In society, the ruling class (bourgeoisie) exists as the controller or influencer of national affairs, and all other "outside" classes will be subject to the economic and political dehumanization of the ruling class. This occurs even in media ane entertainment. Thus in the United States, the white ruling class has been responsible for the dehumanization of all other classes and ethnicities, most notably, although not limited to, "African Americans."
In the entertainment industry this dehumanization is a reflection of the prevailing attitudes white society has regarding blacks. It is a reflection of the social/political/economic status of blacks. The entertainment industry capitalizes off of the suffering of black people by portraying blacks and black culture as culturally and intellectually inferior. This is then packaged and presented to a mostly white audience, which is close enough to see the beast but still separated by a cage.
Stereotyping is not an invention of white America; indeed, if one is only exposed to a few members of a group, one is inclined to assume that the behaviors of the few represent the behaviors of the many. In reality, such groups may share nothing more than skin color or language. That being said, the perpetuation of stereotypes for the sole purpose of economic gain and the negative portrayals of nonwhites to a large white audience is an invention of white America. It's as American as the Fourth of July. Through various media such as television and theater, white America has in the past profited off of the negative portrayals of nonwhite cultures, and continues to do so today.
No culture has been more caricaturized than black culture. An entire industry was built on the mockery of black people, making them out to be coons, brutes, Toms, mammies, and pickaninnies. This has progressed from the stage to the silent film to the talking film to the cartoon and to the modern movie scene. Even today, blacks are portrayed as ignorant, materialistic, and thuggish, and the commercialization of hip-hop music, an organically black art form, has been a leading factor in this whole issue. Once white America realized that its sons and daughters were becoming attracted to the inner city hip-hop culture, it usurped and bastardized the culture solely for profit. This is nothing new: young whites have always had a fascination with various aspects black culture. But forget about intellectual blacks, who wants to see a brother doing well? That shit don't make no money.
All of this has left a deep scar on the collective psyche of black people. We as black consumers want to see real niggas from the streets. American fascination with gangster culture is a national thing, but while white Americans idolize gangsters and retain a love/hate relationship with them, blacks love them and become them. This is because blacks sympathize the most with the gangster's motivations and best understand his roots. If you don't have it, take it. That is the American way. And nobody doesn't have it more than black people.
If you view yourself as just a nigga, you will not strive beyond that. You will not try to become anything other than what you have been told by white America you can be, and you will be often be chastized by blacks who believe that professions such as medicine and law are not for black people. You will strive to become a gangsta, a baller, or a rapper. Historically white America has always kept us down and has led us to keep ourselves down by causing internal distrust, and we are doing exactly what white America wants. No one has done more to make blacks seem subhuman more than white America. Today, many blacks are simply doing what they were brought across the Atlantic to do-- make money for the white man.
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