Video

From the video, I got a chance to take a glimpse at how African Americans were viewed by whites. This was a new experience because I learned about slaves only through historical facts that I learned at school. I never really got a chance to see how whites defended slavery in South until this morning. The most shocking thing that I struck me was how African Americans were portrayed in cartoons. First of all, every slave looked happy. This was ridiculous because who would be laughing and filled with joy when they were forced to work for the master without earning any profits? Second, everyone had big mouth that covered half of his or her face. Yes–their mouths may be thicker than whites, but they over-exaggerated the size in those cartoons. Third, I didn't like how they were stereotypical by comparing fragile, skinny, and beautiful white mistresses with fat, strong, and ugly African American women with big mouth. Overall, it was shocking to see how stereotypical these people were and the way they tried to persuade others that slavery was beneficial to everyone, including slaves.