Box 5

Imagery featuring either the comedic gag of washing away Blackness or comparisons between the permanence of textile dye and skin color, both of which present darker skin as an object of fascination and ridicule.

Imagery that engages in racial and cultural othering, particularly the fetishization of non-white cultures, exaggerations of cultural dress, and racial impersonation.

Portrayals of Black women as naturally promiscuous or as objects of sexual desire, with imagery that emphasizes and exaggerates their physical attributes.

Portrayals of clumsiness and/or pain as experienced or carried out by Black people.

Imagery focused on the institution of slavery and associated locales.

Portrayals of Black participation in exercise, organized games, competitions, and physical activities.

Portrayals of an enslaved man or a man in a servile position, most often middle-aged or older, who is content in his enslavement/servitude and loyal to the white individual or family he serves. This stereotype often includes imagery of any white-haired older Black man with a docile appearance. The term “Uncle Tom” had its origins in the character from the Harriet Beecher Stowe novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.