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CHAPTER ONE

Contemporary Zip Coons: The Problem with Funny

Many stereotypes are normalized in our society, especially through the media. Stereotypes are generalizations or overgeneralizations of a group or culture (Brigham, 1971). Unfortunately, many of the normalized stereotypes of African American culture confirm accepted distortions. In his research on implicit stereotypes, Hinton (2017) argues that “culture in mind” is key to influencing the cognition of cultural group members. He believes that stereotypes are predictions and the brain uses predictions based on the structures and meanings experienced in the world (p. 6). Therefore, stereotypes become a resource that enables the transmission of cultural information, specifically within a network where common understandings exist (Kashima & Young, 2010).

Burr (2001) identifies three issues concerning stereotypical images of African Americans in the media.

First, these images affect how African American children and adults view themselves … Second, these images affect African American adults because others tend to view these images as indicative of how African Americans really act and respond accordingly … Third, these images harm the entire society in that they create disharmony between reality and perception and decrease the chances of positive interactions between blacks and others. (p. 181)

It is important to remember that stereotypes are not inherently racist. Yet, because of their history, many generalizations come from a negative or problematic ←11 | 12→place. Today, stereotypes are ingrained in our mediated culture as routine. We use them in the everyday process of creating meaning. They are very persuasive and not easy to change.

Social Identity Theory

Social Identity Theory explores group membership and identity arguing that most people identify who they are in society based on the specific groups they belong to, in other words in-group or out-group perspectives (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Since we exist in a constant cycle of experiencing the world and constructing meaning as members of various groups, Hinton (2000) suggests that we are more likely to accept stereotypes as norms when there is a consensus among friends, family members and even societal groups.

Social Identity Theory argues that through the cognitive process of categorization and grouping, the in-group members will develop a stereotypical view of the out-group members and through the process of seeking to maintain a relatively high social identity the stereotype of out-group members will tend to be negative. (pp. 114–115)

Hinton also believes that in-group members will view out-group members as more different than they really are from the in-group and they will see out-group members as more similar to each other than they actually are. For example, Banjo (2011) found that white viewers enjoyed stereotypical entertainment based on their cultural openness and competence concerning the out-group.

Viewers reported low-enjoyment when uncomfortable with entertainment that disparages out-group members and identified conflicts between attitude and behavior when interacting with black culture whether personal or mediated. (p. 153)

Gandy (1998) argues cognitive structural thinking can help us to, “pay attention to the relationships between the attitudes, images, and impressions of self and others as they are shaped through direct and mediated experience” (p. 51). He suggests that priming also helps to normalize racial stereotypes because stereotypes are primed by a certain trait or exemplar which is easily accessible and made applicable to societal perceptions.

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Humor and Black Americans

Numerous studies have been conducted to examine how an African American audience relates to humor. Some researchers focus on how humor is used to create joy and understanding, while others examine how it may help to cope with oppression and self-deprecation. For example, black participants reported a more positive attitude and identification when viewing racially charged comedy with black in-group members rather than with white out-group members while white viewers displayed no differences in a 2015 study by Banjo, Appiah, Wang, and others.

Social identity and racial socialization display a direct relationship between the negative stereotypical images received from media, especially when it comes to being black and understanding how blacks identify with their racial group (Adams-Bass, Stevenson, & Kotzin, 2014). Sanders and Ramasubramanian (2012) detailed through their research how most black film and television characters are considered favorable by black audiences despite the fact that many of those images are stereotypical.

A number of studies have explored how to eliminate or counter problematic stereotypes. For example, Holt (2013) found that the fear of crime is becoming more about the human dyad and less about racial stereotypes. Fojioka (1999) studied Japanese students and the negative stereotypes they recognized about African Americans. This research reported that negative stereotypes could be reduced by seeing positive portrayals of African Americans on television.

Tan et al. (2001) studied the social environment and popular roles in order to assess the influence of normative peer groups on changing stereotypes. They reported that peer groups could change the impact of specific stereotypes and they also confirmed that it does not extend to more general racial beliefs. Plus, a combination of critical media consumption and counter message control may reduce some racial stereotypes that are perpetuated by news stories according to a 2007 study by Ramasubramanian. Finally, targeted training against stereotypes can reduce the activation of those stereotypes among audiences based on the research of Kawakami, Dovidio, Hermsen, and others (2000). This means, sometimes people can be motivated to avoid stereotypes when they experience alternative processing.

