Racial Stereotypes In African American Films

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Racial stereotyping in American film has revealed what cultural attitudes society had and have toward African Americans. All throughout changes in social constructs, changes in culture, and American film advancements, African Americans have remained a minority. The portrayal of them, however, has changed over time. Even now, after all the changes and advances society has made, there is still very few good representations of African Americans in film. With the Civil War having just finished not too long ago, early depictions of African Americans in film were entirely stereotypical. For instance, they were often given the role of servants, incompetent, child-like, and criminals. Although people often attempted to make these roles seem positive, it often dwindles down to portraying them as servants who are devoted to their master, rather than being equal. Lastly, this representation took a turn for the better in the 1910s-1930s, when certain film companies had the sole intention of a cast entirely made up of people of color. The shift in representation of African Americans in films during the 1910s-1930s was just the beginning. The Civil Rights Movement took place from 1955-1968, and this movement began to change the way in which screen time was shared between …show more content…

Even today, however, there are not enough main roles filed by African Americans to make them no longer a minority. In movies, they are most often being a sidekick rather than the superhero, or the best friend rather than main character. Also, African Americans often play roles of lower class individuals rather than higher class in films. Lastly, on a positive note, the amount of stereotyping has decreased, and there is much more positive representation than there was in the beginning of American

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