Stereotypes Of African Americans In Movies

Blackface. The Mammy. Gangsters and now drug dealers. What else is an African-American portrayed as in the movies? During the 20th century, many films illustrated an antebellum South where African American characters, standing by their dominant stereotypes were portrayed as incompetent, criminal and childish. Movies, TV shows and even children's films have contained aspects of racism and criticism towards the the African American race. They have played a major role in perpetuating this form of oppression and feeding the perception of African Americans as second-class citizens. But why is this? Why are they limited to degrading and exaggerated portrayals? And it all comes down to this. Stereotypes. Before movies and television became the dominant forms of entertainment, African-Americans have been cast in roles that allow the continuos cycle of inaccurate stereotypes. In the 1800’s minstrel shows were a popular form of entertainment among white Americans. The shows included whites portraying blacks as lazy, dim-witted and happy-go-lucky. Minstrel shows were the birthplace of Jim Crow, the generalized stereotype of blacks. This led to the Jim crow laws which enforced segregation between whites and blacks in all public
Take for example, Rush Hour 2. The story follows two FBI agents attempting to track down alleged criminals. Detective Carter, and African-American officer and Inspector Lee, a Chinese police officer are teamed up. Throughout the film, during serious action scenes (people killed and other chaotic events), Carter acts childish and impulsive and is seen as the comic relief for the white audience rather than trying to advance the plot. A recent study showed that only 21 out of 112 police movies released from 1971 to 2011 had a black cop in a heroic role and over half were simply to give the viewers laughs. Rarely do we see a black male/female take on the role of the main character in a