Stereotypes of African Americans

Stereotypes of African Americans are misleading beliefs about the culture of people with partial or total ancestry from any black racial groups of Africa whose ancestors resided in the United States since before 1865. These stereotypes are largely connected to the racism and the discrimination faced by African Americans. These beliefs date back to the slavery of black people during the colonial era and they have evolved within American society over time.
The first major displays of stereotypes of African Americans were minstrel shows. Beginning in the nineteenth century, they used White actors who were dressed in blackface and attire which was supposedly worn by African-Americans in order to lampoon and disparage blacks. Some nineteenth century stereotypes, such as the sambo, are now considered to be derogatory and racist. The "Mandingo" and "Jezebel" stereotypes portray African-Americans as hypersexual, contributing to their sexualization. The Mammy archetype depicts a motherly black woman who is dedicated to her role working for a white family, a stereotype which dates back to the origin of Southern plantations. African-Americans are frequently stereotyped as having an unusual appetite for fried chicken, watermelon, and grape drinks.
In the 1980s as well as in the following decades, emerging stereotypes of black men depicted them as being criminals and social degenerates, particularly as drug dealers, crack addicts, hobos, and subway muggers. Jesse Jackson said the media portrays black people as less intelligent. The magical Negro is a stock character who is depicted as having special insight or powers, and has been depicted (and criticized) in American cinema. In recent history, black men are stereotyped as being deadbeat fathers. African American men are also stereotyped as being dangerous criminals. African Americans are frequently stereotyped as being hypersexual, athletic, uncivilized, uneducated and violent. Young urban African American men are frequently labelled "gangstas" or "players." Black men are also stereotyped to be hypermasculine, hyperviolent athletes, gangsters and thugs. In movies, Black people are stereotyped to live in the “hood”.
Majority of the stereotypes of black women include depictions which portray them as welfare queens or depictions which portray them as angry black women who are loud, aggressive, demanding, and rude. Others depict black women having a maternal, caregiving nature, due to the Mammy archetype.
Laziness, submissiveness, backwardness, lewdness, treachery, and dishonesty are stereotypes historically assigned to African Americans.
Minstrel shows became a popular form of theater during the nineteenth century, which portrayed African Americans in stereotypical and often disparaging ways, some of the most common being that they are ignorant, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious, joyous, and musical. One of the most popular styles of minstrelsy was Blackface, where White performers used burnt cork and later greasepaint, or applied shoe polish to their skin to blacken it, also exaggerating their lips, and often wearing woolly wigs, gloves, tailcoats, or ragged clothes to give a mocking, racially prejudicial theatrical portrayal of African Americans. This performance helped introduce the use of racial slurs for African Americans, including "darky" and "coon".
The best-known stock character is Jim Crow, among several others, featured in innumerable stories, minstrel shows, and early films with racially prejudicial portrayals and messaging about African Americans.
The character Jim Crow was dressed in rags, battered hat, and torn shoes. The actor wore Blackface and impersonated a very nimble and irreverently witty black field hand. The character's popular song was "Turn about and wheel about, and do just so. And every time I turn about I Jump Jim Crow."
The character Sambo was a stereotype of black men who were considered very happy, usually laughing, lazy, irresponsible, or carefree. The Sambo stereotype gained notoriety through the 1898 children's book The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman. It told the story of a boy named Sambo who outwitted a group of hungry tigers. This depiction of black people was displayed prominently in films of the early 20th century. The original text suggested that Sambo lived in India, but that fact may have escaped many readers. The book has often been considered to be a slur against Africans.
The figure of the Golliwog, with black skin, white-rimmed eyes, exaggerated red lips, frizzy hair, high white collar, bow tie, and colourful jacket and pants, was based on the blackface minstrel tradition. The character was greatly popular among other Western nations, remaining so well into the twentieth century. The derived Commonwealth English epithet "wog" is applied more often to people from Sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent than to African-Americans, but "Golly dolls" still in production mostly retain the look of the stereotypical blackface minstrel.
The term pickaninny, reserved for children, has a similarly broadened pattern of use in popular American theater and media. It originated from the Spanish term “pequeño niño” and the Portuguese term “pequenino” to describe small child in general, but it was applied especially to African-American children in the United States and later to Australian Aboriginal children.
