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Uncle Remus, Song of the South, Stereotypes

ava, taylor, pablo

topic #7

Br'er Rabbit and Invisible Man Comparison

  • Br'er Rabbit spends his journey trying to do everything correct, everything he is supposed to but other people set him up for failure to using him for a good laugh. (ex. Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear)

Eventually he realizes he is not a bear but a rabbit. "I laughed deep, deep inside me, giddy with the delight of self discovery and the desire to hide it. Somehow I was Buckeye the Rabbit."

Uncle Remus

Trickster Mentality and Invisible Man

  • In Invisible Man the doctors ask the narrator if he knows who Buckeye the Rabbit is

"Somehow I was Buckeye the Rabbit..." (Pg. 241)

  • Just as Br'er Rabbit realized his true identity the narrator recognizes his tie to his African heritage.

"I was no longer afraid...We, he, him-my mind and I-were no longer getting around in the same circles." (pg. 249-250)

  • Narrator's Grandfather:

"Overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open." (Pg. 16)

  • Fictional narrator of African-American folktales
  • Former Slave
  • Children's storytelling device
  • Speaks in a deep south Gullah accent

Racial Stereotypes before 1950

  • The narrator uses this trickster mentality once he joins the Brother hood
  • "Keep This Nigger-boy running." (Pg. 33)
  • Battle Royal - electric rug (Pg. 27-29)

The term Jim Crow originated in 1830 when a White minstrel show performer, Thomas "Daddy" Rice, blackened his face with burnt cork and danced a jig while singing the lyrics to the song,

"Jump Jim Crow."

First performed by George Dixon in 1834, Zip Coon made a mockery of free blacks. An arrogant, ostentatious figure, he dressed in high style and spoke in a series of malaprops and puns that undermined his attempts to appear dignified.

Song of the South

Jim Crow and Zip Coon eventually merged into a single stereotype called simply "coon."

Main Character: Br'er Rabbit

  • Trickster/Trouble-Maker

Toms are typically good, gentle, religious and sober. Images of Uncle Toms were another favorite of advertisers and "Uncle Ben" is still being used to sell rice.

The Buck is a large Black man who is proud, sometimes menacing, and always interested in White women.

Mammy is a source of earthy wisdom who is fiercely independent and brooks no backtalk. Although her image has changed a little over the years, the stereotype lives on. Her face can still be found on pancake boxes today.

Song of the South

Picaninnies have bulging eyes, unkempt hair, red lips and wide mouths into which they stuff huge slices of watermelon.

Mulatto A mixed-blood male or female. In film, often portrayed as a tragic figure who either intentionally or unintentionally passes for White until they discover they have Negro blood or are discovered by another character to be Black.

The movie starts of with Br'er Rabbit in his den and refering to himself as "Jack-the-Bear"

"Call me Jack-the-Bear, for I am in a state of hibernation"

Wench/Jezebel The temptress. During the minstrel era, wenches were typically a male in female garb. In film, wenches were usually female mulattos.

Disney film which about a young boy, Johnny, who moves to his mother’s family plantation in Georgia as his father leaves the family to fight for some cause in Atlanta. Alone and depressed, he’s comforted by the tall tales of Uncle Remus, an ex-slave living on the property.

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