Stereotypes In Wallace Thurman's The Blacker The Berry

Not only are there verbal references to racial stereotyping, there are also certain characters who seem to have similar traits to real racial stereotypes as well. It could be argued that Judy, and the bunny species could represent Asian stereotypes. She has strict parent, who don’t want her moving away and getting a job that is dangerous. Furthermore, many other animals see her as being small and harmless. She is also very driven and makes it to the top of her class, but tends to get pushed around a lot. The case could also be made that Nick Wilde represents African American stereotypes. The stereotype he is most similar to is the Zipcoon stereotype created during the Minstrelsy era. Zipcoon was a stereotypical black male who was uneducated,

They’re stories draw similarities to Emma Lou’s story in Wallace Thurman’s The Blacker the Berry. In Thurman’s novel the main character of Emma Lou is born in a small country city and constantly deals with prejudice people in her town who judge her for having dark skin. Her uncle tells her that when she moves to Los Angeles she won’t have to deal with as much color prejudice. He says to her, “People in large cities, are broad. They do not have time to think of petty things…Los Angeles is one of the world’s greatest and most modern cities, and you will be happy there” (Thurman 27). However, when she does get to USC she deals with the same problem. This is almost exactly what Judy goes through. She grows up in the small town of Bunnyburrow expecting Zootopia to be different, when in the end its exactly the same. Emma Lou attempts to defy her stereotype, just like Judy does. Yet, in the end Emma Lou turns out to be more like Nick than Judy. At the end of the novel Emma realizes that she didn’t successfully defy the stereotype, but decided to run from it instead. This is how Nick is when the audience is first introduced to him. He tells Judy that if everyone is going to think of him as a criminal why try and be something else. Judy also represents the “new negro” stereotype because she wants to show everyone that she is intelligent and has something to contribute, while Nick represents