I’m considering a podcast to discuss black and white in America. Some topics will relate to media, others will discuss systems that divide.

In my previous post Lack of Black in Chicago 1893… or Chicago 2016, I shared that black people were not allowed or welcomed at the 1893 World’s Fair.  That wasn’t totally true.  Generally speaking, that was consensus.  There were a couple exceptions.

Some African Americans were invited because they represented stereotypes, not progress, in the black race.  Nancy Green was one such person.  This 57-year-old former slave was hired to become a live advertisement for Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix.  You’re probably thinking, “What’s wrong with that?  At least she’s working.”  On the surface, that may seem like a positive thing.  However, her image was that of a stereotypical plantation mammy with her large jovial size and bandanna.  As if that wasn’t bad enough, she entertained audiences by telling stories of plantation life while flipping pancakes.

The authors of The Reason Why the Colored American is not in The World’s Columbian Exposition noted that Ms. Green’s performance was a hit.  This is not surprising.  Historically speaking, black people have been sources of entertainment and mockery for white people.  Nothing much has changed.  Today, many of the shows starring black people are comedies or the characters are in low-wage or stereotypical roles.  The positive, progression ones are totally exceptions.  However, I will give credit to the media for trying to do a little better.  Just a little bit.

Anyway, I did a little research after reading about Nancy Green, and learned that Aunt Jemima was brought alive once again at the 1933 World’s Fair in Chicago. “They hired Anna Robinson, described as a large, gregarious woman with the face of an angel. She traveled the country promoting Aunt Jemima until her death in 1951.” Still, the mammy image lived on.

The company did not change the mammy image until 1989 which was over 100 years after bringing Aunt Jemima to life.  The bandana was replaced with pearl earrings and a more respectable appearance.  I contacted the company to find out why it took over 100 years to change the image; they have yet to get back to me.

There were Black people at the fair. Unfortunately, those hired for entertainment purposes and not progress were the norm rather than the exception.

I was sharing information about my blog post, Lack of Black at Chicago’s World’s Fair in 1893…and Chicago 2016, with a buddy and had the following thought.

Washington Park is not very far from Jackson Park, the location of the 1893 World’s Fair.  Do you think Mayor Daley and his crew was trying to re-create White City on the South Side all over again?

White City was another name for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition based  on the materials used to construct the buildings.  However, White City was a double entredre.  While it really refered to the materials of the buildings; it became known for the preferred color of the planning committee, staff, and attendees.

Anyway, my answer would be YES.

With the gentrification going on in some of the poorer communities which tend to be home to minorities, and some of the more not-so-obvious things happening, I am certain there is a plan in place to change the color of the South Side. Planning the Olympics would have just made it whiter much faster.

These topics and more would never be seen or discussed on TV.

Happy Mother’s Day!

I received a forwarded e-mail message about this man who was wrongly sentenced to death for killing a police officer.  Check out his story below.

On June 30, an innocent man will be given a second chance.

We just learned today that Troy has been granted an evidentiary hearing — an opportunity to right this wrong.

This sounds a lot like the black men who were lynched for crimes that were not proven after emancipation in the late 1800s and early 1900s according to Ida B. Wells.

The e-mail goes on to say: “Troy Davis may just be one man, but his situation represents an injustice experienced by thousands.”

This is nothing new in history.  In fact, the authors of The Reason Why the Colored American is Not in the World’s Columbian Exposition edited by Robert W. Rydelland originally written by Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Irvine Garland Penn, Ferdinand L. Barnett quote statistics from the Chicago Tribune, 1892.  They shared the number of Negroes murdered by the mob and the crimes for which they were charged.  The two main crimes were rape and murder.  They even said that many of the charges against the people were unfounded.  The people wanted someone to be held accountable and any black man would do.

This is not surprising.  As stated above, there are thousands of people like Troy Davis who are wrongly charged and sentenced for crimes they did not commit.

