Of Mules and Mammies: The Mammy Mule Brainwashing of The American Black Women

“The Age Of the Supermammy Is Back!”- FedUpBlackWoman

The Black Woman is seen and treated as mammy mules to carry everyone’s burden and problems on her shoulders including rescuing, helping serving, defending and protecting everybody but her own damn self. Many modern-day Black Women are happy mammies and mules not only to white, but to some of everybody, especially those people, places and things that wouldn’t spit on them if they was on fire. It’s just a sad, pitiful sight to witness.

The American Black Woman has been successfully brainwashed and or programmed to be mammy mules. I didn’t realize the programming was that successful until I started studying and observing this disturbing behavior in (too) many Black Women a few short years ago.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ (1937) Janie (the main character) grandmother said to her “Black Women Are the Mules of The World.” That quote reigns true today as it did 78 years ago. For Harriet explains:

Our country was built on the backs of black women, and we continue to carry its burdens; therefore, the perception of us as mules is an accurate one.

For hundreds of years, we were the property of white men. During slavery, who tended to cotton and tobacco fields and cared for the master’s family and household, as well as their own? Black women. We bore children only to see them sold away to faraway plantations. When white men crept into slave cabins at night, nobody heard our cries as they wreaked havoc on our bodies. And look at where we are today. Despite all of our accomplishments in the face of adversity, black women remain objects of exploitation. Sometimes corporations employ us in high-paying positions, but most use us for cheap labor (see Wal-Mart). The government attempts to deny us basic human rights. Legislators try to control our reproductive systems. Women have no choice but to act as the backbone of the black community, holding families together while our black men are wrongfully killed and imprisoned.

Positive portrayals of black women in the media are few and far between, and our screens are bombarded with images of black women whose goals revolve around men: finding a man, getting money from men, and obtaining fame through male counterparts. Society expects black women who are not celebrities to be welfare queens fluent in birthing multiple children and speaking Ebonics. Teachers, professors, and even family members are quick to crush our dreams, and we have to work twice as hard as everybody else in order to get what we deserve. Our voices are silenced in mainstream media, our stories are ignored, and our murdered are left out of the news. It is evident that patriarchy does not wish to see black women succeed.

I have always even as a young girl believed in the concept of “support those people, places, or things that support you.” My motto is: NO SUPPORT WITHOUT RECIPROCATION. Unfortunately, Black Women have been trained to be good mammies and mules to people, places and things that could give two rat’s asses about Black Women and our issues as black people and women. Fortunately, (what looks like) a good number of Black Women are addressing the dire need for Black Women to stop happily operating like mammies and mules. There is just something in many Black Women’s brain computer that tells them to go get that supermammy cape and rescue, protect, or defend a racist white man or woman, a self-loathing negro who hate Black Women, anti-black non-black poc when these people are experiencing trouble or a problems. What’s even more sad is these women will support everybody except another black women, smdh. They’ll throw other Black Women and girls under the bus in a minute. They’ll take up everyone else’s cause except their own cause as a black woman (i.e., the rampant misogynoir and colorism against black women and girls) [Side Note: Of course, with the exception of black people’s causes in general, which is because they are black] Where’s the sisterhood?!? smfh.

Of course the mammy mentality in so many black women originated from white supremacist slave programming. It has grown from the mammy caricature whites created to portray black women as happy undesirable slaves to placate insecure white misses whose predatory slave master husbands (including other white males) who were always lurking in and around the slave quarters. According to The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia:

From slavery through the Jim Crow era, the mammy image served the political, social, and economic interests of mainstream white America. During slavery, the mammy caricature was posited as proof that blacks — in this case, black women — were contented, even happy, as slaves. Her wide grin, hearty laughter, and loyal servitude were offered as evidence of the supposed humanity of the institution of slavery.

This was the mammy caricature, and, like all caricatures, it contained a little truth surrounded by a larger lie. The caricature portrayed an obese, coarse, maternal figure. She had great love for her white “family,” but often treated her own family with disdain. Although she had children, sometimes many, she was completely de-sexualized. She “belonged” to the white family, though it was rarely stated. Unlike Sambo, she was a faithful worker. She had no black friends; the white family was her entire world. Obviously, the mammy caricature was more myth than accurate portrayal.

