain more understanding and awareness about racial groups, therefore lessening racial stereotypes and challenging them too.