Well UI… Yet again we have been fooled into believing something that we were made to by America’s media. Below you will see 3 separate pictures. These pictures are examples of what America would see as “Safe” black men. I may be older than some of you but I have consumed media in all 3 of these eras, and have noticed something that I find to be very disturbing. It seems that each era, had an idea of what a black man should be… At least a safe one that is. What I find to be funny about it all was that any man outside of this mold or not close to it was portrayed as a dope dealer, thug, drug addict, and just an overall around bad guy/ antagonist. Look closely at the pictures of the quintessential black men across the decades.

First you have the black TV/Movie star of the 80’s. His hair is always wet, curly, or straight. He might be a homosexual dancer and or theatre kid. There is a look of racial ambiguity to him, and very much so has adopted the 80’s hair metal music look. Now I know what you are all saying… “It’s just a sign of the times.” Well I call BS. If you looked at characters like Rambo, Ferris Beuller, or even Don Johnson in Miami Vice, you will see men of strong masculinity and strength. Black men in this time if even given the chance to play a role were sniveling, scared, inept, or gay. There was not a strong black man among them. If they were criminalized. Even Carl Wethers played a bad guy most of the time and in the movie Predator, he was not very good at his job commanding the platoon. Not until Action Jackson did we see a strong masculine black male. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the black men on TV and in movies during this time. They all looked the same, had the same personalities and they all had a certain look that I believe to make them look not as threatening, and docile to mainstream white media.

Is everyone still with me? The next picture is of the model 90’s black man. If you notice the main haircut was the uniformed flat top. The glasses were a must, and honestly they were less than attractive. To be honest with you they were downright nerdy. This era was of the intelligent black man. Since the eighties, and the racism that spewed from the era, blacks were getting tired of every black man who did not fit the previous mold were displayed as criminals. So the media decided to doctor the image that they created by adopting this new kind of “Safe” black man. This one was intelligent, neat, and most definitely black. However this time that’s all they were about. The 90’s black man in the beginning was genius level smart but a nerd, very u attractive, and lacked any sort of social skills. They were square corny, and always the side kick and never the hero. They were still the same sniveling, bumbling, very un-cool men who would only have a romantic interest, if there was another black female of equal stature. Again the media was trying to give us something, without abandoning the image they wanted people to believe is a safe, black man. We were still seen as criminals, and bad guys, except now when we were good guys, we were obviously inferior to our white counterparts. Everyone from Steve Eurkel, to Jimmy on Walker Texas Ranger, to the black guy in the movie Toy Solders, this was the norm. Again it was not until later in the 90’s did we finally get a break. If it had not been for the success of Martin Lawrence and House Party, along with NY Undercover, we would not have had a strong positive black man in the media. Once they saw that these examples worked they were finally able to break the corny black stereotype that the media had set.

After that we started to see more leading men who were black, as well as starlets. Yes the image of the flat top glasses nerd was finally put to rest and a new breed of black man was prominent on TV and n movies. This was a good thing, until the media started to see a trend that they were not happy with. Hip hop and rap music was starting to invade white America. Kids were wearing FUBU of all races, and Blacks were beginning to have significant money through the same media that they controlled. This brought about the era of the new black man of the 200’s. If you take a look at the picture above you can see this example of a modern day black man that is today’s standard. We see the racially ambiguous hair that resembles that of the Buck Wheat, pick ninny, times of the early 1900’s. However it is straight in parts and smooth in areas, giving the impression of mixed race. They are also more so products of the hipster era as a sign of dejecting the urban life style and way of dress. The actual color of their skin has lightened, and looks more ambiguous than even in the eighties. It’s as if now we are being told that skin that further away from our original tone is the gold standard, without forgetting we are still negro by the over stated 1950’s racial cartoon hair that is now common place. Not to knock black movies and other types of Afro-American media, but I’m simply speaking of the mainstream. It seems that decade after decade they try and emasculate us, make it seem as if we are corny, and really over all less than in each era.

Some of us have followed these stereotypes as “fashion trends” and “pop culture” but really when we look at the situation we have been digesting these watered down versions of ourselves, and perpetuating the stereotypes that the media would have us play out.

I know people who read my blogs love to point out how wrong I am about a given thing, but am I? When have you seen a man with dreadlocks, just a fad, or anything with truly natural black hair grace the TV screen or movie screen that was not a criminal, gay, or simply odd in mainstream movies or TV? I didn’t think so. I am glad to see the 2010‘s finally come around or are we simply a part of the beginning of a different era of emasculation, and image destruction? Now here is my bottom line… There is an image that the media feeds us so that we can know what a safe black man looks like. They will never show a black man or woman in a strong and well balanced light. They have done t all, from lightening us up, to taking our swagger and soul. We must keep positive role models and strong figures alive so that our children can look at us and say … I am strong… I am beautiful… I am intelligent… I am soulful…  I am black. Now I’m sure that you are all full of comments so please… Begin.