Ethnic Notions - Black people in white minds

For me, this movie really depicted how horribly blacks were treated so many years ago. I always had some knowledge of the fact that they were treated extremely poorly, especially during the time of slavery, but this was honestly the first visual aid that I have ever encountered that really relayed this message clearly to me. The things that stuck out the most when I was watching were "The Brute" and "The Pickaninny". The black people were actually seen as savage animals. It seems so ridiculous to me that people can actually believe that. They are obviously humans just like everyone else, the only difference is the color of their skin and it is astonishing what an impact that had on people. People really thought that if there was no slavery the emancipated slaves would run wild just like animals. The idea of a pickaninny is absolutely horrible to me as well. Poor children who obviously had no control over what they were born into were seen as no better than small animals. The greeting cards of them being nearly eaten by alligators was disgusting, they are babies! I think racism has decreased and become much less violent since this time, but it is definitely still present today. People aren't as public about their feelings and saying things like "nigger" is no longer tolerated. There are still a good amount of people who believe many of the stereotypes that originated so long ago. For example, blacks as a whole were seen as a lazy group of people and today i think that still applies to some blacks, but it also applies to many whites. I know that a common feeling that some whites have towards black has to do with Welfare. It is believed that blacks live on Welfare and continue to have children without having to worry about how they are going to support them. I think that many of the stereotypes, especially those originated years ago, are barbaric but i see that some honestly apply to some groups of people.