The initiation into the stereotype: Black men Accepting their Representation

The glorified images of black men as being exremely sexual, violent and outside the norm are embraced by many bodies. My belief is that black men have also acquired a deep desire to channel these images into a highly “exclusive” realm. In doing so, they have constructed a field that is no longer refuted as unwanted but rather, desired by many black community males but also, outsider males. It’s exclusive nature is a “brotherhood” to be sought after. It is seen as rebel course training, a bad boy yearning. So you find black man responding to this stereotype by forming exclusive handshakes, language, dressing and, methods of associations with people.

The black male has been and made exotic, sexualized, and exhausted in the markets. They have been stripped of their worth and commercialized at the market demand. As a result, of this capitalization, they have also been stripped of a more dynamic perception. The injustice is that, they have now turned into bodies that can only seem to “fit” certain, and often imaginary, spaces. Rarely are they given the justice of fitting in as doctors, teachers and leaders. The visual perception has forced them to be viewed as better suited for the systems that promise to re-socialize them, rehabilitate and, heal their “blackness”.