AES 150: Ethnic Notions Movie Notes
June, 2023
As part of my American Ethnic Studies 150 class, we had to watch the film "Ethnic Notions" by Marlon Riggs. This film was incredibly useful for giving me some historical context about the stereotypes I’ve seen of Black folks in media today. I’ve heard terms like “Mami” and “Sambo” before, but I now have a better understanding of their logics and utility in the disenfranchisement and expropriation of Black folks post-emancipation, and even under the era of chattel slavery. What was really interesting me were some of the apparent dualisms/contradictions that certain caricatures created: the “Sambo” was supposed to be a docile, easygoing Black man, but the “Brute” was a Black man turned violent and aggressive. The “Mami” was supposed to be portrayed entirely as undesireable so as to disguise the grotesque reality of white masters rxping their own slaves, but the “Jezebel” portrayed Black woman as overly promiscuous and “asking for it.” This to me reaffirms the idea that these stereotypes are based not in reality, but in their utility in maintaining Black subjugation. I've attached screenshots of the notes I took when watching this film below:
