CSA - Natalie

 

Since the beginning of racial theory and the idea of race, narratives and experiments have been conducted to try and prove that the white race is superior. Early experiments on black people about the size of their brains related to their lower intelligence and they went so far as to claim black people were a different species. Then when slavery was brought to the U.S. the dehumanization of black people became so engrained into society. Slavery was around for over 400 years so it was centuries of discrimination and dehumanization that have created the lasting ideas around white superiority and black inferiority. Then as shown in the CSA film most of the ads they showed were real ads that further establish discriminatory narratives. Labeling black people as criminals and less than others. In our history, there was the 3/5rds law stating that a black vote is actually 3/5ths of a white vote. It is so deep in our society, this lesser-than narrative has been spread through laws and signs such as the white-only signs during the Jim Crow era. When you hear the same narratives over and over again, in a still mostly segregated society it is extremely difficult to break out of the stereotypes you’ve heard. Fear is also a powerful tool used to paint black people as dangerous, and as threats to especially white women. When it reality it is the white men who have historically raped black women. So many of the harmful narratives told were the opposite of reality and with enough propaganda and deep-seated racism, the tactics of oppression have been very effective.