Racial stereotyping
In Constant Struggle (Williams chapter 5), read the newspaper accounts of Ota Benga and the Washington Post article, “Basest Instinct: Case of the Zoo Pygmy Exhibited a familiar Face of Human Nature,” by Ann Hornaday. Then look at the editorial cartoon that ran in the New York Post, the CNN article, the New York Magazine article about an email sent by a Republican politician, the USA Today article about an email sent by a federal judge, the New York Magazine article detailing comments about First Lady Michelle Obama, and an advertisement for H&M. In a well-written essay of at least two (2) double-spaced pages, assess the implications of the racial stereotyping that linked/links African Americans with primates? Make sure that you answer the following questions: What are your opinions of how those of African descent were portrayed at the start of the twentieth century? What consequences did such portrayals have and continue to have? Are these contemporary portrayals racist?
