is tom and jerry racist?
because the black lady in it is always a caretaker or cleaning lady often comes shouting “Tommm……”. And the lady would always be a fat black lady. Also, her face will never be shown. What will be shown would be an unkempt dress and a lady (without face) walking in a typical stagger. On the other hand, a white lady would always be a slim and beautiful woman who is dressed very neatly. So she is sort of a "Mammy" type of stereo type
For better or worse the "Tom & Jerry cartoons were made in the 40s, at least the ones you are talking about. Different time different values.
Arânât I A Woman Analytical Review
Throughout the history of North American slavery, no one endured worse treatment while at the same time receiving next to no historical attention than the enslaved African-American woman. Almost every single notable historian has focused solely on the male slaves. Deborah Gray White’s Ar’n’t I A Woman? Female Slaves in the Plantation South, attempts to provide a long overdue examination of African-American women history.
Historiography is essentially the study of the study of history, Deborah Gray White’s book deals with the historiography of women slaves. The study of African-American slavery has changed a lot throughout the years, with African-American women finally starting to earn their respects on the eve of the 21st century. “African-American women were close to invisible in historical writings… because few historians saw them as important contributors to America’s social, economic, or political development†(White 3). Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s historians debated concerning the nature of the slave personality. Stanley Elkins began by alleging that the American slave master had absolute control and referred to slaves as “Sambo,†a childlike docile slave. Down the road Robert Fogel and Stanley Engerman wrote that “men played the dominant role in slave society†(White, 21). Most recently light has finally begun to be shed on women. “Emphasis of recent literature on slavery has been on negating Samboism†(White, 22).
White’s thesis is to provide a long overdue examination of female slavery, ending long held myths and illustrating the unique struggles that slave women faced in their day to day survival.
Throughout the first chapter White paints us a picture of old women slavery stereotypes starting with the “Jezebel†and ending with the “Mammy.â€Â The jezebel is essentially a “counter image of the mid-nineteenth-century ideal of the Victorian lady†(White, 29). The Jezebel character is governed entirely by her libido, many writings include this character with passages such as; William Smith’s when he wrote of “hot constitution’d ladies who are continually contriving stratagems how to gain a lover.†After a little while “Mammy†was born. Mammy was “the woman who could do anything, and do it better than anyone else… she was the premier house servant and all others were her subordinates†(White, 47). Southerners never fully abandoned Jezebel; rather many southerners were able to embrace both images of black women simultaneously and to switch from one to the other depending on the context of their thought.
The second chapter is all about the hardships and nature of female slavery. White goes on to say that “Slavery is terrible for men: but it is far more terrible for women…†(White, 62). Female slavery had much to do with work, but much of it was concerned with bearing, nourishing, and rearing children whom slaveholders needed for the continual replenishment of their labor force. “From the very beginning of a woman’s enslavement she had to cope with sexual abuse, abuse made legitimate by the conventional wisdom that black women were promiscuous Jezebels†(White, 89).
Chapter 3 provides us with the female slave’s life cycle. White discusses how slave children had roughly the same day to day routine whether male or female. At puberty things begin to change as women are urged to find a mate. The teenage duties consisted of pulling weeds, and raking the yards. While performing these duties the girls were heavily surrounded by other young mothers “which helped them develop a sense of what was expected of them in their future role of mother†(White, 95). Slave women usually had their first child late into teen hood. At this time if you were a barren woman you would be separated from your husband and sold.
“Because black women of a given plantation spent so much time together they inevitably developed some appreciation of one another’s skills and talents. This intimacy enabled them to establish the criteria with which to rank and order themselves†(White, 128). A job such a seamstress would allow the woman to get out of field work. Most farms had overseers, managers, foremen and drivers which were held by men, however occasionally a woman was given a measure of authority over slave work.
The slave family was often structured around a strong woman figure who was expected to produce adequately in the fields and then to cook and take care of her children. In slave families sexes were equal; however the women seemed to have a bit more of the upper hand with regards to controlling the relationship. The women definitely took on more of the family responsibility while the men took on the manual labor head first. Slave women were had to fend for themselves since their husbands couldn’t provide protection from their masters.
The millions of enslaved women who worked on Southern plantations had it tough. “They were the only women in America who were sexually exploited with impunity, stripped and whipped with a lash, and worked like oxen.â€Â As the Civil war began black women began to gain hope, however they knew the nation was no prepared to respect their citizenship, much less their womanhood. Sexual discrimination and hardships continued as slavery ended.
Deborah Gray White’s book is definitely an eye opener, I have studied slavery multiple times throughout multiple classes in my life, yet I have never seen or come across much of this. As White talks about in the beginning the male slave has overshadowed the female slave throughout history, which is exactly true with my past learning’s of the slave trade. I personally had the Mammy stereotype in my head, and figured that women slaves had it easier than their male counterparts. I figured they got to stay in the kitchen and solely raise children. Â
While reading this book White bombards you with a systematic series of statements and claims, which she then followed by first or second hand accounts supporting the statements. I feel she did about as good of a job as possible realizing the hardships of finding good sources. Many of her first hand interviews bring light into specific slave farms and provide excellent examples to help pound in her points. The book provides an excellent insight into the life of the African American slave women as a whole, and many specific examples as well. She was persuasive enough to kill the stereotype I had of the Mammy and replace it with the incredibly multifaceted tough yet vulnerable slave woman that truly existed. The only thing I questioned was when she said that most women had to continue to work throughout their pregnancy, I personally find this hard to believe that they were able to continue working the whole time. If it’s entirely true it just goes to show how much stronger slave women were than the Jezebel’s and Mammy’s that are stuck in our societies minds.
About the Author
Chris loves reading and writing about anything and everything that sparks his interest. He also liked to create websites on various things. You can visit his latest website about the Visco Elastic Mattress Topper
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