Black Americans have a lack of belonging. Due to the ideas of not really belonging to America or belonging to Africa there is stress on their identity and roles. This is evident by the lack of many black Americans preferring the term blacks to the identity of African American. This can be associated with the lack of feeling of belonging in America and belonging to Africa. America has been detrimental to this break down of identity and belonging. Black America has been labeled by stereotypes by other American identities.” When Donald Trump refers to “the African Americans,”his use of the word “the” attempts to put Black Americans into one subordinate monolithic category. The “the” becomes a code, a signal that he distances himself from an entire group. He is reassuring his supporters that “the” group he is referring to is the Other” (Powell, 2018). This use a prime example of black Americans Bering exempt from a group they assumed they belonged to.
Then it comes to the relationship that black American have with Africa. Due to the removal of the history many families had to endure for generations this caused a lack of cultural identity that was once associated with the continent of Africa. “The negative images of Africa, coupled with racist scholarship and the weaponized usage of Christianity, made some African Americans avoid an African identification. Though slavery exacerbated a disconnection with their ancestral homelands, African Americans developed unique traditions rooted in their African ancestry; though they were not regarded as ‘African’” (Mares, 2020). This was an intentional removal of identity. Although, some believe that in order to gain this identity back there only needs to be a home coming of black Americans to Africa. However, many also believe there is no where for them to go and no one to welcome them.
This is causing extreme depression in black Americans. The thoughts of never belonging or feeling welcomed has taken it’s toll on them. “Exacerbating a feeling of alienation are incidents of discrimination and racism, large and small, intended or unconscious, on the part of their fellow students and the institutions themselves. Together, these stressors — which occur at a time in life when mental illness is known to develop at a higher rate — create a scenario ripe for the emergence of depression, anxiety disorder” (Powell, 2019). With this high rate of depression and anxiety many black Americans do not have the means to find help. This can be seen in behaviors of acting out or suicidal ideations. This can be seen in the film Black Panther. Thus making Killmonger a relatable antagonist to many black Americans.
Black Panther was a hit when it was released in the year 2018. It was directed by Ryan Coogler and starred protagonist Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa and antagonist Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger. This movie is exceptional in many ways and one of its most interesting aspects is how people identify themselves, and how it drives their perspective.
One of the most often spoken about characters in this movie is its “villain” Erik Killmonger. One of the things that makes him so interesting is the different aspects of his identity, more specifically his intersectionality as an African American who grew up in Oakland without a father, and his identity as a member of royal family of Wakanda. These two aspects of his identity come to an eventful clash when he returns to Wakanda and reveals his plans to end their stance of isolation. Something that is very interesting to consider when hearing this plan is how his intersectionality has formed his perspective, and also how this perspective is different than the people of Wakanda.
Being an American is a big part of Killmonger’s perspective. As stated by Christopher Lebron, a writer for the Boston Review, he says “The CIA agent Everett Ross says of Killmonger, “he’s not Wakandan, he’s one of ours,” later observing that Killmonger’s coup is what the U.S. government “trained him to do.” The part of Killmonger that makes him a supervillain is not the part of him that is African” (Serwer, Adam). I think that this quotation is very meaningful as it shows that the part of him that is evil, is evidently because of his experiences as an American. He had experienced first-hand the injustices that African Americans face in this country, and he trained his whole life to change this injustice.
The people of Wakanda have had no such experience. They have lived a very prosperous and excellent life. In addition, they do not identify themselves as African Americans the same way that Killmonger does, but instead identify more as the people of Wakanda. This idea is made clear in a statement made by Ragi Bashonga, a writer for the Oxford Handbooks Online, as he states “For Killmonger, Wakanda belonged to the bigger continent of Africa, and Africa itself is considered to be the origin of Black people as a race” (Bashonga, Ragi). In contrast, “Wakandan identity is produced through a social location, a narrative, and a set of values, rather than a geographical place” (Bashonga, Ragi). These differences in perspective lead Wakandans to value “the nation state rather than race [as] the most important symbol of identity and it was worth protecting from others and from contamination” (Bashonga, Ragi). Dani Di Pacido from Forbesalso states that “Even Chadwick Boseman said of his character, “I am the enemy … It’s the enemy I’ve always known. It’s power. It’s having privilege” (Placido, Dani Di).
These differences in perspective are vital to recognize in order to truly appreciate this film. By understanding these differences in perspective where Killmonger views himself as an African American, and the people of Wakanda instead view themselves as Wakandans, it allows the viewer to truly see what drives the main conflict of the movie, and is it ultimately makes this movie so exceptional and interesting.
Works Cited
Bashonga, Ragi. “Home, Belonging and Africanity in the Film Black Panther.” Oxford Handbooks Online, 8 Oct. 2020, www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190930028.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190930028-e-19.
