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I came to the United States at the age of 12, and as a young African American growing up in Nigeria, most of what I heard about America painted it as some sort of utopia land teeming with opportunities, wealth, and quality education. In Nigeria, there had never been any discussion about racial discrimination, stereotypes towards African Americans, racial inequality, or even issues with a persons body image. I have not personally experienced racial discrimination and racism in the United States, but I have heard about it and seen it. During these current times, there have been numerous news broadcasts on protests against racial injustice, such as those organized by Black Lives Matter, where the people of our nation were witness to the stigma of race, firsthand. The Black Lives Matter peaceful protest was met by armed guards, whereas the Trump Election Fraud protest was left to erupt into violence, causing the death of five people.
By discriminating against a race, people of color are made to feel ashamed for the way they were born and become uncomfortable in their skin, often wanting to look more socially acceptable . The art I create is my way of understanding society and its views on racism, racial inequality, and body image from an immigrant perspective.
Slavery was abolished on December 18, 1865, one hundred and fifty-six years ago. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 abolished all state and local laws requiring segregation, fifty-seven years ago. One would think after so many years racial discrimination would not be currently an issue. If one was to ask another if they believed racism was still an issue of the modern-day some would say no, believing that it had been completely abolished after the Civil Rights Act. There is no doubt that racial injustice continues to be an issue at the current time. One artist who engages in these issues is Kara Walker, an African American artist. Who uses a series of black silhouettes in a traditional Victorian style displayed on the walls of galleries. This method produces a theatrical space that shows her characters engaging in sexual behaviors and inflicting violence on one another.
These silhouettes addressed slavery, racism, and life in the South by portraying tragic scenes with a sense of humor. The Means to an End a Shadow Drama in Five Acts from 1995, exists as a medium etching aquatint on paper. The scene starts with a woman breastfeeding a child, then travels to a man choking a child, shifting from a positive to a negative scene meant to mimic stereotypical life in the South during slavery. In act one of the series, we see a black woman taking care of a white baby. Then in act two, the scene shows a white girl riding a dog. Acts three and four consist of a figure stepping on African American heads while crossing a river. Then finally act five shows a white man choking a naked African American child getting a sense of sexual and predatory. During the times of slavery, black women had no authority over what happened with children or their family members, but they were often used as nannies for their masters children. Walker employed the stark contrast of her black silhouettes on the white background as a metaphor for the seriousness of the message she trying to convey. Her silhouettes were a way for her to understand her own identity as a black woman and her culture. Walker influenced my artwork as I made a similar journey to understand racial discrimination and stereotypes black people are facing today. In this society, a black man could be at the top of his career, but if he were to go out in a hoodie, he would be stereotyped as a criminal. Walkers silhouettes show the courage of black women trying the understand their heritage, roots, and who they are, and I see that in myself and my art, as a black woman trying to find her own identity and how she fits into society she lives in and its history.
Some people find racist jokes funny and harmless. They find humor in telling jokes that put down other races and cultures yet find no humor in them when they are directed against their race, culture, and traditions. (Philp M) African Americans are one of the most stereotyped races and often find their heritage the butt of many jokes. Carrie Mae Weens, named best contemporary photographer of our time by New York Times Magazine, confronts these jokes head-on in her work. In Weens series, Aint Jokin from 1987 to 1988, she created several black and white photographs of racial jokes and common stereotypes associated with African Americans. One photograph consists of a black girl sitting in a restaurant booth with a piece of chicken in her hands. Her series was her way of fighting back against racial jokes and liberating blacks against racial stereotypes. When ‘s work sends a bold measure that challenges Western culture and examines the primary of racial discrimination. Ween influenced my artwork by giving me the courage to address issues that our society deems a humorous joke. As such, my image Make-Up confronts the subject of blackface, an old form of offensive theatrical makeup that was used by non-black performers to look like the overly simplified stereotypical black person.
Sally Mann, an American photographer from Virginia, uses her art to discuss the effects of slavery in the South. Her influence comes from her southern heritage and the history of Virginia, as the first state to receive black slaves from Africa. She takes images of landscapes, family members, roads, rivers, and churches, and often visits death as a recurring theme in her work. Mann’s work is ghostly, and haunting, and provides a profound sense of humility, allowing her viewers to see into the lives of blacks in the South. Mann produced a series of works called, Proud Flesh , which took a total of six years to complete. (Gagosian) The photographs are all in black and white and stand as a very intimate record of her husbands suffering from muscular dystrophy, showing how the disease has taken a toll on him. (Gagosian) Through these photographs, viewers can see the close and trusting relationship between the artist and the model. The camera is exploiting and positioning showing erotic but also vulnerable moments between a husband and wife. Like Sally Mann, most of my artwork is influenced by friends and family, and they are often the subject of my artwork. Through this relationship, I attempt to address the issues we face every day in society and my understanding of racism, racial discrimination, and stereotypes. In my art, I open discussion on how racial discrimination and stereotypes can strip individuals of the will to learn and uncover their culture, leading to the loss of history and heritage.
I have experienced, firsthand, how racial discrimination can cloud a person’s mind. Modern media plays a huge role in how we see the world and people, with people often choosing to believe society’s opinion and allowing the medias perspective of a particular race and culture to influence their perspectives. A friend, who influenced my decision to create work discussing body image issues and the media, suffered from this, not liking the color of her skin. She felt very ugly and unattractive and became racist towards her race, often belittling African Americans and associating them with racial discrimination. The way media and society operate today has a way of making a person feel ashamed of who they are, crushing their will to be proud of their culture with the oppressive opinion of what gets deemed the socially acceptable appearance . She faced a lot of challenges getting herself to accept who she was finding the beauty in being a beautiful young African American woman and rediscovering her courage to face social stigma and not care about how others would judge her. My artwork challenges society’s ideals and standards of beauty. Thousands of women feel undesirable because this ideal society has been placed in our minds. While it seems impossible to believe that a person could have hate against themselves and their race, I believe that it partially stems from lacking knowledge of ones culture and heritage, and the first step to changing this is learning to embrace ourselves and find comfort in who we are as individuals.
Racism, racial discrimination, stereotypes, and body image are issues I attempt to understand and challenge through my art, which I hope to explore deeper throughout the continuation of my college career. The three artists I have chosen to research challenge those ideas without fear of consequence or worry about how society is going to view them. These themes remain pressing in our current society, and we must diligently confront them to keep them at the forefront in the minds of others. Then, by addressing the history of the past, we can start to promote change in for future. These artists created their works of art as a way to find their identity, and heritage, liberate stereotypes, and fight back against racial discrimination and racial inequality.
In the future, I hope to create more art battling against racial discrimination and body image issues, with the same courage as my chosen artists.
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