Blacks in the 21st Century

The African American stereotype has been ingrained in American culture since the early construction of the American colonies. This stereotype was necessary in order to justify the exploitation of African bodies in American slavery. Michael Harris says in his article Constructing and Visualizing Race, the Black stereotype foundation made with American slavery is that Blacks are “ignorant, immoral or lazy persons incapable of succeeding in honorable livelihoods”(Harris). This same stereotype has lasted through the centuries and can still be seen when examining the police brutality of the 21st century. A recent study was done to analyse police officers and their “shooter bias”. This is where a subject is presented with a picture of Black and White persons holding either a gun or a non lethal item such as a cell phone. The subject then has to state “shoot” if the person is holding a gun or “don’t shoot” if they are not. The study found that officer were “faster to ‘shoot’ Blacks with guns than whites with guns, and faster to ‘not shoot’ Whites without guns than Blacks without guns.” (Carbado) This study with absurd amount of police shootings of African Americans, displays how this old stereotype from slavery has lasted into the 21st century. Thankfully there are movements such as #BlackLivesMatter who work to address and publicize these issues against the african american community. What was once a stereotype about sub-humans needing to be owned as property, has now been adapted to violent hooligans who need to be policed.

 

Carbado, Devon W., and Patrick Rock. "What Exposes African Americans to Police Violence?" What Exposes African Americans to Police Violence? 51 (n.d.): n. pag. Http://harvardcrcl.org. Web. 24 Mar. 2017. <http://harvardcrcl.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/HLC104_crop.pdf>

 

Harris, Michael. "Constructing and Visualizing Race." (n.d.): n. pag. Web. <https://ecommons.ucsc.edu/access/content/group/16edbc1a-6b8a-4f2d-a073-ed90bdb9e194/Week%207%3A%20African-American/ConstructingVisualizingRace_MichaelHarris.pdf>