Placido, Dani Di. “Why Killmonger Was Such A Compelling Villain In ‘Black Panther’.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 5 Mar. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2018/03/05/why-killmonger-was-such-a-compelling-villain-in-black-panther/?sh=34615a1424aa.
Serwer, Adam. “The Tragedy of Erik Killmonger.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 21 Feb. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/02/black-panther-erik-killmonger/553805/.
Black Panther was a movie that changed much of Hollywood and the film making industry when it first was released in January of 2018. Up until this point, not many movies, especially not super hero movies, featured an African American as the main character. This is the first megabudget movie to ever be produced that had an African American actor and a mostly black cast (Smith). The main characters in the movie are black actors. There are only a few white characters in the movie, and they play a minor role. Black Panther was a movie many blacks had been waiting for.
When Hollywood and film making for began, racial segregation was still very prominent. “Slavery, Hollywood and Public Discourse” talks about how, in the early years of film making, black characters were portrayed by white actors who painted their faces black (black face). One of the first major silent films produced was Birth of a Nation. This film portrayed slavery of African Americans. This was the typical view of blacks in films for a long time in history. “Slavery, Hollywood and Public Discourse” explains that in 1977, the movie Roots was one of the first to try to depict the difficult struggles blacks faced in America. However, this movie came 62 years after Birth of a Nation. This is a long time to hold the view of blacks as slaves or servants in films.
Why is it important to show diversity in films? Sharman quotes a professor, George Gerbner, who says “representation in the fictional world signifies social existence.” If you think about this, you can understand that if people are recognized and represented in films and other forms of the fictional world, it helps develop their existence in the real world. This is why Black Panther is so crucial to film history. It allowed blacks everywhere to picture themselves in this film, as a superhero. Black Panther came during a time in American history where 41% of African Americas were at or below the poverty line (Smith). This film showed blacks that they can be and do anything. It portrays blacks as smart, powerful and victorious, something the world needed to see.
Bibliography
Sharman, Russell. “African Americans in Cinema.” Moving Pictures, University of Arkansas, 18 May 2020, uark.pressbooks.pub/movingpictures/chapter/african-americans-in-cinema/.
“Slavery, Hollywood, and Public Discourse.” National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian, 8 Feb. 2018, nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/slavery-hollywood-and-public-discourse.
Smith, Jamil. “The Revolutionary Power of Black Panther.” Time, Time, time.com/black-panther/.
0:01
Hi So, I am David Malloy, and I will be doing this podcast by myself.
0:13
And today, I think I really just want to touch on three large topics, or three overarching topics which are like my experience in America as a black man facing racism from an Asian American or Indian American, the greater race relations between black Americans and Indian relation or Indian Americans, and really the greater stigma that we’re seeing in the United States that is kind of causing some of these problems. So, I guess, starting on the first part with like my experience so I was really appreciative of this diary of systemic and justices because it’s like my first installment, or like my first note was literally something that happened to me, so I was changing a light bulb on Zoom. A couple I think it was. I’m not remember what it was, it was when we started doing this, I was changing a light bulb on Zoom, and the Indian American that I was on, on a call with at the time had noted that saying, Oh, you’re trying to change your life. Oh, haha, yeah, you’re, that’s not gonna make you any less darker bro. Don’t don’t even, don’t even worry about it. And you know I, I took offense, because I think you should take offense. I was definitely micro aggression, but I kind of had to remind myself that he probably wasn’t even thinking. I’m thinking about all the things that are at play, you know I mean I know that I know him on a personal level.
1:44
My company works with is on a regular basis, we interact frequently and I mean we’ve worked together for a few years, right, like we’ve, we’ve, we’ve done quite a few deals together I work in venture capital.
1:58
He does as well. And we’ve done, we’ve done a few investments together over the past few years. So, I mean I guess this moment for me was really, it really raised the red flag for me. Because you know like I, I feel like I’ve been desensitized to like these microaggressions, to the point like that it’s like it’s laughable it’s like wow, you know like whenever you’re at the mall and somebody just says something off like offhand and like they’re not really thinking like, Oh, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean it like that and it’s like no you did but it’s okay, you didn’t realize what you meant.
2:37
So you know I’m used to this, but I definitely think it’s, you can always, you can always proceed it, you know I mean I, honestly I can chalk it up as a joke between two minorities, like, I see that, but at the same time I also feel like we kind of need to address it right like let’s really look as I play here, you know I mean I think I’m with him being a model minority or not necessarily a model minority but him playing into the trope of the model minority, being an Asian American because Indians do fall under like Asian and being an Asian and Asian American it really, I don’t know it just I really felt that because it’s like whoa, you know, I kind of saw that coming, it’s like wait like you realize what was happening right here right and like I mean all this is going through my head. And, you know like him having this like status in America like whether he wants it or not, you know he has it, it kind of put me in a state of like otherness, right, where it’s like, I’m below him in the social caste.
3:43
Just as a minority, that’s not right, that’s not Asian or not white. And really you know this this cultural tension.
3:53
It really comes from. I wouldn’t even say it’s something that is inherent to us you know I think it’s more so, something that stems from white perception of us, right, like model minority that’s not something inherent to Asian Americans, That’s, you know, me being other that’s not inherent to me being black. I think it’s our I’m sorry I don’t think I know it’s a result of the perceptions of white Americans and just white America as an entity.
4:29
Yeah, you know, I think it’s. And I think that’s actually probably a good, a good point where we can kind of pivot to the inner relational relations that I was kind of speaking about earlier. So, I think.
4:42
In America we have.
4:46
We have all the.
4:48
We try to make things as being black and white. I’m not necessarily like referring to race but just very literally like black and white and cut and dry.
4:58
And that’s not always the case I think a really good example, kind of going with this like black American and Asian American, kind of going with this example is getting a little bit more specific and looking at the struggle between Asian Americans, or specifically Korean Americans, and black Americans. In the late, the late 1900s Right, so like the 1980s So like the early 2000s You know you were seeing mostly out on the west coast because that’s where a lot of Koreans and Korean Americans were immigrating to, you would see a lot of them moving into black communities right because they couldn’t afford to move anywhere else, they couldn’t afford to move into those affluent neighborhoods like all they could afford was the move into the lower income communities that just happened to be black.
5:50
And what kind of happened there was, you know, the, the tension didn’t arise, just because of like our differences, I think the tension arose, more so from an economic standpoint, right, like these Koreans, Americans would come in and essentially like build businesses in black communities, and then serve as black people, and then black people would be looking like wait a minute, why are we building these But why, like why are you coming into our community and building these businesses, why aren’t we building these businesses, and I mean it’s for a myriad of different things but ultimately you know black Americans they couldn’t they couldn’t get loans back then, you know, redlining was still a very real thing.
6:33
And if you’re not familiar redlining was the practice of discriminating against a person usually black people because of their area code or where they live, the banks would like intentionally not loan money to black Americans. So, yeah you know I think that’s that. And so yeah I think that’s where it kind of stems from and kind of looking back.
7:03
We see this, we see.
7:05
This emergence of Korean Americans kind of taking on that model minority trope as well because it’s like oh they came over and created businesses and they did better than the black people because black people didn’t create businesses and it’s like well the black people didn’t really have the resources to create the businesses right, like they didn’t even get the chance.
7:27
So I think that’s, that’s something that’s at play too. And then, I guess that’s also a good point to kind of pivot for towards the greater stigmas that we’re, that we deal with in the United States and, ultimately, I think that in terms of Asian Americans, it’s just a really people that aren’t American you know like people like people coming from other countries and just immigrants in general. I think it’s a, it’s a stigma of like a lack of education, and like a state of perpetual ignorance that we Americans live in, in the sense that, you know, there’s over 200 countries on Earth right I think it’s like 206 or something.
8:12
And it takes, it took me, I don’t know, I think I’m, I didn’t understand the, like the American culture. Honestly, until I don’t know maybe like age 16 I mean like, you know, there’s, there are certain norms that you internalize but you don’t actually understand what’s happening and what’s at play until you’re much older. I’m not trying to do that for 200 times, right, that takes a lot of work.
8:37
And as Americans, I feel like we’re lazy, you know, we just don’t take that time to learn these other communities we don’t take the time to learn these other.
8:45
These other cultures that are just all around the world and I don’t know it just it kind of makes me sad because I feel like we’ve been taught this ethnocentric ethnocentric line of thought that oh yeah Americans the best Americans that is a standard America’s this Americans that. And the fact is you know we never really got a choice to even look at other other countries from the standpoint of what was pushed us, you know like I could go to the library and read about it but that’s not the propaganda that they pushed on TV, they didn’t push diversity on TV back in like the early 2000s, like they weren’t trying to be gender forward they weren’t trying to be inclusive. I mean, they might have put the token black person on there or they might put the token Asian on there but it was never something that was really intentional to try to promote inclusion.
9:44
So I think those are really the. That’s really what I wanted to speak about was just the, the race relations in the United States between Asian Americans, and black Americans, the greater stigma in the United States. That is really just this perpetual ignorance that we have towards other nations, and really my experience, you know, with that kind of being othered and experiencing that racism from an Asian American and I mean, I hold no ill will towards them. For what it’s worth, I felt like it. I mean, he, he made a decision, and I guess I could try to educate him at some time, but that’s not really my job.