A variant of the pickaninny stereotype depicted black children being used as bait to hunt alligators. Although scattered references to the supposed practice appeared in early 20th-century newspapers; there is no credible evidence that the stereotype reflected an actual historical practice.
The Mammy archetype describes African-American women household slaves who served as nannies giving maternal care to the white children of the family, who received an unusual degree of trust and affection from their enslavers. Early accounts of the Mammy archetype come from memoirs and diaries that emerged after the American Civil War, idealizing the role of the dominant female house slave: a woman completely dedicated to the white family, especially the children, and given complete charge of domestic management. She was a friend and advisor.
The Mandingo is a stereotype of a sexually insatiable black man, invented by white slave owners to advance the idea that black people were not civilized but rather "animalistic" by nature. The supposedly inherent physical strength, agility, and breeding abilities of black men were lauded by white enslavers and auctioneers in order to promote the slaves they sold. Since then, the Mandingo stereotype has been used to socially and legally justify spinning instances of interracial affairs between black men and White women into tales of uncontrollable and largely one-sided lust (from either party). This stereotype has also sometimes been conflated with the 'black brute' or 'black buck' stereotype, painting the picture of an 'untameable' black man with voracious, violent sexual urges and with a large penis.
The term 'Mandingo' is a corrupted word for the Mandinka peoples of West Africa, presently populating Mali, Guinea, and the Gambia. One of the earliest usages found dates back to the 20th century with the publication of Mandingo, a 1957 historical erotica. The novel was part of a larger series which presented, in graphic and erotic detail, various instances of interracial lust, promiscuity, nymphomania, and other sexual acts on a fictional slave-breeding plantation. In conjunction with the film Birth of a Nation (1915), white American media formed the stereotype of the black man as an untamed beast who aimed to enact violence and revenge against the white man through the sexual domination of the white woman.
The Sapphire stereotype defines black women as argumentative, overbearing, and emasculating in their relationships with men, particularly black men. She is usually shown to be controlling and nagging, and her role is often to demean and belittle the black man for his flaws. This portrayal of a verbally and physically abusive woman for black women goes against common norms of traditional femininity, which require women to be submissive and non-threatening. During the era of slavery, white slave owners inflated the image of an enslaved black woman raising her voice at her male counterparts, which was often necessary in day-to-day work. This was used to contrast the loud and "uncivilized" black woman against the white woman, who was considered more respectable, quiet, and morally behaved.
The popularization of the Sapphire stereotype dates back to the successful 1928-1960 radio show Amos 'n' Andy, which was written and voiced by white actors. The black female character Sapphire Stevens was the wife of George "Kingfish" Stevens, a black man depicted as lazy and ignorant. These traits were often a trigger for Sapphire's extreme rage and violence. Sapphire was positioned as overly confrontational and emasculating of her husband, and the show's popularity turned her character into a stock caricature and stereotype.
This stereotype has also developed into the trope of the 'angry black woman', overall portraying black American women as rude, loud, malicious, stubborn, and overbearing in all situations, not only in their relationships.
The Jezebel is a stereotype of a hypersexual, seductive, and sexually voracious black woman. Her value in society or the relative media is based almost purely on her sexuality and her body.
The roots of the Jezebel stereotype emerged during the era of chattel slavery in the United States. White slave owners exercised control over enslaved black women's sexuality and fertility, as their worth on the auction block was determined by their childbearing ability, i.e. their ability to produce more slaves. The sexual objectification of black women redefined their bodies as "sites of wild, unrestrained sexuality", insatiably eager to engage in sexual activity and become pregnant. In reality, enslaved black women were reduced to little more than breeding stock, frequently coerced and sexually assaulted by white men.
Post-emancipation, the sexualization of black women has remained rampant in Western society. Modern-day Jezebels are pervasive in popular music culture; black women more often appear in music videos with provocative clothing and hypersexual behaviour compared to other races, most notably white women. The Jezebel stereotype has also contributed to the adultification bias and sexualization of black adolescent girls.
A stereotype that was popular in early Hollywood, the "tragic mulatta", served as a cautionary tale for black people. She was usually depicted as a sexually attractive, light-skinned woman who was of African descent but could pass for Caucasian. The stereotype portrayed light-skinned women as obsessed with getting ahead, their ultimate goal being marriage to a white, middle-class man. The only route to redemption would be for her to accept her "blackness."
