Carried By 6

Examining the portrayal of Black sexuality in one of Black TV’s most culturally defining series.

By Devonte Whitfield

I like sneakers. You like sneakers. But like a lot of Black men, we put an excessive amount of value in them, okay. Is it really worth our dignity?

“Crank Dat Killer” 14:52 – 15:00

Black sexuality isn’t a topic foreign to the show Atlanta, which is a given considering the city it takes its name from is known for it’s polarizing sex work culture as well as it’s large Black LGBTQ+ community. In fact, a couple episodes after the duo’s encounter with the Shoe Man, a documentarian examines masculinity in 90s media.

When A Goofy Movie came out, Black masculinity in the media was in a really weird place.

On one hand, you’ve got men doing kind of “faux queer” comedy, and on the other end of the spectrum you’ve got these hypermasculine portrayals.

“The Goof Who Sat by the Door” 17:07 – 17:33

The dynamic between Darius, Earn, and the Shoe Man seems to be a metaphor for how Black masculinity is contorted in the media for entertainment. Faux Queer characters like Martin’s Big Momma or the Wayans brothers White Chicks have become a common motif in Black comedy, which has also been problematic for honest Black Queer portrayals.

Identity

Earns problem isn’t that kissing a man makes him gay, it’s simply that he’s not willing to compromise his own sexuality for something as trivial as shoes. As exaggerated as the ideas of Hollywood rituals and hazing are by the Black community in particular, there is a noticeably large amount of faux queer roles taken on by Black men, and it’s not unreasonable to question why that is. The subversion of the hypermasculine stereotype of burly men by putting them in a dress has been used for laughs for decades, and at this point has become its own staple in comedy. However it becomes more problematic when it’s Black men used for laughs.

Consider how the subjugation of Black people and compromission of Black masculinity for centuries has caused issues with accepting different gender identities, leading to high levels of Homophobia in the Black community. The problems with sexual identity in the Black community are often overlooked, but in the context of this history portrayals like Tyler Perry’s Madea become too rooted in reality to be taken for jokes.

The Error of Martin Lawrence

The point of this article isn’t to argue against Black Queer representation, if anything it’s to support it. But the problem with the contortion of black sexuality we see so often in the media is that it undermines the real struggle with sexuality many in the community face today. Young Black people are often ostracized by their community for expressing identities that don’t align with the archaic beliefs so deeply engrained into their culture.

Many Black people don’t even realize their homophobic behavior is another consequence of their subjugation in which their ability to express their identity was taken away. It’s important that we have honest representation of Black people with different identities to break through these generational barriers. And the last thing we need is another mockery of how centuries of oppression have confused Black people about who they are.