The Schomburg presents this exhibit in two parts; the first part was the stereotypical images that where prevalent during the “Jim Crow” era after the Civil War. The second part of the exhibit is the “Humantypes” images; real images of real African-Americans during the same period.
As I enter the room where the Schomburg Center is holding the exhibit, “Stereotypes and Humantypes”, I am bombarded with the most despicable and disgusting images of human beings I have ever seen. I grew up with the uproar over “Aunt Jemima” and “Uncle Ben” as held-over racist caricatures, but the images I saw where beyond belief. Advertisers for everything from toothpaste to soap had the most disgusting and outrageous images of African-Americans to sell their products. The images didn't look like people; they looked sub-human and ape-like. As I went from one image to another, my initial shock went from disgust to horror; the racism of the images where so prevalent, so overwhelming. A large poster for a minstrel show covers one wall; with its dancing, wild looking, dark-skinned “coons”, across from a collection of pottery shaped like “mammies”.
Toys of dancing sub-human looking, over emphasized, black men, with over-exaggerated features in one collection case; “artwork” depicting “pickaninnies” as “alligator bait” confront you on another wall. Dancing, large-eyed, bare-footed, red-lipped insanity; enough to make your head swim. Is this how America saw African-Americans? The images where ugly; depicting blacks as ugly, disgusting buffoons. These images where from the Jim Crow era; but they still hit me like a ton of bricks. How can any person of color feel beautiful after looking and experiencing these images? One of the exhibits had a white and a black child; the white child was pristine and clean with golden curls, while the black child was dirty, bare-footed, nappy-headed and darker than midnight. The clean and pristine white child says to the dirty, filthy black child that if only you use this brand of soap, you would be as clean as me. I felt dirty looking at these images; one hundred years of dirt and disgust.
The second part of the exhibit was of actual images of African-Americans after the Civil War. The images showed families sitting for portraits, couples on their wedding day, children at play. Handsome men and women at play and at work, doing and looking like people, not animals. They held no resemblance to the images I was confronted with in the first part of the exhibit; there was not one exaggerated monkey-face; not one bare foot.
The people I saw in these images where proud and happy; they may have been former slaves, but in their pictures they looked as if they were experiencing the American dream. Photo after photo of beautiful women wearing their Sunday best hats and dresses; many of them fashion forward, ready to step out of the pictures and walk down Madison Avenue today. On the opposite wall are pictures of students and club members, having the time of their lives with their peers.
In the case below are ads with strong, positive blacks; selling many of the same products as the stereotypical displays. The difference in these ads are that they are of real people, smiling real smiles. They are standing proud and strong. In this portion of the museum, a video plays of a store that still sell products with the caricature images of the room before; the video shows the store owner trying to hide from his shameful business. This room is not meant to erase what was done, but to show the truth of the lie. As I exit the exhibition (located in too small rooms for such a big message), I am confronted by a mirror. The final exhibit is me.
