by James Harvey

Created on: August 19, 2009   Last Updated: October 14, 2009

Mammy. Coon. Sambo. Picanniny. Jezebel. Sapphire. Hootchie. Thug.

These are just some of the negative racial stereotypical labels or caricatures that have been peculiarly ascribed to African Americans in America spanning over a period of many years. Sadly, they have become so entrenched and etched into the American subconciousness, that modern-day versions of these stereotypes still exists to this day. They have also been detrimental and disastrous to the social progress of Blacks.

What is the history of such negative, self-defeating stereotypes and why do they still continue to bedevil the Black Community to this day? Like many of the pathetic conditions that plague the Black Community, these stereotypes are deeply rooted in American Slavery. Let's look at the history of the above racist epithets.

MAMMY: The "Mammy", derived from "mama", as in "mother", is conceived more in myth than in actual fact. In the antebellum period, the period roughly before the Civil War, the sexual exploitation of Black women and girls was very common. The mammy caricature was misleading because it implied that White men did not find Black women sexually attractive, when in actuality they did. Therefore, the mammy caricature was invented to neutralize that view and to deter the Slavemaster's wives from incurring jealousy. During Slavery times, only the very rich could hire Black women as "house servants" ; even long after Slavery was supposedly over, even during the Jim Crow Era (1877-1966), African American women were hired mainly as "domestic workers", since there were even fewer, if any work opportunities for Black women than there were for Black men. But these women were not the stereotypical mammies.

According to popular stereotypes, the mammy was charcoal-black, with huge breasts, whose kinky or "nappy" head was often covered with a kerchief. She was strong, kind; particularly to her White "family"; in fact, she loved her White "family" better than she did her own and very devoutly religious. Because she was supposedly hopelessly unattractive, she had no sexuality; hence, she was not sexually desirable. She often spoke in broken English. The mammy was portrayed as being happy and contented in her role in life - which was ultimately to serve Whites until she died. She was not allowed to pursue her own separate life or individual career in another field of endeavor, otherwise, who was going to take care of her "family" after she was gone? The mammy was the family cook, cleaner,

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