Octavia Larbi English 1102 Fran Voltz

Stereotyping of Black Men and a Possible Solution In this day and age, there are many issues occurring in the world around us. An issue that has become a common occurrence is the stereotyping of black men. This stereotyping occurs when people see a black man and automatically label him as lazy, angry and volatile. Black men are rarely depicted as positive, upbeat and loving. The stereotyping of black men is a huge issue on a local level, a national level and even an international level. It's all about surviving, and trying to thrive, in a nation where biased views of black men stubbornly hang on decades after segregation and where statistics show a yawning gap between the lives of white men and black men (Teixeira). The racial proliferation of black men has ended in many deaths and unfair arrests.. The solution to this problem is to debunk the stereotypes of black men, and for society to understand that stereotypes do more harm than good. Stereotypes seem harmless but there have been too many instances when they have resulted in the deaths of a black man simply because of how he was perceived. Malcolm X once said If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. The unpopular truth is that a black man can be harmless and still be perceived as a threat. Black men learn at a young age that they live in a nation that will judge them based on the color of their skin with no regards for the content of their

character. Trayvon Martin was just a young black kid whose only problem was being black on the wrong night. George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Martin said during his 911 call This guy looks like he is up to no good. He is on drugs or something. Trayvon Martin had no weapons, just an Arizona iced tea and a bag of skittles. It is extremely disturbing that in America, and many other countries, a black man can be murdered solely based on perceptions. Every move a black man makes has to be calculated. Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested trying to get into his own home because his neighbor called the police and said two black males with backpacks are trying to force entry. This case sparked a public debate on racial profiling and many argued that if Henry Louis Gates had been white, his neighbor would not have called 911. This is the issue many black men face, not how they perceive themselves but how other people perceive them. Stereotyping has severely damaged the black mans image in society. The media is where the masses get their information. In movies, books, television shows, black men are almost always portrayed in the same light. Old stereotypes pass for shorthand sociology, broken only by contrarian moments like "Roots" or "The Cosby Show(Wilkerson)." The majority of television shows portray the black man as a thug, a drug dealer, a dead-beat father and so on. The shows that portray black men in a positive light are very rare. It would make a difference if black men were portrayed as doctors and lawyers instead of thugs and dealers. Articles on website likes CNN and Yahoo are usually focused on criminals and thugs and dont highlight successful black men.

The stereotypes of black men have been around for decades but they can be broken. Sixteen million black males in America and most of them will be stereotyped and profiled. Sixteen million males who are fighting against the odds. The solution is simple, there should be more positive media coverage of black men, there also needs to be more people with open minds , and black men must educate themselves so they dont become a statistic. Black men must be given the opportunity to prove themselves and make something of themselves without pre-conceived notions getting in their way. Martin Luther King said it best, we need to live in a world where people are not judged based on the color of the skin but based on the content of their character. Works Cited

Texeira, Erin. "Black Men Quietly Combating Stereotypes." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 01 July 2006. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. Wilkerson, Isabel. "TELEVISION; Black Life on TV: Realism or Stereotypes?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Aug. 1993. Web. 04 Dec. 2013.