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America has a history of using institutions to incorporate damaging depictions of different races.

In 1915 D.W Griffith realsed the film, “The Birth of a Nation”.  Back around the 1900s, we have movies such as Birth of a Nation which depicted black people as a sort of sub-human. This reinforced g

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Where has the change in representation come from? Can we attribute it soley to the progression in time or is it something more?

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Where has the change in representation come from? Can we attribute it soley to the progression in time or is it something more?

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Laws-research laws in place

Harlem Renaissance and Civil Rights Movement

Though it didn't completely end the prevalent racism and stereotypes in Hollywood films, these social-political movements helped lay the groundwork for the big shift in representation in screen entertainment

What are ways we can minimize poor depictions of distinct cultural groups and increase the diversity in character selection?

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 Are there certain things that people should know when making films on groups other than their own?

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 Are there certain things that people should know when making films on groups other than their own?

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Because of the historical racism in film history surrounding black people, does it make sense for us to allow filmmakers to create and shape how black characters exist in these films?

If they show understanding and respect for the complexity of a black person experiences then I believe they should be allowed. (Expand)

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How are contempary films and shows portraying blackness as well as it's reception by black audience/  why is it important 

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How are contempary films and shows portraying blackness as well as it's reception by black audience/  why is it important 

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Historical.

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Historical Analysis of how America has done with the representation of different cultures esspically  black people.

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Historical Analysis of how America has done with the representation of different cultures esspically  black people.

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How have people of other ethnic groups reacted towards the shift in representation and how has it affected them?

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How have people of other ethnic groups reacted towards the shift in representation and how has it affected them?

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Have they been more accepting?

Is there a media change correlating to a mindset change?

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Black Face- dark makeup worn to mimic the appearance of a Black person and especially to mock or ridicule Black people

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Black Face- dark makeup worn to mimic the appearance of a Black person and especially to mock or ridicule Black people

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Black Face was typically worn by white people in order to portray a stereotypical caricature of African Americans. They were typically worn by white actors while performing minstrel shows.

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Cultural appropriation is the act of taking an aspect of a culture and using it as your own without acknowledging that you respect or understand its historical implications.

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What is Cultural Appropriation?

Cultural Appropriation is "the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture. ¹

Taking an aspect of a culture + not knowing the historical implications of that culture (and refusing to do actual research) = cultural appropriation

But how is Appropriation different from Appreciation?

Appreciation seeks to acquire a knowledge and an understanding of another culture, you honor and respect the culture,its practices and history.
Appropriation is when you take aspects of a culture without acknowledging its history or significance, and there is little to no intention of learning about this culture.

There have also been cases when certain aspects of cultures are adopted by a majority group and become popularized but the people of the culture are disrespected for it even if they have had a longer history with it.

Understanding cultural appreciation vs cultural appropriation will help distinguish the difference between the two and whether or not someone is appreciating a culture or appropriating it.

Quote

"The more we understand ourselves, the reasons for our actions, and how our cultural explorations might be perceived in relationship to an oppressive history, the more we are able to navigate our way through challenging conversations, build authentic relationships and break down the wounds built up over years of injury. Perhaps even more important, we might be able to avoid enacting a disrespectful form of appropriation." Shelly Tolchuk, Witnessing Whiteness, 2015

To Read

A Note for Getting Library Books - Fall 2020
This fall you can request circulating Flaxman & I-Share books for pickup. Full details for the pickup process are available on this page. Alternatively, you can schedule a library visit to browse, pull items, or use non-circulating materials.
Flaxman Library Materials - May take up to 3 days from request to pickup. Instructions are available here.
I-Share Books - May take up to 10 days from request to pickup. Instructions are available here

To Research

To Listen

To Watch

To Follow

Adrienne J. Keene @nativeapprops

To Consider

What is the significance and meaning of the object/image?
Does the source group grant permission? What are the limits?
Has the source group been or is currently a racially oppressed group?
Who, if anyone, is making a profit? ²

To Act

A common defense is that Cultural Appropriation is a compliment and is showing respect to a specific culture. How would you respond to this?
Address yourself, your friends, and your family when you observe appropriation, and try asking any of these guiding questions:
http://aorta.coop/portfolio_page/cultural-appropriation/

Sources
Works Cited

1. Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus, s.v. "Cultural Appropriation."

2. AORTA, "Cultural Appropriation," Anti-Oppression resource & training alliance, 2015.

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Research Guides: Learn & Unlearn: Anti-racism Resource Guide: Cultural Appropriation

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Research Guides: Learn & Unlearn: Anti-racism Resource Guide: Cultural Appropriation

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is a defining characteristic in America and with the use of social media outlets people are able to witness many different cultural customs and behaviors being practice. Some of these practices even become a popular trend. There are a lot of people who appreciate and respect these practices but there are others who use their culture to mock, misrepresent, and create stereotypical notions about people’s culture. Collectively those individuals create a disoriented view of how a group is perceived

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Society has changed

Collectively Socially accepted, Rooted from slavery, the Consequence.