The Uncle Tom stereotype represents a black man who is simple-minded and compliant but most essentially interested in the welfare of whites over that of other blacks. It derives from the title character of the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, and is synonymous with black male slaves who informed on other black slaves’ activities to their white master, often referred to as a "house Negro", particularly for planned escapes. It is the male version of the similar stereotype Aunt Jemima.
Black brutes or black bucks are stereotypes for black men, who are generally depicted as being highly prone to behavior that is violent and inhuman. They are portrayed to be hideous, terrifying black male predators who target helpless victims, especially white women. In the post-Reconstruction United States, 'black buck' was a racial slur used to describe black men who refused to bend to the law of white authority and were seen as irredeemably violent, rude, and lecherous.
From the Colonial Era to the American Revolution, ideas about African Americans were variously used in propaganda either for or against slavery. Paintings like John Singleton Copley's Watson and the Shark (1778) and Samuel Jennings's Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences (1792) are early examples of the debate under way at that time as to the role of black people in America. Watson represents an historical event, but Liberty is indicative of abolitionist sentiments expressed in Philadelphia's post-revolutionary intellectual community. Nevertheless, Jennings' painting represents African Americans in a stereotypical role as passive, submissive beneficiaries of not only slavery's abolition but also knowledge, which liberty had graciously bestowed upon them.
As another stereotypical caricature "performed by white men disguised in facial paint, minstrelsy relegated black people to sharply defined dehumanizing roles." With the success of T. D. Rice and Daniel Emmet, the label of "blacks as buffoons" was created. One of the earliest versions of the "black as buffoon" can be seen in John Lewis Krimmel's Quilting Frolic. The violinist in the 1813 painting, with his tattered and patched clothing, along with a bottle protruding from his coat pocket, appears to be an early model for Rice's Jim Crow character. Krimmel's representation of a "[s]habbily dressed" fiddler and serving girl with "toothy smile" and "oversized red lips" marks him as "...one of the first American artists to use physiognomical distortions as a basic element in the depiction of African Americans."
Scholars agree that news-media stereotypes of people of color are pervasive. African Americans were more likely to appear as perpetrators in drug and violent crime stories in the network news.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, stereotypes of black men shifted and the primary and common images were of drug dealers, crack victims, the underclass and impoverished, the homeless, and subway muggers. Similarly, Douglas (1995), who looked at O. J. Simpson, Louis Farrakhan, and the Million Man March, found that the media placed African-American men on a spectrum of good versus evil.
There are commonly held stereotypes that African Americans have an unorthodox appetite for watermelons and love fried chicken. Race and folklore professor Claire Schmidt attributes the latter both to its popularity in Southern cuisine and to a scene from the film Birth of a Nation in which a rowdy African-American man is seen eating fried chicken in a legislative hall.
The welfare queen stereotype depicts an African-American woman who defrauds the public welfare system to support herself, having its roots in both race and gender. This stereotype negatively portrays black women as scheming and lazy, ignoring the genuine economic hardships which black women, especially mothers, disproportionately face.
The magical Negro (or mystical Negro) is a stock character who appears in a variety of fiction and uses special insight or powers to help the white protagonist. The Magical Negro is a subtype of the more generic numinous Negro, a term coined by Richard Brookhiser in National Review. The latter term refers to clumsy depictions of saintly, respected or heroic black protagonists or mentors in US entertainment.
In the 21st century, the "angry black woman" is depicted as loud, aggressive, demanding, uncivilized, and physically threatening, as well as lower-middle-class and materialistic. She will not stay in what is perceived as her "proper" place.
Controlling images are stereotypes that are used against a marginalized group to portray social injustice as natural, normal, and inevitable. By erasing their individuality, controlling images silence black women and make them invisible in society. The misleading controlling image present is that white women are the standard for everything, even oppression.
Studies show that scholarship has been dominated by white men and women. Being a recognized academic includes social activism as well as scholarship. That is a difficult position to hold since white counterparts dominate the activist and social work realms of scholarship. It is notably difficult for a black woman to receive the resources needed to complete her research and to write the texts that she desires. That, in part, is due to the silencing effect of the angry black woman stereotype. Black women are skeptical of raising issues, also seen as complaining, within professional settings because of their fear of being judged.
