Society continues to enforce black stereotypes

This past Sept. 12 marks the 32nd anniversary of Steven Biko's murder. Biko was a renowned anti-apartheid activist in South Africa, who, in addition to battling the system of oppression in that country, also made popular the phrase "black is beautiful." And as I recently re-watched a MSNBC documentary on race, I was forced to ask myself just what "black is beautiful" means today.

Two years ago MSNBC aired a documentary on the state of black America. In the documentary they replicated the infamous doll test that was administered by Dr. Kenneth Clark sixty years ago. The test consists of black female children being presented with black and white dolls that are similar in every way except color, and then being asked to choose which doll they prefer. In the MSNBC documentary most black children chose the white dolls, much to my surprise. One would think that after 60 years in which black Americans fought so mightily for basic rights that we as people would have jettisoned such self-hatred. One would think that after the black empowerment movements of the '60s and early '70s that we as people would have more love for ourselves. But we do not.

I would argue that any progress made in the '50s, '60s and early '70s began to be erased in the mid-'70s with the black-exploitation films that often depicted black women as nothing more than sexual toys. This process continued into the '90s with certain hip-hop music videos—like Snoop Doggy Dog's "Doggy Style"—that contributed to the further sexualization of black women. And of course we have today, where the only way a black woman can win an Oscar is if she has simulated sex with a white man named Billy Bob on screen, as Halle Berry did in the 2003 film Monster's Ball. Of course it's not just Hollywood that depicts black women in such a fashion; it is also black men who showcase scantily clad hip-hop honeys; and it is artists like Lil' Wayne, who invited his own daughter on stage to dance around while he performed a song about having sex with every girl in the world, referring to women as bitches, hoes and other pejoratives used to insult females.

When presented with such an environment where black women are routinely debased and presented as hypersexual beings, it comes as no surprise that nearly half of black American girls aged 14-19 have an STD, according to a 2008 Centers for Disease Control report. That figure, when compared to the 20 percent of white females in the same age category, is astonishing and disheartening. The internalized racism within the black community is so rampant we don't even recognize it anymore. We have, in essence, accepted it.

There are three ways we can go about alleviating this problem and refusing its acceptance. The first is probably the most difficult: demand accountability from the entertainment industry. The only reason Hollywood and the music industry produce such entertainment is because the demand for it exists. Were we to refuse to download Lil' Wayne's "Every Girl" from iTunes, or declined to buy tickets to see movies like Monster's Ball, that could go a long way toward changing the current dynamic. Secondly, black men must stop degrading black women and expecting them to resemble the white woman on the latest cover of Vogue. And finally black women, like black men, should love themselves first. They should get rid of the perms, relaxers, extensions, fake nails and accept themselves for who they really are. Because a real black man does not want a woman who hides her natural beauty; he does not want a woman who compares herself to the latest blonde cover girl; he does not desire a woman incapable of loving herself and respecting her body just the way it was made.

Not all hip hop artists or videos engage in the type of misogyny mentioned above. There is plenty of hip hop centered around social justice and the advancement of black people. And for that, hip hop fans like me are incredibly grateful. Also, the phrase "black is beautiful" does not just apply to black women. I focused on black women because they are often forgotten when society debates these issues, and as a black man, with six beautiful black sisters and a mother, I thought it would be wise to address their treatment and portrayal in our society. But there was a time when black men relaxed their hair and lightened their skin, among other things, because that is what they qualified as beautiful. We still see some of that today.

Earlier I wrote of how most of the black girls in the MSNBC documentary chose the white doll. There was one girl who preferred the black doll, and when asked why, she responded: "Because she's black and she's beautiful". If only we all possessed the same amount of self-worth as that nine-year-old girl.