The coon stereotype (1600s – ) is one of the main ways white Americans have of looking at black men. It sees black men as being not particularly bright or hard-working, as shiftless and good-for-nothing, as someone you cannot count on, who would rather live off of the work of others. Whites saw them that way as slaves and still tend to see them that way even now.
Coons, in the pure, lived in slow motion: they moved slowly and talked slowly. They could never manage to speak proper English and always messed up long words. They were easy to fool and take advantage of. They loved to eat watermelon and play games of chance. When they had money they dressed to show off. They avoided marriage, creating matriarchs, but when they did marry they were ruled by their Sapphire wives. They have big smiles and wide-open eyes. They were friendly, not violent, but could not be trusted with anything.
From what we know, blacks as slaves were worked hard. Before the British stopped the slave trade and slaves were still cheap, they were sometimes worked to death. Someone in Barbados had worked it out: you got the most for your money if you could work a slave to death in seven years. And they did.
So, like many of these stereotypes, this one is less about how black people truly are and more about hiding an uncomfortable truth about white people: that whites are not hard-working enough, that they would rather live off the work of others. It comes from the guilt of owning and using slaves.
The coon image has been firmly planted in the American mind, first by minstrel shows in the 1800s and then by Hollywood.
Coons were common in American films in the 1930s and 1940s. The black actor Stepin Fetchit became rich and famous playing coons. He thought he was helping the cause of black people. It was kind of like Halle Berry winning an Oscar for playing a Jezebel character. You can be liked by whites for the wrong reasons.
Part of the coon thing is to speak bad English. It shows whites what little intelligence blacks have. The English you hear coons speak in Hollywood films was taught to them by whites – it is not something that blacks spoke themselves in those days, if ever. “”I’se be catchin’ ma feets nah, boss.”
In the 1950s even whites stopped laughing at coons, but you still see them in films. Tyrese Gibson in John Singleton’s “Baby Boy” (2001) comes to mind, though he grows out of it. Some say Jar Jar Binks in the Star Wars films was one too.
These days the coon stereotype is used to excuse the low position of black men compared to whites: you need brains and hard work to succeed in America and, the stereotype says, too many black men are just too coon to keep up.
See also:
Abagond 
Well done Abagond! Ever time I hear someone utter an ebonic phrase it makes my ears ring and I physically cringe. It’s as if the black population that participates and justifies this behavior have no sense of self pride. I remember first going off to college my grandmother knew I was going to have a white roommate (because there were only a totals of 60 black people on the ENTIRE campus) she sat me down and told me to represent myself the way I wanted to be seen to the world and to do my best to Shine in my academics. As much as I hate to admit that the stereotype may have been created by white people, black people are not doing much to help negate this image. For example, the images depicted in rap videos, the constant use and justification of the ‘N’ word, to the slothful appearance of some. Damn black people we have got to do better!
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Good piece. And as a hip-hop artist I am particularly sensitive 2 this. I mean the images I see in videos and some of the stuff I hear online from up and coming supposedly hungry artists. Uuuummmm can u say stereotypical?
The when u add in2 the equation some of theings I still see on T.V. I mean I absolutely REFUSE 2 watch Flavor Flav’s new show “Under One Roof“. I just won’t. We can do better. Some of strive us actually strive 2 do so … while others care more about a few coins 2 rub 2gether than they do about how they are adding 2 the perception [positively or negatively] of the Black Man.
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LOL: I was thinking of putting Flavor Flav’s picture at the top of this post.
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Abagond Flava Flav’s pic would of fit right in.
Jazzy as long as ebonics is not used in a professional setting, I do get the big deal.
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Ebonics – I will have to do a post on that.
PS, I did:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/05/08/ebonics/
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abagond Says:
Sat 26 Apr 2008 at 03:30:11
LOL: I was thinking of putting Flavor Flav’s picture at the top of this post.
See? Lol. That goes 2 show that Flav’s perception amongst lots of black people is not so favorable. I’m not saying he cares … just sayin’ …
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Flava Flav- From conscientious rapper to an embarrassment. His image fits right in with the stereotypes of Black men, that of a “buffoon.”
So are a lot of Black pop icons of the past and of the present. Stepin’ Fetchit, Snoop Dogg, the Wayans Brothers, and, of course, Flava Flav.
Steph
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And where is your Donald Bogle reference? ;-P
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LOL.
