OCR Text |
Show Hinckley Journal of Politics Autumn 1998 drama to see what type of stereotype is portrayed-gang members, bank robbers, and drug dealers are among the negative roles assigned to Black men by the media. Public Enemy, a politically-oriented rap group that has released three gold albums since 1986, and has long been a favorite among the Black community, released a track in 1990 titled "Burn Hollywood, Burn." This song expressed outrage at the stereotypical casting of Black actors, and the lack of opportunities which they are offered in the entertainment industry. These media stereotypes help to strengthen the negative hegemonic ideology which relegates the Black man to an inferior (sometimes savage) class. One could cite also the media's treatment of Farrakhan himself. Prior to the march, many newspaper articles chose to paint Farrakhan as a hatemonger on a quest to divide a nation, and focused on this negative image rather than on the message behind the march. One such article written for CNN Online included a quotation from Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, which referred to Farrakhan as '"racist, sexist, and homophobic...'" (quoted in Bierbauer 1995) Still, well-documented remarks by Farrakhan which could be interpreted as anti-Semitic and anti-Christian could justify these media portrayals. To this point the aforementioned aspects of Black-White relations, as outlined by Farrakhan, could be viewed as a type of hegemonic ideology when taken together. Such an ideology, however, does not exist simply because one man says it does. The oppressed class must share some sort of internalized opposition to the ideology for it even to exist. Without overt conflict, the appearance of total harmony means either a) there is absolutely no class conflict or b) the oppressed class has a false consciousness. Scott, as noted previously, argues that the latter is far-fetched. We now look to the marchers themselves to establish Farrakhan's outline as an accurate description of a truly hegemonic ideology. Michael Cottman, a former political writer, attended the March and detailed the resistance of the hegemonic ideology in his book, Million Man March (1995): Why did we march? We marched against stereotypes. We marched against media that continue to portray Black men as criminals. We marched against a conservative ideology that is anti-Black. We marched against angry White males who have concocted a myth that Black men are taking jobs away from them through affirmative action. We marched against the Contract With America. We marched against Rush Lim-baugh, Newt Gingrich, and Jesse Helms. We marched against the Bell Curve. We marched to silence the skeptics (25). Although he attempts to speak for all in attendance, the fact remains that Cottman represents only one voice. A group of Howard University political science faculty, students and researchers in conjunction with the Wellington Group, conducted a survey of 1,070 men at the MMM in order to get an idea of the population that participated. The survey revealed that 62 percent of the respondents identified themselves as Democrats, while only 3 percent identified themselves as Republican. Furthermore, 91 percent of the respon- dents maintained that a high priority should be placed on providing more money for education, and 83 percent stated that health care should be given a high priority (Morris et al. 1995). All of these responses conflict with some of the main provisions of the Contract with America. Then there are those outside the march. In an article in the APA Monitor, a publication of the American Psychological Association, it is stated that White politics plays a part in the psychological treatment of Black families. With conservative politics threatening the livelihood of many Black Americans, emotional reactions to these political threats spill over into their family lives. "We're beginning to see the impact of [such politics] in the treatment process," said Nancy Boyd-Franklin, a professor of family therapy at Rutgers University (quoted in Martin 1995). This supports the view that there is at least some generalized recognition among Black families of an anti-Black hegemonic ideology. The fact that the study referred to deals with families seeking psychological counseling shows that the perception of oppression in the public transcript is actually fostering a negative reaction within Black family structures. Up to this point, we have discussed evidence which substantiates the presence of an anti-Black hegemonic ideology in America. The issue we must now address is how this ideology actually plays out in both public and hidden transcripts. Once the ideology is identified as a driving force behind both transcripts, we can show more clearly how these transcripts directly contributed to the mobilization of the MMM. The Public and Hidden Transcript at Work In order to accurately analyze both the public and hidden transcripts of the MMM, we must examine specific case studies involving actual marchers. By analyzing the marchers' reasons for participating, we can find out what role Black/white relations in the public transcript as well as behind-the-scenes hidden transcripts and infrapoliticking played in the actual mobilization of the march. Our first case study deals with two middle-aged Black men, James and Bobby Watkins. They are brothers, both in their forties and both middle-class workers from the Chicago area. Bobby is a data processing supervisor, and James a child abuse investigator. A Washington Post article, published on October 16, 1995, which profiles these two men makes one thing clear from the beginning: They came from march organizer Louis Farrakhan's city, hut they did not come because of him. For the most part, they said, they want nothing to do with him, especially not with his expressions of hate. They came because they wanted to say something about themselves and to be a small part of the long struggle for civil rights in America (Maraniss 1995). This quotation establishes the Watkins brothers' reason for marching. We see that their decision was not made to show support for Farrakhan or the Nation of Islam, but rather their way of joining the ongoing civil rights movement in the pub- 71 |