A few studies have examined the connection between ethnic humor, stereotypes, and media. Reifsteck (2017) discovered that there is a strong correlation between black racial identity and humor specifically when it comes to enjoyment, expression and perception. She reported that exposure to culturally specific humor might also aid in racial identity development. Apte (1987) defined ethnic humor primarily as a type of humor where fun is made of the perceived behavior, customs, ←13 | 14→personality, or any other traits of a group or its members based on sociocultural identity. Gandy (1998) believes that ethnic humor works because it relies upon readily available stereotypes that make up the core of the joke.

Telling a joke that depends upon such stereotypes reinforces the symbolic structures in which stereotypes exist and do their cultural work. The joke works because it is understood and we understand or ‘get’ the joke because we possess knowledge of the stereotype. And, unless our response to the joke is hostile and resistive; getting the joke is likely to increase the structural importance of the stereotype by establishing yet another link for it to the somewhat unique circumstance in the joke. (p. 90)

According to Gillota (2013) there are three broad theories about humor. The first theory, was created by Thomas Hobbes and called “superiority theory.” This involves the use of ethnic humor as a way to feel superior to the group that is joked about. The second, is “aggression theory” developed by Sigmund Freud. Aggression theory connects humor to a kind of release valve enabling the discussion of socially unacceptable content. Third, “self-deprecating” humor which is used as a defense among some comedians where they make fun of their own racial group.

Blacks have been the butt of American ethnic humor for a long time argues Cooper (2007). This includes both denigratory and self-denigratory humor. Cooper writes on the comedy of Richard Pryor, “If a humorist makes fun of stereotypes, the implication is that stereotyping is not such a serious issue to the groups so represented (p. 244).” Also, in his study, participants easily recognized Pryor’s comedy through the lens of dominant black stereotypes such as cool, tough, ghetto, inferior, poor, lazy, and violent.

According to Bostick (2010), black comedians who speak critically, publicly, and extensively about controversial issues involving the black community claim to be well intentioned, but unfortunately, they may be validating explicit stereotypes. She believes that when stereotypes are validated by these well-known black voices it allows white people (the in-group) to justify those stereotypes about blacks (the out-group).

A Textual/Historical Approach

History can be used to effectively interpret the evolution of a topic or theme. The systematic analysis of stereotypes as they have historically evolved through media programming provides a path toward interpreting primary and secondary texts. Bryant, Black, Land & Porra (2013) believe that history is like a collective ←14 | 15→memory, “Having a history is important because what happened in the past profoundly affects all aspects of our lives and will affect what happens in the future” (p. 4).

Porra, Hirschelm, and Parks (2014) propose a concept called “cyclical history” which means that the past as reality is unchanging and repeating. They suggest that historical analysis offers a unique potential through scope and duration in which to understand complex phenomena. It is through history that researchers can analyze particular episodes, empirical cases, and patterns of activity according to Smith and Lux (1993).

This chapter analyzes one black stereotype that has evolved throughout history in film and television. It is the examination of specific words, ideas, images, and characteristics that make up particular patterns and themes connected to the Zip Coon stereotype. McKee (2003) argues that this kind of historical analysis can help us understand the way that various cultures and subcultures make sense of who they are.

This analysis examines intertextuality as described by Fairclough (2003), explicitly as it relates to the consistency of the Zip Coon stereotype. It is understood that different cultures may experience different things in different ways, specifically because of intertextuality. And, the interaction of certain images and messages are negotiated within specific historical timeframes.

The Zip Coon Stereotype

The Zip Coon stereotype evolved from minstrel shows in the early nineteenth century (Turner, 1994). Turner explains that the Zip Coon caricature is often presented in colorful, ill-fitting clothing, and he is usually staged as destructive, loud talking, and stupid. According to Jardim (2016), the Zip Coon is an arrogant trickster who avoids responsibility at all costs. Finally, Bogle (1973) described the Zip Coon as a male buffoon who is depicted as an unreliable, subhuman creature misusing the English language for the amusement of white people. Bogle adds that racial stereotypes have been used for decades to confirm white superiority over African Americans.

