Selling Identities: Racing Against Racism (Part 3)

Part Three - The Race

Unbranded (2008)

In this series, Thomas has compiled two advertisement photos from every year since Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. He removed the logos and text from each of these images to unmask the racist ideology hidden in media production. Without their linguistic guise, the advertising photographs reflect how society sees the black community, how the black community wants to view itself, and how the spread of stereotypes about this community occurs.

Once Upon a Time in America There Were No Slaves

"Once Upon a Time in America There Were No Slaves", 2001. Unbranded.

A 2001 promotion for Black History Month pictures a traditionally dressed African patriarch, a soldier, a jazz musician, a freedom marcher, and a graduating student standing in a line representing an African American history that conveniently dismisses years of slavery. Media portrayal often forgoes or distorts historical fact in order to serve audiences falsified and inaccurate representations of society as “natural” truths. Racist ideologies “disappear from view into [this] taken-for-granted ‘naturalized’ world” and as a result, racial stereotypes fester in our minds unbeknownst to us (Hall 90). This image’s intention is to appeal to the black community’s preferred image of itself. Although the photo makes a valiant effort to depict the hard-earned rise of African Americans through the ranks of our society, the intentional absence of slaves and sharecroppers in this image undermines the rich history of this community. This photograph attempts to picture an inaccurate history as truth and thus makes clear the potency of racist ideology in the media and the power this has in influencing people’s perception of society, themselves, and one another. 

The Liberation of T.O.

"The Liberation of T.O.", 2003. Unbranded.

In this 2003 advertisement, fruit and other groceries litter the street, blurred masses scramble to the outskirts of the frame, and angry white bystanders aggressively lurch towards a running black football player – it’s an Oakland produce stand gone awry. Here, “the media constructs for us…what meaning the imagery of race carries” in our society (Hall 90). This ad reveals the way in which society views the black community while also feeding stereotypes about the black community member and athlete. Infuriatingly outstretched hands and yelling faces point the blame for this produce stand incident towards the fleeing black football player in the front of the image. The photograph pictures him with glistening and defined muscles, an exaggeration meant to embody the physical perfection and athletic superiority commonly linked to the image of the black male athlete. This scene is loaded with racial innuendos; the black football player running from a public disturbance is reminiscent of the belief that athletics are one of the few ways black males from inner city environments can escape these worlds and achieve success in our society. It also appears almost too easy to digitally remove the black football player from this image and replace him with a running subject of any racial background. This is a commentary on how society too commonly accuses black civilians of criminal activity before it points the finger at their white counterparts. The media’s production of racist ideology “help[s] to classify out the world in terms of the categories of race” (Hall 90) which ultimately ends up dividing society based on “stereotypes and a version of history born of political correctness” (Mack 1). The unconscious nature of this ideology allows us to accept these depictions of race as a natural and inherent part of our existence. Now that we know how racist ideology pervades our thought and manipulates our opinions, let’s look at some of the ways the media presents these ideas to us. 

Branded (2011)

In the previous collection, Unbranded, Thomas removed certain elements from advertisements to unmask what Roland Barthes calls the “what-goes-without-saying” in ads. In this project, Thomas takes the production of advertisement images into his own hands and creates photographs that comment on race and class in our society. He plays with the use of overt and inferential racism to make profound statements about the African American body and its connection to the cotton and slave trade that founded the prosperous American economy of today.

Absolut Power

"Absolut Power", 2003. Branded.

