Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us:

Linda Christensen

                “Early in the Unit, I show a Popeye cartoon, “Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves,” that depicts all Arabs with the same face, same turban, same body and they are all thieves swinging enormous swords. At one point in the cartoon, Popeye clips a dog collar on helpless Olive Oyl and drags her through the desert. Later, the 40 thieves come riding through town stealing everything-food, an old man’s teeth, numbers off a clock-even the stripe off a barber pole.”

                I remember watching that Popeye cartoon when I was younger. I remember watching tones of cartoons that depicted some sort of racism or showed sexual dominance of men over women. When I was a child the most racist cartoons were in the loony tunes. Lonny tunes always depicted black people with having extra big RED lips and had ape like characteristics. In another cartoon “Scrub me mama with a boogie beat” they show the black people the same way as in the loony tune cartoons and more. The black people in this cartoon are shown as being lazy; the town they live in is even called “Lazy Town”. The fish shown in one scene are even lazy and also have over sized lips. Once there is music then the black people start to move but only to dance and sing. I have heard people say that black people are “musical people” and that black people often start to dance for no reason. This cartoon also shows a black man not just eating but devouring a huge slice of watermelon seeds and all, I eat the seeds in watermelon too but that is besides the point. Which uses the stereotype that all black people LOVE them some watermelon.

 In an old Flintstones cartoon I remember watching them depict Japanese people as having eyes slanted so much that they appear to be just a line on their face and that their teeth hang out like a bad over bite. This cartoon influenced me as a child. The impact was so much that when I was in 7^th grade at Martin middle school in East Providence, RI my classmates and I had to form groups and come up with some sort of skit. I do not remember what the skit was supposed to be about. What I do remember is that I played an Asian man. My character of an Asian man was of my imagination with the help of said Flintstones cartoon and several movies. I squinted my eyes as much as I could while at the same time still being able to see. I also stuck and hung my top teeth over my lower lip as much as I could. All the other students in my class thought my character was so funny. My teacher enjoyed my charter so much, that see had me and my group performed our skit for all the other 7^th grade class’ at Martin. As I got older I realized that I was wrong and ignorant in my depiction of an Asian man. Even now I get upset thinking how I thought my character was so good and funny. What is really upsetting and disappointing to me is that my teacher, the adult and the other teachers (which were all white) did not stop me.

 

Here are several links to show just a few of the racism in cartoons, and TV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGgFJRTqpNQ  Loony Tunes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sls5H4xVHys  Lazy Town- Scrub me mama with a boogie beat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDfEbnDeqpI  Tom and Jerry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjtfjRIffkw  Dave Chappelle WB frog

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4RhCy126RA  Flintstones