All were character types used for the same effect: to entertain by stressing inferiority. Fun was poked at the American Negro by presenting him as either a nitwit or a childlike lackey … The movies which catered to public tastes, borrowed profusely from all the other popular art forms. When dealing with black characters they simply adapted the old familiar stereotypes, often further distorting them. (p. 4)

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In her book Black Looks: Race and Representation (1992) (bell) hooks agrees. She expresses concern because stereotypes are distorted inventions, yet they can be seen as reality.

Stereotypes however inaccurate are one form of representation. Like fictions they are created to serve as substitutions, standing in for what is real. They are not there to tell it like it is, but to invite and encourage pretense. They are a fantasy, a projection onto the other that makes them less threatening. (p. 170)

The contemporary Zip Coon stereotype has evolved into a prominent media staple. He is the funny, ignorant, aggressive, loud talking, ill-dressed, black male caricature in popular movies and television shows. For example, Stepin Fetchit in Judge Priest (1934) and other films during the 1930s took Zip Coon off of the minstrel stage and placed him on the television screen (Fetchit bio). Stepin Fetchit is depicted as a slow-witted, mumbling coon who moves with a lazy shuffle. He scratches his head when he is thinking, uses poor dialogue and his intelligence is questionable.

The Kingfish character was introduced in the Amos and Andy radio show (1928–1955) as a Zip Coon stereotype. Freeman Gosden, a white man, did the voice over for radio, but the 1950s television show (1951–1953) used a black actor, Tim Moore (Watkins, 1991). Kingfish displayed the general Zip Coon traits showing a lack of intelligence, plus constantly scheming and trying to con people. For example, he set up a phony raffle, got amnesia whenever it came time to pay his debts, bought and tried to sell a broken-down race horse, and was accused of robbery several times concerning different items.

Despite his standup routines that were often socially conscious and controversial (Trickster, 2010), Redd Foxx in the television sitcom Sanford and Son (1972) was a streetwise representation of Zip Coon (Foxx bio). The character of Fred Sanford was a junk dealer living with his only son. He constantly made stupid mistakes, followed get-rich-quick schemes, dished out insults, walked with a stagger and threatened to have a heart attack when confronted about a problem.

Good Times (1972) began as a unique look at life in the urban ghetto, but J.J.’s character eventually developed into an obvious Zip Coon stereotype including his signature action of screaming “dy-no-mite.” Jimmy Walker as J.J. also mixed up words showing his illiteracy and flaunted ill-fitting and colorful clothes on his tall, lanky body. Finally, Will Smith in The Fresh Prince (1990) brought urban slang and cool pose to upper class Beverly Hills in his more contemporary version of the Zip Coon. His style included wearing a private school jacket inside out to expose the bright red, blue and yellow lining. Since he came from the hood, Will’s loud and brash personality was depicted by the upper class kids as cool and different.

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The Blaxploitation period meant changes in the Zip Coon stereotype, even though key features continued to thrive under the surface. Confidence in the use of language changed into a jive talk. For example, Rudy Ray Moore used rhyme and signification in his records and movies. “Yes, I’m Dolemite. I’m the one that killed Monday, whooped Tues, put Wednesday in the hospital, called Thursday to tell Friday not to bury Saturday on Sunday” (Dolemite, 1975).

The clothes in many of the Blaxploitation films included bright yellow, red and green suits worn by pimps and players that were promoted as stylish. Black men were depicted as sexually empowered dope dealers and gangsters involved in fighting, shootouts, and other aggressive actions. Bogle (1989) argues that the strained ethnic humor and the inferiority of Black people turned upside-down was used to trick black people into believing that Blaxploitation meant better depictions. But the major characters were superspades with aggressive, take-no-shit attitudes concerning “the man” according to Bogle who argues that the Black Power movement was actually mocked in these films.