We’ve all seen the haunting diagram of a slave ship in our history books, hundreds of African slaves crammed into every open crack of a ship’s cargo space. It’s an image of shame in America, but is it also one of regret? Without these slaves, American history, especially its economic history, would be fundamentally different. Their toil and servitude has culminated in the thriving economy and country we see before us today. By filling the shape of an Absolut vodka bottle with the image of a slave ship and titling it “Absolut Power”, Thomas sheds light on the overwhelming influence money and consumerism have in our society. Despite a history of inequality and subjugation, African Americans have made crucial contributions to the development of our nation. Their sacrifices established the consumer capitalist culture of today, a culture however, that still exploits its power over this community. Thomas’s manipulations of this photograph are obvious; he uses overt racism by “elaborating an openly racist argument” in plain and obvious form – placing the slave ship diagram in an Absolut bottle (Hall 91). His overtly racist commentary in this advertisement is supposed to show us the prevalence of racist ideology beyond the media sphere. Absolut Power comments on racist ideology’s significance in the media as well as its role in defining the social status of the African American community. The media may be a “site for the production, reproduction, and transformation of ideologies”, but it is ultimately just that, the basis of ideology. From there, ideology’s influence invades all other aspects of our lives, from our thoughts and opinions to our actions and relationships. 

Scarred Chest

"Scarred Chest", 2004. Branded.

In this image, Thomas makes reference to the duality overt and inferential racism play in media produced images while also commenting on the stereotypes surrounding the black male body. The objectification of the African American male body is a practice dating back to the days of the slave trade. Male slaves in the best physical condition were preferred over their less physically capable counterparts. Today, this scrutiny still enslaves the black male and his body. The professional athletic world intensely endorses perfect physique. Granted it is in the nature of a professional athlete to be in good physical condition, the idea of fitness perfection has become a modern form of enslavement for the male body. The torso in this image, branded by Nike’s logo, is a representation of the control inflicted over black male bodies by our society. The branded flesh in this image suggests enslavement to a specific body image and appearance, to the belief of athleticism as the sole path to success for the black male, and to consumer capitalism’s power. This piece also points out the dual nature of racism in advertisement. Thomas’s version of this ad exemplifies overt racism in its use of the controversial subject of branded black flesh. But in its original form, this ad is only inferentially racist; in place of a blatantly racist statement is the presentation of racial ideas that are overlooked as “unquestioned assumptions” (Hall 91). So although the original ad does not picture branded flesh, it does not need to in order to propagate racist ideology; the mere fact that it’s “predicated on racist premises” justifies it as racism (Hall 91).  Now that we know the types of racism found in media advertisements, let us look at some of the “base-images of the ‘grammar of race’” used to depict them (Hall 91). 

Rebranded (2010)

In this project, Thomas places marketing images of today next to similar ads from the past to show how overtly racist images of generalized identities of the slave-figure and clown/entertainer from a less modern time “have faded but [how their] traces are still to be observed, reworked in” inferentially racist images of today (Hall 92).  

It Didn’t Jest Grow by Itself

"It Didn't Jest Grow by Itself", 1940-2008. Rebranded.

Two women, one from 1940 and one from 2008, are posed side-by-side harvesting crops. This act of intense manual labor in crop fields is painfully reminiscent of the slavery from the past. Their smiles and proud display of their hard work link them to the “slave-figure” image of “dependable, loving in a simple, childlike way…faithful fieldhand[s]” (Hall 92). When these images stand alone, they appear to be only inferentially racist but in position next to one another, similarities to the enslavement of the past become painfully obvious and their overt racism becomes immediately apparent. Thomas’s creation explains to us that racist stereotypes and cultural exploitation are still alive and well in our society. He has done an amazing job of expressing to the modern world that the idea that blatant racism has “been distanced from us…by our superior wisdom and liberalism” may be much more farfetched than we assumed (Hall 91).

At Your Service

"At Your Service", 2009. Rebranded.

Another common base-image of race is the clown or entertainer. In this photograph, it appears as if the old image of entertaining host is passing the torch (bottle) of racist ideology to the new generation of racial representations. This base-image is infamous for its ambivalent nature for “it is never quite clear whether we are laughing with or at this figure” (Hall 92). Media’s naturalized representation of these people makes us want to believe that the man’s comedic abilities and the woman’s “physical and rhythmic grace” generate our laughter, but the two images placed next to one another make it clear that the marketable appeal of these photographs is in their representation of “the clown’s stupidity” and the colored race’s inferiority (Hall 92). This duality in the image is what Hall refers to as “the double vision of the white eye” and it is the very way in which all media images perpetuate racist ideologies and modern racism as matter-of-fact realities (Hall 92).