The the first portion of title of my
article is a direct quote from the testimony of Officer Darren Wilson
describing his confrontation with Mike Brown. In his testimony Wilson says that
Brown did not look human and referred to him as
“Hulk Hogan” and a “demon.”
Wilson also said that when he struggled with Brown that the “felt like a
five-year old” even though he and Brown were same height. In Wilson eyes, Brown
was a super-being incapable of being subdued. The narrative of his testimony
sounds extraordinarily similar to the officer’s testimonies in the Rodney King
case. The officers described King as the “incredible hulk” and a “Tasmanian
devil” when being questioned about their encounter with King.
Both testimonies
sound like they would be from the Jim Crow era and were used during speeches to
demonize Black men who were accused of rape and lynched. I believe this is a
because these descriptions are part of a stereotype known as “the magical
negro” which is a trope in film and literature in which a White protagonist is
accompanied by a Black character who possesses unexplainable magical powers and
in later fiction any Black character that is extremely worldly or wise. Song of the South is seen as one of the
first examples of this trope, and many movies starring Morgan Freeman fit this
trope.
The trope takes
a strange turn and becomes a mix of the magical and the hyper-masculine
stereotype of Black men, which is found throughout slavery and Jim Crow and
continues in media with Blaxploitation films in the 70’s. Looking at the
narratives of the officers and the history that they imply makes me wonder how
much stereotypes from these eras still influence people in more recent times. Darren
Wilson explained in his testimony that he believed that Brown looked like he
was getting stronger with every bullet that went into his body. In any other context
the statement would be completely absurd, but what is about this situation that
makes is a viable description of another human being?
I’d like start a
conversation about this issue, do the effects of the demonization, hyper-masculinization
of Black men in America still linger in society so much today that it is used multiple
times to explain why Black men are often killed by figure of authority? Blaxploitation
films are the most recent example that I believe could still have a strong affect
on this issue, not that the Jim Crow era does not still have effects.
I think this has definitely stayed with society. We may not see black men in particular, as "animals" per se now, or at least the majority don't. But when we see black people on the streets or at night time, most people's natural tendency is to be afraid of them. People still fear blacks in particular. This also comes out when people mention "Black Power" the "Black Lynx." People associate these groups and people as dangerous criminals, and by a stretch, dangerous demons or animals. It does take us back to those times we have discussed in class when white people were afraid of black people and used this dehumanization as justification for using violence to "maintain peace and order" and protect their women and families.
ReplyDeleteOne could argue that same thing in cases like Ferguson. The officer was afraid that this large black "demon" would harm him and so he used violence to end it. Had this been years ago, this officer would have been labeled a hero in the South's eyes. But this is tricky in modern times, because we say that racism doesn't exist and it all ended years ago, or when Obama became president of the United States. It could have been a deliberate act of racism covered by lies and deviance from truth, but it could also have been a police officer who was doing his duty and might have been employed self defense and unfortunately the other man died. I am not saying one or the other, I'm simply stating that none of us were there, and so it is hard to know what truly went on. But again, this brings up the fault in American society: we don't have a "black problem", we have a racism problem.
Black people are both still both considered superhuman and subhuman at the same time at the populace at large. Darren Wilson's testimony mirrors that of George Zimmerman, with neither of them grounded in any reality that exists. I've stated in a previous blog that the police are only a tool of society, and they represent society need to see black people incarcerated at higher rates and be ok with this fact. This is true because these stereotypes still linger in the majority of the hearts and minds of people. They do not do so consciously of course, but at a subconscious level they exist.
ReplyDeleteTyler Jones