Jim Crow "A Real Dumbo"
Jim Crow laws were laws that enforced racial segregation in the South. They began after the Civil War and continued through the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. They were finally abolished with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law outlawed discrimination in any type of public accommodation (source).
So Dumbo was released in 1941. Before the Civil Rights Movement began, arguably at the height of the Jim Crow laws. And they decided to name the leader of a jive-dancing, slang-throwing, jazz-singing group of birds Jim Crow and he’s voiced by a white guy. See how this can be seen as problematic?
First off, the head crow is named Jim the Crow, a clear reference to Jim Crow laws. The color of the crows are black and they are dressed in ragged clothes, such as ripped vests and socks paired with dingy looking hats.
While the birds are voiced by white actors, they’re made to sound like caricatures of poor black men. Cliff Edwords, who voices Jim the Crow, participates in what The Washington Post calls, “the vocal equivalent of blackface.” The crows sing a song that include lyrics such as, “I seen a peanut stand, heard a rubber band I seen a needle that winked its eye But I be done seen ‘bout ev’rything When I see a elephant fly (What d’you say, boy?)” The choice of language/syntax clearly portrays the racist stereotype of blacks being uneducated.
Jim Crow laws were laws that enforced racial segregation in the South. They began after the Civil War and continued through the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. They were finally abolished with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law outlawed discrimination in any type of public accommodation (source).
So Dumbo was released in 1941. Before the Civil Rights Movement began, arguably at the height of the Jim Crow laws. And they decided to name the leader of a jive-dancing, slang-throwing, jazz-singing group of birds Jim Crow and he’s voiced by a white guy. See how this can be seen as problematic?
First off, the head crow is named Jim the Crow, a clear reference to Jim Crow laws. The color of the crows are black and they are dressed in ragged clothes, such as ripped vests and socks paired with dingy looking hats.
While the birds are voiced by white actors, they’re made to sound like caricatures of poor black men. Cliff Edwords, who voices Jim the Crow, participates in what The Washington Post calls, “the vocal equivalent of blackface.” The crows sing a song that include lyrics such as, “I seen a peanut stand, heard a rubber band I seen a needle that winked its eye But I be done seen ‘bout ev’rything When I see a elephant fly (What d’you say, boy?)” The choice of language/syntax clearly portrays the racist stereotype of blacks being uneducated.
Jim Crow laws were laws that enforced racial segregation in the South. They began after the Civil War and continued through the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. They were finally abolished with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This law outlawed discrimination in any type of public accommodation (source).
So Dumbo was released in 1941. Before the Civil Rights Movement began, arguably at the height of the Jim Crow laws. And they decided to name the leader of a jive-dancing, slang-throwing, jazz-singing group of birds Jim Crow and he’s voiced by a white guy. See how this can be seen as problematic?
First off, the head crow is named Jim the Crow, a clear reference to Jim Crow laws. The color of the crows are black and they are dressed in ragged clothes, such as ripped vests and socks paired with dingy looking hats.
While the birds are voiced by white actors, they’re made to sound like caricatures of poor black men. Cliff Edwords, who voices Jim the Crow, participates in what The Washington Post calls, “the vocal equivalent of blackface.” The crows sing a song that include lyrics such as, “I seen a peanut stand, heard a rubber band I seen a needle that winked its eye But I be done seen ‘bout ev’rything When I see a elephant fly (What d’you say, boy?)” The choice of language/syntax clearly portrays the racist stereotype of blacks being uneducated.