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African Male

The importance of addressing that history

I hope everyone in this conversation is aware of the movie Birth of a Nation. If you're not aware of it, you have to look that up. Essentially, it was a movie from the 1920s where they had white men playing Black men who were portayed as rapists, assaulters, and threats to white women. It was a big piece of anti-black propaganda, and so, I say this to show that in the in the society we live in now, Black men already have that stigmatism, of we're predators, we're super predators, we're aggressive, we're the assaulters. We are viewed that way, especially in terms of white women. So, if I was talking to a white woman about experiencing sexual assault, then I think it's important for her to address that history, the stereotypes it's created, and the people it harms. To address that she's aware of that of that stereotype, and that she's not going to take that bias into what I'm telling her. Again, because that sets up a good level of trust for me to actually be open and honest. Without this, I'm nervous that anything I say could be taken out of context, or could be misunderstood based off false stereotypes of other people that look like me. I think that anyone who isn't aware of these preconceptions and isn't aware of these stereotypes, they don't set themselves up to be successful in mediating situations like this with the Black community.

Recommendations

  • Engage in activities to develop anti-racism as it pertains to sexual violence prevention and response. Apply anti-racist practices in these areas.

  • Be aware of damaging assumptions about Black and Middle Eastern male sexuality; consider problematizing this form of bias in education and awareness campaigns. In working with students from these demographics in relation to a disclosure or report, demonstrate awareness that such biases exist, and demonstrate intention not to be swayed by such assumptions.