Group+Essay

"The ongoing practice pushing of the ideals of White culture onto Black America has been the norm since the inception of the peculiar institution. The African American community has been adversely affected by this practice in terms of a social, racial, and individual identity. Today, many people, African and Euro American, are stepping forward to challenge this practice."

During the Harlem Renaissance African American writers began to speak out against the prolific influence of the White majority on the general African American psyche. Langston Hughes struggled to reach the new generation of African American poets; challenging them to “express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame” (Hughes).¹

Contemporary writer Toni Morrison’s novel __The Bluest Eye__ discusses the affect Hollywood has on the concept of beauty and acceptance within the larger community. Mrs. Breedlove does her hair to resemble Jean Harlow, and the young girls are paid a compliment by being compared to Greta Garbo and Ginger Rogers. Tracey Owens Patton looks at how beauty has been defined by White culture since the first slave was brought into America.

It is not only in art and body image that White culture has asserted an opinion of the African American community. Catherine Myser argues that by not participating in self-reflection, Euro Americans further the misconceived notion that the African American community should be viewed as “other.”

Television and advertisement also plays a major role in the creation of a false African American identity. The role that popular media and advertisement plays in the average American citizen grows as our dependency on our consumeristic society grows. Popular media and advertising creates an image that becomes truth. The “truth” that is being advertised to modern viewers/consumers is being challenged. 1. http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/360.html