From Tarzan to Tonto: Stereotypes as Obstacles to Progress Toward a More Perfect Union

“From Tarzan to Tonto: Stereotypes as Obstacles to Progress Toward a More Perfect Union”, a symposium presented by Smithsonian National Museums of African Art, the American Indian, and African American History and Culture, will explore the role racial stereotypes play in American culture.

The idea for a joint event originated nearly one decade ago, at the start of Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole’s tenure as Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art: “When I came to the Smithsonian eight years ago, I was deeply touched and inspired by [National Museum of the American Indian]. I knew then that […] one of these days our two museums needed to do a public program that takes on this persistence of stereotyping our respective people,” Cole recounted on a phone call. (The National Museum of African American History and Culture, also a partner of the symposium, opened in 2016).

Kevin Gover, Director of the National Museum of the American Indian, who also participated in the phone call, added, “All peoples of color in the US know very well what stereotyping is and we experience it practically on a daily basis. But it’s a subject that we don’t really treat in a scholarly manner. It’s that cerebral approach that I think is enormously helpful and helps people to understand it, especially people who don’t receive stereotyping of their kind.”

The symposium addresses the imagery of Tarzan and Jane, Tonto and the Lone Ranger, Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima — all which represent stereotypes about African, Native American and African American people. Portrayed as the savior of the African jungle, Tarzan’s heroism was demonstrated by his killing of ‘black ape rapists’ – illustrated as African men. Figures like Uncle Ben and Aunt Jemima presented African Americans at peace with slavery and the inequalities of the post-bellum south. Tonto was the ill-spoken caricature of a Native American man and the sidekick to Lone Ranger, the hero of the West. The symposium will examine the lingering effects of these visuals on contemporary culture.

“The hope is that each of us would think of ‘the other’. In many ways that is the mission of the museum of African art and our partner museums – to help others, and ourselves, think about how we view each other,” Cole concluded.

Presenters are:
Gaurav Desai, professor of English and comparative literature, University of Michigan
Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation), assistant professor, American Studies, Brown University
Imani Perry, professor, Center for African American Studies, Princeton University
Jesse Wente (Ojibwe), leading film critic and producer for indigenous cinema

Professor Tiya Miles of the University of Michigan’s Department of American Culture Department of Afro-American and American Studies will moderate.

Speakers include: Kevin Gover (Pawnee), who will deliver welcoming remarks; Dr. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, who will deliver opening remarks; and Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The symposium is free and open to the public and will be held on Thursday, Feb. 9, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Rasmuson Theater at the National Museum of the American Indian.

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