African American Flashcards
(10 cards)
Two Stereotypes: Jezebel and Mammy
Jezebel: hypersexual, seductive, lacks self-control
Originated in slavery to justify sexual exploitation
Contrasted Black women with “pure” white women
Represented in media (e.g., Arthur Robinson’s Black Hooker)
Mammy: loyal, nurturing, desexualized servant
Popularized by Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind
Erases coercion and hardship
Both reduce Black women to limiting roles
- Asymmetry, Angularity, Will to Adorn
Asymmetry: visual imbalance, dynamic design (quilts, fashion)
Angularity: sharp lines, bold shapes (dances, weaves)
Will to adorn: emphasis on decoration, transformation
Expression of individuality, resistance to Western norms
Embodied in clothing, hairstyles, home décor
Political and cultural symbolism of resilience
Three Pushes and Three Pulls (Great Migration)
Pushes: racial violence (lynchings), economic repression (sharecropping), political disenfranchisement (Jim Crow)
Pulls: job opportunities (factories), political rights (voting), Black press/community (Chicago Defender)
Migration reshaped urban demographics and culture
Resistance to Slavery
Enslaved: slow work, faked illness, sabotage, food theft
Escape attempts (e.g., Harriet Tubman, Underground Railroad)
Revolts (e.g., Nat Turner’s Rebellion)
Free Blacks: abolition advocacy, aid to fugitives, community building
Legal action, fundraising, public speaking
Abolitionist Practices and Figures
Tactics: newspapers, speeches, societies, political lobbying
William Lloyd Garrison: The Liberator, immediate emancipation
Sojourner Truth: speeches on slavery and women’s rights
Henry Highland Garnet: called for violent resistance
John Brown: Harper’s Ferry raid
Movement led to Civil War and 13th Amendment
Du Bois vs. Washington
Washington: vocational training, economic self-help, Atlanta Compromise
Believed in gradual acceptance through labor value
Du Bois: civil rights now, higher education, Talented Tenth
Co-founded NAACP, pushed for anti-lynching laws
Debated strategies for survival in racist society
Religion and Resistance
Christianity reinterpreted through African American experience
Identified with Moses, Jesus; spirituals had coded messages
Black church: emotional support, organizing hub
Leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. emerged from church
Themes: justice, deliverance, empowerment
African American Language and Identity
AAVE: unique phonetics, grammar, vocabulary, rhetorical style
Influences: African languages, creole roots, cultural creativity
Stigmatized but resilient
Zora Neale Hurston: emphasized creativity, metaphor
Language = resistance and cultural pride
Media and the Black Experience
Black Press: e.g., Chicago Defender, encouraged migration
Reported on lynchings, civil rights, opportunities
Built community solidarity
Distributed via churches, barbershops, trains
Later: TV/radio representation (e.g., Good Times)
Music as Expression and Resistance
Genres: spirituals, gospel, blues, jazz, soul, hip-hop, rap
Spirituals: comfort, coded escape messages
Blues/jazz: joy and pain of Black life
Civil Rights era: protest songs (e.g., “We Shall Overcome”)
Modern era: rap and hip-hop = voice of the marginalized
Artists: Aretha Franklin, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé
