By Melissa Henderson
The University’s chapter of the NAACP, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, screened the critically acclaimed documentary “What Black Men Think” on Nov. 6.
Janks Morton, the director and producer, spoke to students about the stereotypes that plague the African-American community.
The program aimed to debunk black stereotypes and raise a much-needed dialogue among students.
Clips of the documentary were shown to highlight the main stereotypes and misconceptions of black men and a question was posed to the audience about the leading cause of African-American death. Many University students responded with “violence and murder” or “HIV/AIDS,” but the answer presented was abortion.
Shantai Yelverton, a junior, expressed how powerful and beneficial the program was, and how every black person should have attended. “I wish more people would have come because we as blacks are the leading cause of these false stereotypes,” she said.
Morton’s film showed that females, instead of males, are more likely to drop out of high school.
Sean Hutchinson, president of the campus chapter of the NAACP, said he had been trained to believe so much about himself and his counterparts that wasn’t true.
According to the documentary, the media portrays black men in a negative light, giving black women the notion that all black men are bad. Students talked about how women view ordinary black men.
Both in the documentary and audience responses, females felt that men were characterize as “dogs,” and in the documentary some go as far as using a racial epithet. Students debated about what exactly a “good” black man is.
“We as women have this image of the perfect man in our minds, which takes away from what men around us have to offer,” Yelverton said. She added that the media tries to portray black men as trifling, known for not paying child support, or for being on the “Down Low,” but in reality, women are equally to blame.
One student also asked Morton his thoughts about President-elect Barack Obama. Morton said that even though the main “struggle” in black communities is trying to keep the family together, which relates to the idea of a man not having a father; Obama erased the stereotype.
Morton also added that because of the loss of African-American contributions in history from 1865 to 1965, an era in which blacks made some of their greatest strides, the strong message of family and unity were lost, but Obama managed to bring that message on the surface to many black families.
Hutchinson reflected on how this new information has impacted his previous beliefs. “I felt that the program shocked me because it made me take an introspective look at society’s influences on me,” he said.