When working with small children (especially non-black children) I sometimes feel like a mammy caricature. Usually I have this feeling when I am consoling a child close to my chest (some mammies were wet nurses) or I am telling a child what to do in a stern tone (sometimes that's all they need in order to listen and it intimidates the people I'm working with more than the children).
I have had conflicting feelings in the past when the thought of being a mammy has crossed my mind. Should I stop what I'm doing because of the negative images that surround the mammy caricature (ugly, obese, nonsexual, more loyal to others than her family)? Or should I keep doing what I'm doing because I'm good with the kids and no one is having these thoughts but me? I choose the later the majority of the time.
The question I now ask is why does that thought even cross my mind?
Check out this site about black caricatures. I find it really interesting and would love to visit the museum.
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/mammies/
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