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Not sure where I stand on Flav. I mean, even in his PE days, he was the same person – the court jester of the group, but his lyrics were deep. Give a good listen to “Lampin’ with Flava.”
Hip Hop was, at the start, an art form or over the top creativity and goofiness – Acting hard and all of that came later. No way you can call flavor out on this. He has always been crazy. Nothing to do with color on this one.
Flav is anything but lazy and shifty.
“Ya eatin death cause ya like gittin dirt from da graveyard – ya put gravy on it
Den ya pick ya teeth with tomb stone chips
And casket cover clips – dead women hips ya do da bump with – bones
Nutin but love bones
Lifestyles of the Live-en-dead
First ya live den ya dead – died trying ta clock what I said
Now I got a murder rap cause I bust ya cap with Flavor – pure Flavor”
-Come ON!
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I liked Flavor Flav back then too, but “Flavor of Love” is not one of his shining moments. It is sad to see him come to this.
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Flav has always been a goofball and a clown. But when he played court jester to Chuck D it served a higher purpose, one that had nothing to do with playing to white people’s image of black people. Quite the opposite.
But with “Flavor of Love” it seems like he is playing to a coon image to entertain whites just to fill his bank account. If “Flavor of Love” is not a latter-day minstrel show, then I do not know what is.
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I think the later day minstrel show would be more like 50 Cent or any of these people calling themselves Hip Hop Artists with Gold Teeth and the such – encouraging the use of N bombs all over the place amongst the youth.
Over gold, like in I’m going to get you sucker.
I haven’t seen too much of Falvor of love, but what I do see, he is just being himself.
Interesting article you wrote though. So important not to play to stereotypes – But the media catches on so quick. I guess the next question to ask is why are the masses – Of All colors, let’s face it, drawn to this?
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I agree about 50 Cent and so on:
https://abagond.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/gangsta-rap/
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When I have time I will post about this:
http://www.facebook.com/search/?post_form_id=ff9a1556b3b4fe289eb5161061b8e27f&q=hannah+hall&init=quick&ref=search_preload#!/profile.php?id=1364940142&ref=sgm
I find it odd that you always see white people making a mockery of “blackness” and black features but you almost NEVER see black people mocking whiteness and white features.
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Aba please delete my previous post I meant to put up this:
http://mediatakeout.com/40627/shameless_one_mtoer_was_just_minding_their_business____trolling_around_white_folks_facebook_pages____and_look_at_the_mess_she_found.html
I find it odd that you always see white people making a mockery of “blackness” and black features but you almost NEVER see black people mocking whiteness and white features.
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Coons have way too many rights if you ask me.
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Well, no one asked you.
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@ leigh204
You’re right, no one asked him.
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You’re right about racial slur of the coon. I could take it deeper. The origin of the word Coon can from the spanish term barracoon(huts). Barracoons is to enslaved african and criminals. I wanted you to look up pictures of barracks. Match the design up with prisons and ghettos.
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Very interesting, and thoroughly written articles. I am a Hispanic-American PR/DR from the city of Syracuse, New York (a very diverse city). My mother was born in the Bronx and my dad arrived from DR when he was five. As a hispanic from the carribean, I can safely say I have Taino/African/European traits within my own lineage, and physically it shows. I embrace every background, because that is how I was raised. I believe American History is indeed complex and there are valid arguments from each perspective. With that said, regarding racial relations of today, it is now quite simple to “break it down” into layman terms. Each race is unique and different but no race is better than the next. In essence, we are all human beings, and individuality should always trump racial categorization (no pun intended). What you see in the media must always be taken with a “grain of salt”, since the media has lost sight of the common good and instead chooses to focus on sensationlisim and television ratings. 9/10 people you encounter on the street will not act blantantly racist or discriminatory towards you, (some places more than others) but many act with microagression. Microaggression is a byproduct of the media. We as citizens need to recgonize this and act & think accordingly. Do your due diligence and research. Learn to appreciate different perspectives and formulate your opinion, not solely on your own. Embrace American history for what it is, but do not let it define you or our society. You will have your own history to create. It is an undeniable fact that this country was founded on and shaped by diverse populations of people. Therefore, we must embrace this fact and continue to work together, if our country is to remain stable.
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@ Abagond
FYI, I think you should delete the above because the link leads to someone’s personal phone number. It looks like a revenge thing, where someone is posing as their target and saying racist crap so that a bunch of people will get angry and call the targeted individual.
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@ Solitaire
Deleted. Thanks.
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