Due to the angry black woman stereotype, black women tend to become desensitized about their own feelings to avoid judgment. They often feel that they must show no emotion outside of their comfortable spaces. That results in the accumulation of these feelings of hurt and can be projected on loved ones as anger. Once seen as angry, black women are always seen in that light and so have their opinions, aspirations, and values dismissed. The repression of those feelings can also result in serious mental health issues, which creates a complex with the strong black woman. As a common problem within the black community, black women seldom seek help for their mental health challenges.
Oftentimes, black women's opinions are not heard in studies that examine interracial relationships. Black women are often assumed to be just naturally angry. However, the implications of black women's opinions are not explored within the context of race and history. According to Erica Child's study, black women are most opposed to interracial relationships.
Since the 1600s, interracial sexuality has represented unfortunate sentiments for black women. Black men who were engaged with white women were severely punished. However, white men who exploited black women were never reprimanded. In fact, it was more economically favorable for a black woman to birth a white man's child because slave labor would be increased by the one-drop rule. It was taboo for a white woman to have a black man's child, as it was seen as race tainting. In contemporary times, interracial relationships can sometimes represent rejection for black women. The probability of finding a "good" black man was low because of the prevalence of homicide, drugs, incarceration, and interracial relationships, making the task for black women more difficult.
As concluded from the study, interracial dating compromises black love. It was often that participants expressed their opinions that black love is important and represents more than the aesthetic since it is about black solidarity. "Angry" black women believe that if whites will never understand black people and they still regard black people as inferior, interracial relationships will never be worthwhile. The study shows that most of the participants think that black women who have interracial relationships will not betray or disassociate with the black community, but black men who date interracially are seen as taking away from the black community to advance the white patriarchy.
The "black bitch" is a contemporary manifestation of the Jezebel stereotype. Characters termed "bad black girls", "black whores", and "black bitches" are archetypes of many blaxploitation films produced by the Hollywood establishment. The term "black bitch" was use in an episode of the 2019 television show Total Control with the intent of reclaiming a racial slur, however the public was unhappy. Few were unfazed by the term but the masses were taking to social media in an up rage speaking of hurt and their own personal racist experiences with the derogatory title.
The "strong black woman" stereotype is a discourse through that primarily black middle-class women in the black Baptist Church instruct working-class black women on morality, self-help, and economic empowerment and assimilative values in the bigger interest of racial uplift and pride (Higginbotham, 1993). In this narrative, the woman documents middle-class women attempting to push back against dominant racist narratives of black women being immoral, promiscuous, unclean, lazy and mannerless by engaging in public outreach campaigns that include literature that warns against brightly colored clothing, gum chewing, loud talking, and unclean homes, among other directives. That discourse is harmful, dehumanizing, and silencing.
The "strong black woman" narrative is a controlling narrative that perpetuates the idea it is acceptable to mistreat black women because they are strong and can handle it. This narrative can also act as a silencing method. When black women are struggling to be heard while facing times of difficulties in life, like everyone else endures, they are silenced and reminded that they are strong, instead of actions being taken toward alleviating their problems.
Contemporary women of the African Diaspora’s engagement in this performance of physiological and emotional strength stems from a history of degradation evident during the TransAtlantic Middle Passage, the institution of U.S. Slavery, and the era of racial caste imposed by Jim Crow during the 19th-20th century.
In addition to igniting discourse on respectability politics, the ‘Strong Black Woman’ stereotype also functions as a coping mechanism whereby “strength” manifests as heightened independence, self-sacrificial habits, resilience, and reluctance to express vulnerability. Black women are socialized to weaponize these attributes to combat the realities of racism, sexism, and other systems of oppression they may experience. However, prolonged adherence to the ‘Strong Black Woman’ persona induces increased psychological distress in the forms of “depression, stress, anxiety, and suicidal behavior”. The stereotype’s detrimental influence on black women’s mental health has the domino effect of diminishing other facets of overall health (e.g. physiological, emotional, spiritual, etc).
The "independent black woman" is the depiction of a narcissistic, overachieving, financially successful woman who emasculates black males in her life.
