jan 1, 1915 - The Mammy

Description:

The Mammy first appeared in the film The Birth of a Nation, where she defends a white family from "harmful" Black soldiers. This caricature portrays the Black woman as overweight, asexual, and loyal to her white family while disdainful of her own family. Her loyalty and happiness serving her white family was used as an argument claim by White supremist radicals. Radicals questioned the public on abolishing slavery and moving towards equality for African Americans if they were content with how they're lives were.

On the other hand, the Mammy was also created to contrast the white woman. In the Antebellum days, it was common for Slavers to rape enslaved Black women and force sexual relationships with them. The Mammy was then characterized as asexual, which would dispel this notion of White Slavers being labeled as rapists and unfaithful to their White wives.

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