The main purpose of this blog is to deconstruct the social issue of the over sexualization of African American women. One of the main reasons why African American women are over sexualized is because they are seen as always sexually available. To understand why they are seen as sexually available we have to get to the root of the problem, where this stereotype and notion came from. One of the many roots of the problems occurred from the post-Civil War era in the United States, also known as the reconstruction era. During this time, slavery had been abolished in the United States, and former slaves were freed and integrated into society. The reconstruction era was an attempt to integrate these now freed people into to the white dominant society. Due to the attempt to do this there were many uprising and riots against African Americans and entering society. Hannah Rosen specifically talks about the Memphis Riot of 1866 in her writing “Not That Sort of Women” (New York, 1999). Rosen explains how white males, would target African American women who’s men in their lives served in the Civil War, whether it be their husbands, brothers, fathers or sons. If these women were connected to African American soldiers in any way, they were targeted (New York, 1999). Rosen describes that white men, mostly men of the law, would target African American women and would rape and beat them (New York, 1999). Since slaves were now freed white men needed someway to stabilize their power over African Americans. The way they did this was through raping African American women; this disgustingly gave them a sense over power over them and reestablished the “slave-master” role in some ways. Rosen explains how these women in Memphis were terrified. The reestablished men would threaten them if they told anyone or opened their mouths about the rapes (New York, 1999). These African American women would not tell anyone or speak out against the men who raped them. They knew if they did that their families and possessions would be in jeopardy, therefore most of them stayed quite and continued to be abused. By not going to authorities, or using their voice as weapons due to fear these women did not stop the abuse. Unfortunately this lead to stereotypes that continue to forgo today. We cannot blame these women, who were they about to turn to the law who was abusing them? They did not speak out which allowed people to think that they were/are sexually available. This is a stereotype that continues today, and we can pinpoint exactly where it came from.