The "Black American Princess" (BAP) refers to an African American woman who is seen as materialistic, privileged, and detached from the struggles of less fortunate Black communities. The term reflects stereotypes of wealth, style, and a superficial nature, and is identical to the so-called 'princess syndrome' of any and all other races. This narrative positions these women as overly concerned with wealth, status, and appearance, similar to the "valley girl" or the "dumb blond" stereotypes associated with White women.
The BAP figure is often critiqued as a product of post-segregation Black wealth, where women who gained access to educational and social institutions are seen as having a sense of entitlement and detachment from their racial identity.
The BAP narrative is a controlling stereotype that reinforces class distinctions within the black community, suggesting that Black women who achieve certain socioeconomic status are less "authentic" or betraying their roots. This can be harmful because it simplifies and overlooks the effort that these women put into promoting positive representations of Black womanhood.
Black people are stereotyped as being naturally more athletic and potentially superior at sports than all other races. Even though they make up roughly 12-14% of the US population, 75% of NBA players and 65% of NFL players are Black. African-American collegiate athletes may be viewed as getting into college predominantly on their athletic ability; relying on academic merit to a lesser extent.
Black athletic superiority is a theory that says black people possess traits that are acquired through genetic and/or environmental factors that permits them to excel over other races in athletic competition. White people are more likely to hold such views, but some Black people and other racial affiliations do as well.
Several other authors have said that sports coverage that highlights "natural Black athleticism" has the effect of suggesting White superiority in other areas, such as intelligence. The stereotype suggests that African Americans are incapable of dominating in "White sports" such as ice hockey and swimming (the latter is rooted not in athleticism itself, but a separate stereotype that suggests Black people are fearful of large bodies of water).
Following the stereotypical character archetypes, African Americans have falsely and frequently been thought of and referred to as having little intelligence compared to other racial groups, particularly white people. This has factored into African Americans being denied opportunities in employment. Even after slavery ended, the intellectual capacity of black people was still frequently questioned.
In pornography, Black men are stereotyped to be hypermasculine and sexually dominant.
African Americans are often used for stories in the media concerning drug abuse, drug-addicted children, HIV/AIDS patients and the homeless.
Early minstrel shows of the mid-19th century lampooned the supposed stupidity of black people. Even after slavery ended, the intellectual capacity of black people was still frequently questioned. Movies such as Birth of a Nation (1915) questioned whether black people were fit to run for governmental offices or to vote.
Some critics have considered Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as "racist" because of its depiction of the slave Jim and other black characters. Some schools have excluded the book from their curricula or libraries.
Stereotypes pervaded other aspects of culture, such as various board games that used Sambo or similar imagery in their design. An example is the Jolly Darkie Target Game in which players were expected to toss a ball through the "gaping mouth" of the target in cardboard decorated using imagery of Sambo.
Other stereotypes displayed the impossibility of good relations between black and white people, instilling the idea that the two races could never coexist peacefully in society. The intent was to lead audiences to the conclusion of the proper solution to remove black people from American society entirely.
In film, black people are also shown in a stereotypical manner that promotes notions of moral inferiority. For female movie characters specifically, black actresses have been shown to use vulgar profanity, be physically violent, and lack overall self-control at a disproportionately higher rate than white actresses.
African-American women have been represented in film and television in a variety of different ways, starting from the stereotype/archetype of "mammy" (as is exemplified the role played by Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind) drawn from minstrel shows, through to the heroines of blaxploitation movies of the 1970s, but the latter was then weakened by commercial studios. The mammy is usually portrayed as an older woman, overweight, and dark-skinned. The "mammy" embodies the ideal caregiver, characterized by traits such as loyalty, nurturing qualities, and respect for the white authority. The mammy stems from the portrayed as asexual while later representations of black women demonstrated a predatory sexuality.
With the advent of "talkies" in Hollywood, the use of blackface began to wane, yet the prevalence of harmful stereotypes persisted. This development brought about a complex outcome: while it created more opportunities for African American actors, it also entangled them in the reinforcement of negative images. For instance, Hattie McDaniel’s portrayal of the mammy in Gone with the Wind won her the first Academy Award for a Black actor, but also solidified that stereotype. Similarly, characters like Buckwheat from the Little Rascals exemplified the pickaninny trope, while both adaptations of Imitation of Life highlighted the tragic mulatto narrative. Thus, the transition to sound in films marked both progress and a continuation of problematic representations.
