What interests me about this chapter is that it mentions about how racism affects the black community and how messages pervasive in them are internalized. This internalization creates the message that black people are completely at fault for their failures. Michelle Alexander mentions about Bill Cosby, who mentions that the problem with the black community is that black men have no shame. This creates the image of the “good black person” as compared to the “bad black person”, with the “bad black person” being the creation of the stereotypical black person by American society. This is a reason why when a black person acts in a way like the “bad black person”, that they are seen as “making all black people look bad”.

The image of the “good black person” as compared to the “bad black person” is depicted in the media. In sitcoms, such as the Jeffersons, the Cosby Show, and Family Matters, the families are “good black people”. More media today depict the stereotype of the “bad black people”, in reality TV shows, hip hop music videos, and shows like Maury and Jerry Springer. In Tyler Perry movies, there are depictions of the “good black people” and the “bad black people”. The creation of the “bad black person” causes the black community to scorn a black person who has been to prison (even for mild drug offenses) and to view him as a criminal.

Ending the distinction between the “good black person”, who is from a middle class family and goes to church regularly and the “bad black person”, depicted in hip hop music videos and reality TV will only end if the stereotypes of the black person from other racial and ethnic groups end.