The Whiteness Narrative (Side B)

Q: Why is it racist to present an image of black people as liking fried chicken and watermelon? How did this stereotype come to be? How is it different than Japanese people liking udon and sushi, or French liking crepes and wine?

Muhammad Rasheed - In white-controlled media and marketing, Black caricatures were created to force a propaganda narrative to support certain agendas. These agendas form the common structure of the anti-Black systemic racism the west uses as its foundational economic system.

Inside of that narrative, you find what to some whites may naively seem to be quaint and innocent caricatures—such as the stereotype that all Blacks are addicted to fried chicken, watermelon, etc.—but these are tied to the greater propaganda structure designed to present Blacks as child-like, unable to control their lusts, and needing to be supervised by a dominant, more mature class.

Inside of an anti-Black racist society, there is no “innocent” messaging coming from white media traditions about Black people. It is all trash and unworthy of giving any kind of benefit of the doubt.