Clearly, the legal system does not work.   What I want to know is: what’s being done to correct these injustices?

One last thing, visit http://www.iamtroy.com/ to sign the petition if you believe he is innocent

I just finished reading The Reason Why the Colored American Is Not In the World’s Columbian Exposition edited by Robert W. Rydell but originally published by Ida B. Wells, Frederick Douglass, Irvine Garland Penn and Ferdinand L. Barnett.

This book was exceptional.  The authors wanted representation of black people at the 1893 World’s Fair in the form of seats on the planning committees; jobs for African Americans; and an exhibit hall dedicated for one day to Black people to show their progress since emancipation.  None of the requests were granted.

The seats on the planning committees were denied
because the white decision makers alleged that African
Americans were divided.  Apparently, two different
black organizations with similar names wrote the
organization requesting that their leaders have the
seat.  No malice whatsoever.  The powers-that-be said took this as a division and voted negative.

The authors pointed out that their request to employ black people fell on deaf ears.  The Exposition told them there were no funds.  It was pointed out that the decision makers “had actually and wantonly wasted nearly ninety thousand dollars in the construction of floats for use on opening day; which floats were discarded before they were finished and never used at all…The management readily found ninety thousand dollars to waste in this child’s play, but could not find a fraction of that sum to meet a demand which was just, urgent and plainly apparent.”  They paid $90,000 for floats in 1893 but had no money to provide jobs to black people.

As for the exhibit hall, the response to that request was an unanimous “Hell no!” You know if African Americans were not good enough to work at the Fair, even in the most menial positions, they definitely weren’t going to have an entire exhibit dedicated to them.  In fact, the one day they were requesting somehow became known as The Nigger Day.  Needless to say, it never came to pass.  But Nigger Day somehow made it to the pages of history.

While writing this piece, I started to feel like these would have been some issues  with the 2016 Olympics had it come to Chicago. We had already witnessed the lack of minority representation with the planning committee.  Washington Park, located in a predominantly African American community, was going to be transformed to hold the event.  This included moving residents out and changing the “face” of the community to be whiter. Although it was going to bring jobs to the community, I am almost certain that many of the residents that would have had to move would not have held those positions, no matter how menial the task.  One last thing. There were meetings held by black businesses attempting to get in as vendors since they had not been invited to initial talks of such opportunities.  Sound a lot like the black people request for their one exhibition

My my my. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Following are eight false visions about black people that are shown on TV.

1. Almost all shows starring black people are comedies. We are serious people with serious lives.
2. There are few successfully married black couples.  There are interracial couples with black men with white women. You even see white men with black women coupling.  As for successful black couples, outside of the Obamas – nothing.
3. All black women are not video hoes. All black men are not athletes. All black women are not struggling single mothers and all black children are not in gangs.
4. Thin is not in.  Most sistas I know are knocking on the door of size 14.  I’ll admit, some of them need to push away from the table.  Even if they do, they will never look like the hungry women on TV.  Size zero is not our birthright.
5. Have you ever noticed that there are lots of beautiful and talented black actresses that get very little time on TV or in the movies?  What this means is that there is little hope for young black women who want to be actresses.
6. Note: Denzel, Will Smith and Samuel Jackson are not the only good black actors in the world.
7. There are a lot of mixed-race people in advertisements and commercials to represent black people.  Newsflash!  Black people come in a beautiful array of hues from white to beige to brown to jet black.
8. Oprah, Jordan and Magic are NOT the only successful black entrepreneurs.  Check out Black Enterprise to learn about more.

This list is not all inclusive.  I wonder what would happen if such stereotypes were created about white people and they somehow turned into “truth.”  Hmmmm…. Something to think about.

I think gender is going to be another topic for As NOT Seen on TV. Athletes’ attitudes toward women are quite disturbing.

I think I want to continue to discuss race and media on my blog. What are some good topics to delve into?

How do people in other countries view Americans based on what they see on TV?