The politics of respectability were established amidst the abolition of slavery to achieve black liberation by admitting African Americans into the American Society. Over 100 years later we are still finding ourselves using this same concept to separate certain groups that do not ‘fit’ with the rest of American society. While African Americans may have first used the politics of respectability to adapt to the society around them, today we see them being used to categorize anyone outside of social norms. The politics of respectability were created to banish the negative stigma the white Americans held against the black population in America. The post abolition era was a crucial time for African American society; it was the moment they needed to confront the previous stereotypes that white Southerners had viciously labeled them with. Although our nation has evolved from the fervent racism of the Jim Crow era, segregation has only expanded in a broader sense. While American society has evolved, we find the majority of the American population still employs these dated techniques to single out all minority groups and those who do not meet the specific idea of “respectability”.
In class we mentioned that sagging pants are a refutation the politics of respectability by African Americans but there are many others that have been added to an idea that was intended to be a catalyst for black acceptance into the American society. These politics have done the complete opposite, while providing individuals the guidelines to discern if their image will be accepted however society has allowed for our population to discriminate more than ever. In my opinion, Americans have run with this notion, creating stereotypes and categorizations for every person they see on the street. Each race has to conform to certain ideals and combat the pigeonhole they were placed into and typecasts are deeply engraved within society’s foundation and many of the frameworks of American institutions.
Women have always had to fight to gain respect that is given freely to their male counterparts in the workplace. Females are seen as less cognitively intelligent and assertive than males, although that assumption has been disproven by researchers. The “glass ceiling effect” is something that is still prevalent today and even if women follow the standards set by males at work, there is a still major probability that she will not receive top promotions, because “she just cannot handle it”. In America’s military, women can put their lives on the line next to a male but she is forbidden to be placed in the special forces of any branch. I feel that one of the hardest stereotypes to overcome within our modern society are the beliefs constructed by the politics of respectability because one must adhere to them in order to be liberated from discrimination of background and origin.
The region where the ideas of politics of respectability originated must overcome labels given to them by Northerners today. It is something that most people at this school have dealt encountered multiple times. A prominent stereotype of southerners is that the thicker ones southern accent the less intelligent one is and therefor you must be from a rural southern city. My dad specifically attempts to speak without his loud and noticeable accent to people that he is either meeting or speaking to regarding business. It is not until he feels comfortable that he allows his accent to be detected because many people assume he is just an ignorant Texan due to the assumed stereotype associated with the way he speaks. He and his business partners feel the need to hide their accents to avoid being discriminated against. While American society is not homogenous they feel they must conform to expected standards in the business world, especially when dealing with companies outside of the south.
How is it that as a country we are using a system that was established to aid in the liberation of black stereotypes to typecast and separate country even more? During the times of slavery and the decades of racial discrimination that followed, there was a clear divide between North vs. South and Black vs. White. But now it seems like it is every man, woman, race, region, sexual orientation, or any other stereotype for themselves. Politics of respectability were supposed to bring American Society together; instead they have created a society that is focused only on the individual and social caste system.
In class we mentioned that sagging pants are a refutation the politics of respectability by African Americans but there are many others that have been added to an idea that was intended to be a catalyst for black acceptance into the American society. These politics have done the complete opposite, while providing individuals the guidelines to discern if their image will be accepted however society has allowed for our population to discriminate more than ever. In my opinion, Americans have run with this notion, creating stereotypes and categorizations for every person they see on the street. Each race has to conform to certain ideals and combat the pigeonhole they were placed into and typecasts are deeply engraved within society’s foundation and many of the frameworks of American institutions.
Women have always had to fight to gain respect that is given freely to their male counterparts in the workplace. Females are seen as less cognitively intelligent and assertive than males, although that assumption has been disproven by researchers. The “glass ceiling effect” is something that is still prevalent today and even if women follow the standards set by males at work, there is a still major probability that she will not receive top promotions, because “she just cannot handle it”. In America’s military, women can put their lives on the line next to a male but she is forbidden to be placed in the special forces of any branch. I feel that one of the hardest stereotypes to overcome within our modern society are the beliefs constructed by the politics of respectability because one must adhere to them in order to be liberated from discrimination of background and origin.
The region where the ideas of politics of respectability originated must overcome labels given to them by Northerners today. It is something that most people at this school have dealt encountered multiple times. A prominent stereotype of southerners is that the thicker ones southern accent the less intelligent one is and therefor you must be from a rural southern city. My dad specifically attempts to speak without his loud and noticeable accent to people that he is either meeting or speaking to regarding business. It is not until he feels comfortable that he allows his accent to be detected because many people assume he is just an ignorant Texan due to the assumed stereotype associated with the way he speaks. He and his business partners feel the need to hide their accents to avoid being discriminated against. While American society is not homogenous they feel they must conform to expected standards in the business world, especially when dealing with companies outside of the south.
How is it that as a country we are using a system that was established to aid in the liberation of black stereotypes to typecast and separate country even more? During the times of slavery and the decades of racial discrimination that followed, there was a clear divide between North vs. South and Black vs. White. But now it seems like it is every man, woman, race, region, sexual orientation, or any other stereotype for themselves. Politics of respectability were supposed to bring American Society together; instead they have created a society that is focused only on the individual and social caste system.
I disagree with the idea that the expectations about how a certain group of people should act have gotten worse since the Jim Crow days. Sure, stereotypes are an ever-present problem, but now they are just that: a problem. Whereas, before they were an actual (sometimes legal) hinderance. There is no question that it can sometimes be hard to change someone's opinion of you or change how society views you; however, society's view has become less of an issue. For example, if a woman wears a pant-suit to a job interview, the interviewer may feel that pant-suits make women look to masculine and harsh, but in the 1930's, women were rarely going to job interviews, moreover, if they wore a pant-suit, they would probably actually offend someone and the possibility of them getting a job would be next to nothing. This same extrapolation can be applied across the board to all different groups of people. Therefore, I don't feel like a social caste system has formed over the year, I feel like we have worked over the years to rid society of it, even if that work hasn't been entirely productive.
ReplyDelete