BWE Blogger Neecy provided more information about mammy’s role in American Television and film:

If you have ever seen Gone with the Wind, Hattie McDaniels who played the maid (and won an Oscar for it LOL) was a Mammy. When you look at her in comparison to Scarlette who was thin, feminine and well protected, Hattie was the stark difference. But Good ole Hattie was there to protect the innocent virtuous feminine sexually appealing Vivian. Black women were often portrayed in this light as to not be a threat to WHite womanhood. They needed to present Black women as less of a feminine beauty/ideal that did not need protection and more as the protector (which is a masculine trait).

Nowadays you can see these kinds of Black women in a variety of media like commercial, TV shows and movies. MADEA is the first and most prevalent Mammy I can think of today.

The Mammy character – She is  usually paired next to the feminine sexually attractive and thin Non Black woman and is usually the ASEXUAL side kick friend, always looking to “nurse” her hot friends “man issues”. Or she is just generally there to help and nurse everyone else’s needs and help them fix their problems, is always offering up her shoulder to cry on, puts her burdens and “needs” and problems aside just to address and help others.

She will even over extend herself to others who use her back as a stepping stool to get what they want even if that means knocking her down and getting what they need and want at HER expense. What does the MAMMY do? She smiles, takes it and finds more ways to supplicate to the very people who are stepping on her and shitting on her.

These comments below from another black female blogger describes how the modern-day mammified Negro Women  operate against their own interest as a black person who is a woman as well as against those of black women and girls collectively:

I consider these chicks modern-day Mammies sad clowns trolling for approval that will never come.

The more things change the more they stay the same.
When we talk about non-Black women the mammies call it bashing.
If we discuss self-hating Black men the mammies call us bitter.
Mammies job is to defend serve and protect White women, White Men, Non-Black POC, and self-hating BM.
Mammy is always on the patrol to call out your wicked ways!

One such example is Caitlyn  Bruce’s Jenner’s transition from a man to a “woman.” Read one blogger’s opinion about it here. It was embarrassing how many Super Mammy Negro Women on social media took out their proverbial capes to “rescue” Bruce. There are a few questions these silly women did not bother to ask themselves cause they are so busy mammying and muling:

1. Why I am caping for a white male millionaire who already has  white privilege when I’m a part of a group of girls and women who are the most oppressed, unprotected, disrespected, demeaned, and disregarded on the planet?
2.  Would Bruce Jenner, a white male millionaire cape for Black Women? Would he gather or form a group of people who will demand that Black Women and girls to start being protected and respected? NO!
3. Hell, has he ever caped for Black Women? Again, NO!

There is a saying that you teach people how to treat you. Black Women are continuously treated like society’s mammy mules because many of us allow it. Mammying and muling is why Black Women stay at the bottom of the social order instead of rising to the top (where we are supposed to be). If you act as a mammy mule, you will be treated like one (and then these women have the nerve to wonder why others do not treat black women like Queens, “Damsels in Distress”, etc.). Moreover, Black Women who mammy mule  is not helping herself nor the Black Woman collective character and image. Woman’s character and image. In addition, mammying and muling  is not bringing black women any rewards or profit, but it sure is bringing many black women heartache, pain, and poor physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health that’s for sure. Sadly, mammified black women keep hoping that they will one day get rewarded for their support only to be disappointed. Black Women are never rewarded or given credit for our contributions to society and even our own “community.” The only black woman who has profited and been rewarded for being “mammy” is Oprah (and that’s not an insult cause when you analyze her past actions, she has been (White) “America’s Emotional Mammy” for over 20 years).

Black Women need to stop. We can’t be everything to everyone, especially those who do not care for us. Sistas, if you’re mammying and muling and you realize it (I hope you do) stop it, stop it now for the sake of you physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Lastly,  If you’re a mammified Black Woman. Here’s one Black Woman’s advice to you:

Stop being the emotional mammy trying to solve everyone’s problems! You aren’t a therapist and if you are, raise your rates! How many of them give a damn about you? When was the last time somebody phoned just to ask how you’re doing?

Stop being the digital mammy for any man too lazy, apathetic or stupid to plan face to face dates. I mean proper dates, not kicking it at his house!

Stop being cheerleader, handmaiden and side-kick for those who do not return the favor! And nanny! Make your kids raise their own kids!

Stop supporting people and places who diss you from relatives to bitter self-hating Black men and of course, discriminatory, Asian-run beauty supply stores!

Stop supporting music that disses your skin tone. Yes I’m talking to you, hip hop! The karma of rappers is their daughters, many of them are dark skin girls…

Stop loving men who won’t marry you or help you raise your children.

Stop defending those who ignore you, period!