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"White People are Watching" Click Here for…

- - - - Wanda gave this comedy special in February of 2010 on HBO.
        
        At this time, Barack Obama had just been elected into the United States Presidency. President Obama is the first U.S. black President. Wanda makes several references to what this means for her throughout her bit.
      - Wanda Sykes is a black, gay woman. She is very open about this distinction of herself. She is married and has two kids with her wife (Forbes).
- - - - The effects of Obama's political role in Black communities is seen before he was even elected. Black people took a much more increased role in political participation. Not only that, but “according to the 2008 poll “Blacks, Politics, and Society,” conducted by ABC News, USA Today, and Columbia University, political engagement among Blacks increased sharply, and Obama’s candidacy fostered pride and involvement.” (Ford 466).
        
        In the beginning of the Obama administration in 2009, there was still a resistance from the white population to black politics. However, a clear or violent display of this apprehension was no longer tolerable. In fact, “dehumanizing bigotry that defined America during the Jim Crow era has been discredited” (Ford 468).
        
        All of this sparked an era of "political correctness" (Ford 468) where media and the public began discrediting politicians and corporations for deliberately racist tendencies and practices.Obama literally broke down stereotypes with his career just by being a successful politician. Having a Black president was proof that the stereotype from slavery of Black people being lazy and less-capable is simply untrue.
        
        Sykes describes how her confidence grew throughout the administration. She says, "Now that I got a black president. You should see me. I'm walking out the grocery store with the watermelon on my shoulder. Yeah. Obama, bitch!"
        
        The Jim Crow era of 1865 supported a blatantly racist society after the 13th amendment. Jim Crow laws allowed legal segregation, and this is able to last for 100 years after slavery. It is not overturned until the civil rights and voting acts in 1964/65. This time also sparked a period of blackface minstrelsy that produced black stereotypes that still prevail today.
      - This is not to claim that we have removed all racial disparity in the nation. Political ideologies change with administrations and the current administration has deepened the gap between race relations.
      - As Wanda Sykes demonstrates in her bit, Obama's presidency brought a lot of pride to the Black population. It also allowed them certain freedoms in society because racial disparities were lessening. Sykes eludes to this when she says "Shit. I could dance. We got a black president."
- - - - The fried chicken stereotype is easily traced to one specific origin: a scene in The Birth of a Nation. First, fried chicken was a common food to eat in the South, White and Black folk alike ate it. Chicken meat was easily accessible, and, therefore, relatively cheap. Since White people enjoyed fried chicken, their female slaves became very proficient at cooking this meal (Jardim). All of this led to a large population of Southerners eating fried chicken somewhat regularly. So, why did it stick specifically to Black culture?
        
        The film, The Birth of a Nation has a scene depicting a Black man acting improperly in a Legislative Chamber. The chamber is filled with well-behaved White men, but then a Black man walks in and begins eating an excessive amount of fried chicken in a rather disgusting manner (Jardim). From here, the stereotype of Black folk preferring fried chicken more than any other culture is born.
        
        The history behind The Birth of a Nation is important to Black history. The film was created in 1915 during the Jim Crow era of legal segregation. The film villainies all Black people. In the film, Black men are type casted as either evil racists, docile and helpless, or violent and dangerous. Black women are depicted as being seductive, sexual and tragic or motherly and caring, specifically toward white children. The film worked as a tool to keep Black people from gaining independence and respect. It also gave rise to what will prove to be an incredibly hateful and harmful white supremacist group: The KKK.
    - - There are several theories as to why watermelon became a stereotype associated with Black culture. However, there is not one clear concise reason because the stereotype is not bound in fact. One theory is that since watermelon grows without much need fo tending, it is related to laziness. Therefore, it is to say that Black people not only love watermelon, but they've it because they are lazy (Greenlee). This theory is reinforced by the image of the postcard on the right. The top of the postcard says, "I'm very busy just now". This phrase insinuates the laziness quality because it is saying the child is busy eating and cannot do anything else.
      - This photo depicts a young slave eating a watermelon on a post card. The phrase "I'm very busy just now" runs across the top of the card.
    - - However, now, Bonjangles' work is considered racist and disrespectful (Jardim). After Sykes tap dances on stage, she jokes that "dignified black people" are saying “look at that black Bojangles. Just setting us back. How we gonna get ahead if she up there looking like Bojangles?” She says this because Bojangles represented the "Uncle Tom" typecast that film often portrayed. He was a servile, old man who gave little respect to Black people. His loyalties were with White people. So, due to Bojangles' role as an obedient, black tap dancer, the stereotype of how black people dance and what that represents is created.
      - This image is of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Bojangles was one of the first black people to make it into films and he did so by tap dancing.
- - - - DiAngelo specifically claims that white people show racism through "niceness". White people, especially in the work place tend to exude a fake niceness, this is often seen in "over smiling" and surface level interactions. This in itself is racist because "niceness does not bring racism to the table and will not keep it on the table when so many of us who are white want it off. Niceness does not break with white solidarity and white silence" (diAngelo). By over smiling, white people are hiding from the problem and refusing to talk about racial inequality.
        
        With this being the case, stereotypes and assumptions of black people will never be erased from our minds. Without having an open conversation, racial inequality will prevail. Thus, whether or not they are "intending" to be racist, white people have a tendency to watch black people. White people watch to see how black people will act because the conversation of race has yet to be had in all circles of life.