In print, black people are portrayed as overtly flamboyant. In a study of fashion magazine photographs, Millard and Grant found that black models are often depicted as more aggressive and sociable but less intelligent and achievement-oriented.
In Darwin's Athletes, John Hoberman writes that the prominence of African-American athletes encourages a lack of emphasis on academic achievement in black communities. Several other authors have said that sports coverage that highlights "natural black athleticism" has the effect of suggesting white superiority in other areas, such as intelligence or game management. Some contemporary sports commentators have questioned whether black people are intelligent enough to hold "strategic" positions or coach games such as football.
In another example, a study of the portrayal of race, ethnicity, and nationality in televised sporting events by the journalist Derrick Z. Jackson in 1989 showed that black people were more likely than whites to be described in demeaning intellectual terms.
According to Lawrence Grossman, former president of CBS News and PBS, television newscasts "disproportionately show African Americans under arrest, living in slums, on welfare, and in need of help from the community." Similarly, Hurwitz and Peffley wrote that violent acts committed by a person of color often take up more than half of local news broadcasts, which often portray the person of color in a much more sinister light than their white counterparts. The authors argue that African Americans are not only more likely to be seen as suspects of horrendous crimes in the press but also are interpreted as being violent or harmful individuals to the general public.
Mary Beth Oliver, a professor at Penn State University, stated that "the frequency with which black men specifically have been the target of police aggression speaks to the undeniable role that race plays in false assumptions of danger and criminality." Oliver additionally stated that "the variables that play contributory roles in priming thoughts of dangerous or aggressive black men, are age, dress, and gender, among others which lead to the false assumptions of danger and criminality."
In 2012, Mia Moody, assistant professor of journalism, public relations and new media in Baylor's College of Arts and Sciences, documented Facebook fans' use of social media to target US President Barack Obama and his family through stereotypes. Her study found several themes and missions of groups targeting the Obamas. Some groups focused on attacking his politics and consisted of Facebook members who had an interest in politics and used social media to share their ideas. Other more-malicious types focused on the president's race, religion, sexual orientation, personality, and diet.
Moody analyzed more than 20 Facebook groups/pages using the keywords "hate," "Barack Obama," and "Michelle Obama." Hate groups, which once recruited members through word of mouth and distribution of pamphlets, spread the message that one race is inferior, targeted a historically oppressed group, and used degrading, hateful terms.
She concluded that historical stereotypes focusing on diet and blackface had all but disappeared from mainstream television shows and movies, but had resurfaced in new media representations. Most portrayals fell into three categories: blackface, animalistic and evil/angry. Similarly, media had made progress in their handling of gender-related topics, but Facebook offered a new platform for sexist messages to thrive. Facebook users played up shallow, patriarchal representations of Michelle Obama, focusing on her emotions, appearance, and personality. Conversely, they emphasized historical stereotypes of Barack Obama that depicted him as flashy and animalistic. Media's reliance on stereotypes of women and African Americans not only hindered civil rights but also helped determine how people treated marginalized groups, her study found.
Representations of African Americans in video games tend to reinforce stereotypes of males as athletes or gangsters.
Hip hop music has reinforced stereotypes about black men. Exposure to violent, misogynistic rap music performed by African American male rappers has been shown to activate negative stereotypes towards black men as hostile, criminal and sexist. Hip hop portrays a stereotypical black masculine aesthetic and has stereotyped black men as hypersexual thugs and gangsters who hail from an inner city ghetto. Listening to this misogynistic and violent hip hop has effects on African-American men and their cognitive performance. They perform worse in tests resembling the Graduate Record Examination after listening to this kind of music compared to white men under the same conditions. African-American women are degraded and referred to as “bitches” and “hoes” in rap music. African-American women are over-sexualized in modern hip hop music videos and are portrayed as sexual objects for rappers. Over-sexualization of African American women in rap music videos may have health implications for viewers of such videos. In a survey study, adolescent African American women watching rap videos and perceiving them to contain more sexual stereotypes were more likely to binge drink, test positive for marijuana and have a negative body image.