Blog Topic One: How have stereotypes impacted society?

Stereotypes of people of color have, as a whole, created the idea that people should behave a certain way. This means that people of a certain race sometimes feel as if they should conform to the standards laid out for them, usually ones involving inferiority. It also means that whoever is interacting with people of that race – white or otherwise - will have ideas in the back of their minds about how they should expect the member of another race to behave. This idea is outlined in the introduction to our book, Playwrights of Color, which says, “Whether positive or negative, stereotypic thinking substitutes commonly held assumptions of a group for an understanding of the individual. An individual is expected to conform to the stereotypic image of his or her group” (2).

When looking at the first chapter, we can see stereotypes of African Americans that are obviously not true and are exaggerated for humor. When watching a clip from the play Day of Absence, it’s hard to hear the actors reading their lines over the laughter of the audience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SxanvCSzEo&feature=related

While it’s good for a play to entertain an audience, it also illustrates that people are accepting of the portrayal of these characters. They are reacting in the way that stereotypes build. They expect these stereotypes and can see truth in them, and often the truth is the most humorous. The two men playing southerners play a very typical role of being racist and arrogant, asking Rastus forcefully where he was the other day. Similarly, Rastus plays to the role of a clown and inferior character. He backs down and says that they must be right about what day it is and then shuffles off the stage in a comical manner. These characters are simply that, so it’s not safe to assume that these overgeneralizations would lay themselves on the backs of African Americans with how to behave. Still, they create these expectations for them to be jesters when they’re not working, who are ironically most often chosen as the truth speakers while the audience laughs.

Another good look at this type of comedy and the roles that each race fills is “Los Vendidos.” A good statement in the chapter that talks about this play is, “The reason Honest Sancho is successful in conning Miss Jimenez (and us) is that he so effectively meets our expectations” (59). The secretary is clearly being offensive in her questions and quite frankly, her role as a person purchasing another human being. However, it’s also humorous because of the way we expect to see a ‘government worker’ acting this way. It’s a good portrayal since the audience gets to see something close to themselves, but has the ability to not feel guilty, since they are most likely not going to go out after the show to purchase a farm worker. The stereotypes of Mexicans in this play – the laborer, the revolutionary, and the street man – also fit the common ideas of how we expect the members of the race to act. The way they’re made into machines helps detach the audience from thinking that these are harmful and accept them as simply characterizations. The final scene can help correct any misgivings about these ideas by showing a triumph over the supposedly superior secretary.