El Negro Mama: The Peruvian black stereotype with his own TV show

[Bronk]

On Peruvian television is a comic character called El Negro Mama (mama there means "dumb" so the name translates as "the dumb black guy").

Played by a mestizo actor wearing a rubber mask, the wild-haired character sports silly clothes and speaks slowly with an exaggereated accent and bulging eyes. El Negro Mama is not only portrayed as lazy and stupid but simmering with criminal intent. He is often involved in thievery, drug dealing and common thuggery and even occasionally a rape(!).

The character and the show are quite popular in Peru and producers have refused to take it off the air despite protests from Lundu, a "civil rights" group. Many (most?) Peruvians (at least those interviewed) do not find El Negro Mama (sometimes also called La Negro Mama) racist and do not want the show taken off the air.

Interesting how such stereotypes not only cross cultural and linguistic barriers, but persist through the years.

El Negro Mama sample:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w61R3OrgiCQ&feature=related

 

[werewolf]

Ha ha! Goofy Spanish tv! Tell Barry Soetoro about this. Maybe they can sneak attack on Peru instead of Iran this month.

When I was in Guadalajara - for all intents a giant and negro-free city - I saw a Mexican with a t shirt with a picture on the front entitled "typical black family". It showed slovenly blacks lolling around on the floor with likker bottles and drug paraphernalia. An accurate depiction. I tried to catch up with him to ask him where he got it but I lost him in the crowd.



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[Liverlips]

I do Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with a few Peruvian guys. They say things like "blacks in Peru eat cats" and talk about how they don't take any $%&* from blacks who try to intimidate them. They listen to rock music and have always been cool with me. Two are mestizo-ish while two are as white as me.