Because of the U.S. history of slavery,
assumptions about the sexuality of African American women in the United States
differ from those made about European American women. Racial stereotypes rooted
in the beliefs of the slavery era pervade U.S. culture. These include the
asexual Black Mammy who cares for white children but not for her own; the
hypersexual, irresponsible Jezebel who tempts white men to sin; the Welfare
Queen who cheats the taxpayers; and the domineering Black Matriarch who is to
blame for her children’s failures. The sexual stereotype of enslaved women as
licentious extends far back into history; modern racism extended it to all Black
women and also used the myth of Black hypersexuality as a reason to enslave
Black people.
