BRAINWASHED: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority
Ad man Tom Burrell calls out negative images of African Americans in the media for perpetuating the myth of black inferiority. In Brainwashed, he examines the history of the myth and how contemporary culture reinforces it.
Burrell cites slave auction posters as amongst the earliest ads in American history. “Advertising came in many, many forms” Burrell says. “Images and words are very powerful,” he continues, “and they conveyed and carried out this whole idea of African Americans being less-than, not as good as.”