Malika Fields
Ms. Foltz/Mrs. Hustwit
English 3 AP
June 4, 2013
In 2010, Walmart stores marked all African-American Barbie Dolls
nearly half the price of the regularly priced Caucasian dolls. Expert, Lisa
Wade commented on the situation by stating that decades after segregation
and the Civil Rights Movement, studies show Americans -- both black and
white—continue to internalize the hierarchical notion that lighter skin tone is
considered better than darker ("Deep Skin Discrimination"). In the past due to
racial issues the doll would have not even been produced. Things have
changed and our society has come along from the past. However Willie Lynch
and his tactics to manipulate a select population is very prevalent in today’s
multicultural society. Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a
mob. Often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting in order to
punish an alleged transgressor or to intimidate, control, or otherwise
manipulate a population of people (Berg, "Globalizing Lynching").
The definition of Lynching in today’s society has altered more-so from the
physical manipulation to the mental. Lynching is still very alive and
thriving in today’s African American communities without even being
traced. Exactly three hundred and one years after Willie Lynch delivered
his "How To Make A Slave" speech on the banks of the James River,
Lynch’s specialized tactics and mind control are still currently mentally
enslaving African Americans. In his "How To Make A Slave" speech
Lynch even claims that he has a "full proof method for controlling your
black slaves. I guarantee every one of you that, if installed correctly, it will
control the slaves for at least three-hundred years." Lynches assumption
proves to be correct.
Willie Lynch specifically outlined minuscule differences among
slaves. In his efforts to control he took the small differences and
exaggerated them. He used "fear, distrust, and envy for control purposes."
He broke the camaraderie and shattered the love in the African American
community by using old Divide and Conquer tactics. Lynch instructed
slave owners to separate the slaves by: age, color, intelligence, size, sex,
sizes of plantation, attitude of owners, where slaves live (valley, hill,
north, south, east, or west), their hair texture, and whether they are tall or
short. His reasoning was ”distrust is stronger than trust, and envy is
stronger than adulation, respect, or admiration." (Lynch, "How to Make a
Slave").
During the 1940's African American children were involved in the
"Clark Doll Experiment". This is experiment was very simple, Mr. and
Mrs. Clark showed the African American children a black doll and white
doll and based on the questions they asked. The children were also given
outlines of people and asked to color the outline of the bodies that were
closest to their skin tone. Majority of the darker skinned children colored
the doll yellow or left it white. The clarks concluded 'prejudice,
discrimination, and segregation caused black children to develop a sense
of inferiority and self hatred ("Brown v. Board at Fifty").
Today, almost everything that Willie Lynch told the slave owners to
separate their slaves by is what Africans American separate and categorize
themselves as. Many African Americans neighborhoods rival with other
predominately African American neighborhoods due to the location and
where the boundary lines lie. African American, is African American.
Many people who are African American are often put in danger by going
to other neighborhoods. That refers back to separating the slaves by hills,
valleys, and North, South, East and West. Often many African Americans
are fighting over, defending, and claiming property that they do not own.
Most often than not, they do not own the neighborhoods they live in,
usually it is white owned. Which ironically shows the parallelism in the
situation.
Social networking websites such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Vine all
have something in common. It is flooded with many people in the African American
community categorizing themselves as "Team Light Skin, Team Dark Skin, Team
Brown Skin, Team Mocha and etcetera." This proves that even today separation by
skin tone is greater than it has it to be. That is exactly what he told slave owners to do.
"Don't forget you must pitch the young black male against the old black male. You
must use the dark skinned slaves versus the light skinned slaves[...]" (Lynch, "How to
Make a Slave"). If you are African American, you are African American, being two
shades lighter than someone should not matter. However, it just shows that Lynch's
presence is still around and thriving.
Not only does Lynch still influence the African American community
but also society as a whole. There is an unwritten statement in the Black community
that the lighter you are, the more beautiful you are. However, this comes from the
light skinned slaves being in the house close to the slave master and by looking
physically closer to the Caucasian race. Journalist, Terrell J. Starr stated that "... skin
tone complications of the past still afflict the psyche of present day America.” This
also transfers over to society as a whole. Many African American social icons that
pose for magazine covers are often lightened. In the United States justice system dark
skinned women are given harsher prison sentences than lighter African American
women. A study followed 12,000 Black women that were imprisoned in North
Carolina from 1995-2009. The study showed that lighter African American women
were sentenced twelve percent less time that darker skinned African Americans.
Lighter skinned women also had the total amount of time they actually served reduced
by eleven percent ("Deep Skin Discrimination"). In the professional world the odds
are almost the same to those of criminals. It has been shown that lighter skinned
African American men can have a bachelors degree and average work experience and
still be preferred over a darker skinned African American male with a Master of
Business Administration and past managerial positions ("Deep Skin Discrimination").
All in all Willie Lynch still effects not only society as a whole, but the African
American population specifically. After three hundred and one years Lynch's ideas
are blindly being followed. By being aware of what you say and do you can stop the
plague in society. Society has come along way from nineteen-seventeen but there is
more to do to be free from the Willie Lynch Syndrome.
Works Cited
"Brown v. Board at Fifty: “With an Even Hand”Brown v. Board of Education of
Topeka, Kansas." Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Library of
Congress, n.d. Web. 12 May 2013. <http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/brownbrown.html>.
"Deep Skin Discrimination." ABC News. ABC News Network, 1 Jan. 2005. Web. 16
May 2013. <http://abcnews.go.com/2020/GiveMeABreak/t/story?id=548303>.
Gomstyn, Alice. "Black Barbie Sold For Less Than White Barbie at Walmart
Stores." ABC News. ABC News Network, 10 Mar. 2010. Web. 11 June 2013.
Lynch, William. "Willie Lynch Letter: The Making of a Slave." Indiana University –
Purdue University Indianapolis. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2013.
<http://www.iupui.edu/~blacksu/PDF%20Documents/Documents/WillieLynch
Letter.pdf>.
Berg, Manfred and Simon Wendt. 2011. Globalizing Lynching History:
Vigilantism and Extralegal Punishment from an International Perspective.
Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-11588-0