A History of Black Stereotypes Onscreen

by Panzer
For most of my life I've been caught in between
who I really am and how I'm perceived."
When the #Oscars-so-white hashtag took off in 2015,
it drew attention to the larger conversation around
whose stories get told and recognized.
"In 2016 the nominations came out and again there were no people of color
in any of the acting categories."
But it’s equally important to discuss how black stories have long been told.
"The network does not want to see negros on television
unless they are buffoons."
There’s a long history of grotesque racist caricatures
depicting black people as childlike, animalistic or lazy,
"I'm just a worn-out ol' man what don't do nothin' but tell stories."
in order to justify slavery, and the systemic mistreatment of black people.
"When you mock or belittle us, you enforce an existing system."
Versions of these caricatures carried over into
our earliest blockbuster movies and remained popular onscreen,
"If you don’t care what folks says about this family, I does."
in large part because, while black characters
have always been a part of American films,
black filmmakers (and sometimes even performers)
tended to be excluded from their creation.
If we look closer, numerous anti-black stereotypes
persevere in some form to this day across our films, TV shows and culture.
"When Shonda Rhimes writes her autobiography, it should be called:
'How to Get Away with Being an Angry Black Woman.'"
Here’s our Take on the history of black stereotypes on screen,
where they came from, and how they still influence our society today
much more pervasively than you might think.
"Cops everywhere staring down the barrel of a gun at a black man
don’t see a human being, they see a caricature,
a thug, a n[BLEEP]."
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One major category of anti-black stereotypes