As a consequence of slavery black people were already presumed to be the bottom of social status which gradually created deep prejudice in people's thinking. The creators of films, laws, teachers, held these racist beliefs and therefore embedded racist themes in their creations. This led to films, laws, and generally most institutions at the time to be founded on flawed principles which in turn normalized the historically racist milieu of the 1900's. So where did the change in representation begin?

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The evolution of the Representation of Black culture in films/Tv Shows and why is it important

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The evolution of the Representation of Black culture in films/Tv Shows and why is it important

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By Lori Harwood, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

With the influx of cable networks and digital platforms such as Netflix, there are more opportunities for people to engage with different and more complex stories about the Black experience and for Black people, says scholar Stephanie Robbins Troutman.

It has also been "a primary source of America's racial education," according to University of Arizona scholar Stephanie Troutman Robbins.

Stephanie Troutman Robbins

Troutman Robbins is the co-editor, along with Daniel J. Leonard, of " Race in American Television: Voices and Visions that Shaped a Nation ," published in 2021. Covering five decades, the two-volume encyclopedia explores representations of people of color in American television and examines ways in which television has been a site for both reproduction of stereotypes and resistance to them.

Troutman Robbins is head of the Department of Gender & Women's Studies and an associate professor of gender and women's studies and in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences . She went to film school at the University of Central Florida before earning a dual doctorate in curriculum and instruction and women's studies from Pennsylvania State University, where she incorporated film and visual analysis and critical media literacy in her research. Much of her work examines race, gender and sexuality in relation to both popular culture and schooling.

Q: What are the main ways that TV's depiction of Black people has changed over time?

Early television really reflected a very narrow representation of non-white characters. And a lot of the earlier characters were caricatures and racist depictions in many ways.

Q: In "Race in American Television," you talk about the development of the racially diverse ensemble cast, where race is insignificant to the character or plot, as well as colorblind casting. What are your thoughts on that?

Q: According to UCLA's 2021 Hollywood Diversity Report , the number of Black characters on TV now matches and in some cases exceeds their representation in the general population. However, Black people are still underrepresented among the people shaping the stories, including show creators, directors and writers. Why is this important?

Q: What are some developments you've seen recently in Black representation on TV?

Q. In addition to more Black representation behind the camera, are there other areas that need improving?

I think what we have for kids is lacking. Disney has tried to amp it up with "Coco" and "Moana" and now "Encanto." But we've yet to really see Blackness in that space. With the "Princess and the Frog," the Black princess is a frog for most of the movie! We've got the shows "Doc McStuffins" and "Gullah Gullah Island," but that is from way back (in 1994-1998).

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The evolution of Black representation on television

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Television has served as "a primary source of America's racial education," says UArizona scholar Stephanie Troutman Robbins, co-editor of "Race in American Television: Voices and Visions that Shaped a Nation."

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More black people behind the scenes(Directors, Script Writers ext)

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More black people behind the scenes(Directors, Script Writers ext)

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Provides an in-depth

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National Museum of African American History and Culture

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Historian Dale Cockrell once noted that poor and working-class whites who felt "squeezed politically, economically, and socially from the top, but also from the bottom, invented minstrelsy" as a way of expressing the oppression that marked being members of the majority, but outside of the white norm. Minstrelsy, comedic performances of "blackness" by whites in exaggerated costumes and make-up, cannot be separated fully from the racial derision and stereotyping at its core. By distorting the features and culture of African Americans-including their looks, language, dance, deportment, and character-white Americans were able to codify whiteness across class and geopolitical lines as its antithesis.

The whole idea of a stereotype is to simplify. Chinua Achebe

The first minstrel shows were performed in 1830s New York by white performers with blackened faces (most used burnt cork or shoe polish) and tattered clothing who imitated and mimicked enslaved Africans on Southern plantations. These performances characterized blacks as lazy, ignorant, superstitious, hypersexual, and prone to thievery and cowardice. Thomas Dartmouth Rice, known as the "Father of Minstrelsy," developed the first popularly known blackface character, "Jim Crow" in 1830. By 1845, the popularity of the minstrel had spawned an entertainment subindustry, manufacturing songs and sheet music, makeup, costumes, as well as a ready-set of stereotypes upon which to build new performances.

Blackface performances grew particularly popular between the end of the Civil War and the turn-of-the century in Northern and Midwestern cities, where regular interaction with African Americans was limited. White racial animus grew following Emancipation when antebellum stereotypes collided with actual African Americans and their demands for full citizenship including the right to vote. The influence of minstrelsy and racial stereotyping on American society cannot be overstated. New media ushered minstrel performances from the stage, across radio and television airwaves, and into theaters. Popular American actors, including Shirley Temple, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney donned blackface, bridging the minstrel performance across generations, and making blackface (racial parody, and stereotypes) a family amusement.

Blackface and the codifying of blackness- language, movement, deportment, and character-as caricature persists through mass media and in public performances today. In addition to the increased popularity of "black" Halloween costumes, colleges and universities across the country continue to battle against student and professor blackface performances. In each instance, those facing scrutiny for blackface performances insist no malice or racial hatred was intended.

View objects in our collection related to blackface and minstrelsy.

Related Stories

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Blackface: The Birth of An American Stereotype

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Learn the history behind common African American stereotypes. #ANationsStory