Contemporary Zip Coons

Eddie Murphy is definitely a talented actor and comedian, yet his career is built around a number of stereotypes, specifically, the Zip Coon. One of his most controversial characters appeared on Saturday Night Live (1998) where he butchered the English language as Buckwheat from the Little Rascals (1955). In the Beverly Hills Cop series (1984, 1987, 1994), 48 Hours (1982), Another 48 Hours (1990), and Showtime (2002) movies his signature laugh, wide-toothy grin and aggressive nature create a comfortable Zip Coon reminder for white and black consumption. And, despite Murphy’s enormous skill of being able to portray various members of the Klump family in The Nutty Professor (1996), Buddy Love shows up to portray the cool yet ignorant stereotypical Zip Coon.

A number of other popular Murphy characters display Zip Coon characteristics like the jive-talking donkey in the Shrek (2001) series, the con artist, street thug Billie Ray Valentine in Trading Places (1983) and even the Oscar winning Jimmy from Dreamgirls (2006) with his bright suits and third person speech pattern. According to Sands (2018), while not overly racist, a number of Murphy’s movies reinforce negative stereotypes. Sands says that throughout Murphy’s career, he has been able to appeal to mixed-race audiences by using stereotypes. However, he has also taken the time, occasionally, to celebrate the more positive attributes of blackness in Coming to America (1988), Dr. Dolittle (1998) and Daddy Day Care (2003).

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In 2016 Kevin Hart became the highest paid comedian in American history making 87.5 million dollars between June 2015 and June 2016 (Berg, 2016). Hart’s movies and television shows like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017), Ride Along (2014), Ride Along 2 (2016) and The Real Husbands of Hollywood (2013) have grossed millions and his stand-up comedy fills huge stadiums like the Staples Center in Los Angeles and Madison Square Garden in New York (Box Office Mojo, 2018).

Many of the characters played by Kevin Hart fall easily into the category of contemporary Zip Coon. For example, Ride Along and Ride Along 2 introduce Ben as a high school security guard who eventually becomes a police cadet. James, played by Ice Cube, is not happy about Ben marrying his sister so he proposes a ride along for Ben. Ben agrees in order to win James’s blessing for the wedding while James makes the offer to prove Ben does not deserve his sister. In both movies critics call Ben a clown, a man Smurf and Sir Scream-a-lot. He uses many tired Zip Coon tropes like talking loud, acting stupid, and dressing in bright, colorful, distracting clothes. At different times in the film Hart even imitates an ignorant street hoodlum and an outlandish African Prince.

Get Hard (2015) presents a number of the stereotypical traits related to black men in general and Hart specifically. James, a white, hedge fund manager played by Will Ferrell, is found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to jail at San Quentin. Although Darnell, Kevin Hart’s character, has never been incarcerated he agrees to teach James how to survive in prison. Throughout the film examples of problematic ethnic humor are inserted linking Hart to the Zip Coon including encounters with gangs, prison sex, and urban violence.

A number of roles in Tyler Perry’s movies and television shows depict stereotypical characters, but none more obviously than Zip Coon Mr. Leroy Brown played by actor David Mann. In the movie (2008) and television show (2009–2012), both titled Meet the Browns this character is as close to the original Zip Coon stereotype as you can get today.

Mr. Brown dresses ridiculously, wearing striped shirts with flowered pants in bright, lively colors like red, blue and yellow. He is portrayed as very stupid with a poor understanding of the English language and he talks constantly about nothing. Mr. Brown’s acting efforts are usually over the top including lots of eye popping and hand waving, not to mention his high-pitched whiny voice.

He is the constant butt of the joke. In one television episode, Mr. Brown eats drugged-up brownies and flashes back to the 1970s where he dresses and talks like a stereotypical pimp during the Blaxploitation period. In other episodes, his character continuously offers insults, pranks, and exaggerated movements in response to intense situations. As a matter of fact, in some episodes his degrading ←18 | 19→ethnic humor gets very extreme. For example, Mr. Brown wets himself, eats rotten food willingly, and even jokes about performing a vasectomy on himself. Svetkey, Watson, and Wheat (2009) express concerned that there is power beyond images in Perry’s depictions of black life, so even though Perry believes his characters are simply tools to make people laugh, such comedy mixed with such stereotypes deems black disparity as palatable.

