Mammy Stereotypes

The construction of images meant to control black and white women, were crucial to the continued success of slavery. Of these, the Mammy stereotype acted as a foundation crucial to the success of the White family and oppression of the Black family—the Black woman in particular. Though not the only controlling image constructed to maintain black female subordination, the mammy is one of the most desirable images of black women among white people. The Mammy myth remains an important controlling image for the White majority because this image, this role is the only one in which the black woman willingly acquiesces to her own inferiority and white supremacy. As a Black woman who accepted and enjoyed her own inferiority, whites revered the Mammy.
Unlike other …show more content…
Public interest law tends to have substantially higher levels of diversity. This diversity can be appealing to the corporate lawyer who faces certain challenges due to the homogeneity of her workplace. Yet, the mammy image follows her even in environments. In general, public interest work involves advocating for those who are not able to advocate for themself. In this way the black woman is still forced in to a maternal nurturing role; instead of catering to her coworkers, she caters to her clients. While her clients are more likely to be people of color, frequently the judge overseeing her case is not. And while law technically has no color, the dynamics of a courtroom could easily parallel that of the mammy-master relationship. The public interest lawyer is expected to be selfless in order to advocate for her clients. In spite of her job title she is ultimately expected to submit and adhere to the decisions of the judge—the master—even if that means betraying or isolating herself from her own community. The black attorney is trapped; no matter where she goes the mammy image hovers over her like a dark