Chris Tucker tends to be a Zip Coon stereotype in most of his movies. In the Fifth Element (1997) he is a transgendered Zip Coon, in the Friday (1995) movie series he is a pothead Zip Coon and in the Rush Hour series (1998, 2001, 2007) he is a crime fighting Zip Coon. Tucker uses all of the conventional Zip Coon elements like bugging his eyes, loud talking, head rolling, misunderstanding and mispronouncing certain words, and displaying an obvious ignorance. Leslie (2001) describes Tucker’s character in the Rush Hour series a one-dimensional role.

he’s the sidekick, he’s the frightened, yet funny dim-witted buddy. It’s a role filled with all the standard black stereotypes: he’s loud, child-like, dishonest and unable to restrain his emotions when faced with sex and money.

For example, Tucker spends most of his time in The Fifth Element screaming in an irritating, high-pitched voice and bugging his eyes. He is dressed in a tight leopard-skin outfit wearing afro puffs or a large white bun. His comedic debut as Smokey in Friday focused on how lazy and unreliable his character was. Smokey smoked weed constantly rather than selling it, whipped his neck when he spoke for more emphasis, and jumped around on numerous occasions almost monkey-like.

When Dave Chappelle walked away from a fifty-million dollar contract for his show on Comedy Central everyone thought he had lost his mind, but instead he had actually found it. Several years later, Chappelle explained in various interviews that he realized his racial humor was not changing problematic societal perceptions but rather reinforcing them (Cosgrove-Mather, 2006).

Discussing Chappelle’s revelation, Bostick (2010) clarified how the context of a joke must be understood in order for someone to actually get it. She says many people do not understand or appreciate black culture enough to make the necessary connections so they laugh at the joke based on face value rather than registering the hypocrisy, sarcasm or satire.

While jokes about black people by black people may not seem inappropriate; they advance bias depictions of African American traditions, behaviors and cultural norms while offering white people a license to laugh at those stereotypical images. (p. 276)

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In their research on Rush Hour 2, Park, Gabbadon, and Chernin (2006) found that comedy encourages audiences to naturalize racial differences rather than challenge racial stereotypes. Their findings suggested that many black and white viewers who actively consume comedy derive pleasure from racial jokes.

Racial stereotypes in comedy are problematic because they help validate racial differences through humor, thus rendering them natural and unchallengeable. Because racial stereotypes in comedy rarely offend the audiences and are presented in an enjoyable way, audiences are able to naturalize specific knowledge about racial minorities without resistance. (p. 173)

So, it is possible that the white crew member who made Dave Chappelle uncomfortable when he laughed at the sketch about “Black Pixies” (Farley, 2005) was not necessarily a racist, but he simply enjoyed a certain comfort level because of the way stereotypes have been naturalized in our society. It is possible with racial images and messages consistently perpetuated by the media and accepted in society a person does not have to be a racist to laugh at racial ideas or create racial content.

Hinton (2000) maintains that stereotypes reflect faulty thinking about a group or culture, and some people may not be aware because of the prominence and consistency of the humorously focused images and messages. This means that the active monitoring of our own cognitive process is necessary to create oppositional or counter-stereotypical strategies for the elimination of such stereotypes (Fiske, 1984).

As Entman (1992) discussed in his article on news, modern racism and cultural change it is easy for people to fall into stereotypical thinking, especially when normalized stereotypes are promoted consistently and intertextually.

Because old-fashioned racist images are socially undesirable, stereotypes are now more subtle and stereotyped thinking is reinforced at levels likely to remain below conscious awareness. Rather than the grossly demeaning distortions of yesterday, stereotyping of blacks now allows abstraction from and denial of the racial component. (p. 345)

Humor, fuels conversations, challenges assumptions, and stretches social boundaries often with stereotypical images and messages just under the surface. According to Amditis (2013), the continued use of racial stereotypes in humor today contributes to the preservation of the current racial hierarchy making the fight for a better racial climate more difficult.

The difficulty involved in identifying, processing, interpreting, comprehending, and retaining the subtle and symbolic undertones when exposed to humor is the key to understanding the ultimate harm that is done by the use of stereotypical tropes and tactics in comedy. (p. 5)

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Humor is usually based on stereotypical ideas and images. Stereotypes through humor provide easily recognized and understood historical impressions of how members of black culture might think and act. Unfortunately, when ethnic humor is based on normalized and accepted stereotypes racialism is involved and that means there is a problem with funny.

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