The Token Black Guy In Teen Movies
“Throughout history, the powers of single black men flash here and there like falling stars, and die sometimes before the world has rightly gauged their brightness.”
- W.E.B. Du Bois (1903), The Souls Of Black Folk (p. 4)
The film industry is no stranger to racism; from the days of blackface to the exploitation and appropriation of Black culture, Hollywood executives, producers, writers, and actors have all sought to suppress and oppress Black culture for the mainstream viewing audience, as well as Black audiences themselves. These days, however, to reach a perpetually changing demographic of teenagers, film companies have had success stories with films like American Pie, Cruel Intentions, and Can't Hardly Wait - all movies geared towards teens armed with their parents' money. However, in an effort to appear diverse while making movies that appeal mainly to suburban, White teenagers, Hollywood has decided to place in the 'token black guy;' the one person of color in the entire movie, but stand in the back and doesn't really do anything.
Teen movies follow a formula for success: a love story, beautiful people, California high school - these are usual staples in the teen flick market. However, the race aspects of the token also follow the same aspects: the 'token black guy' never appears by himself, only when he is around his Caucasian friends; he never speaks unless spoken to by others; and he never stars in any scenes that feature him as the object of attention, making him forever stuck in the supporting actor role.
This tokenism featured in movies is not only damaging to the Black actors and actresses in the industry who accept those jobs because of lack of parts and ...
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... huge change in pace from achingly slow to a medium flow. When people can work together in the film industry and understand each other culturally, that is when the progress people speak so much of is in effect. When tokenism is done with – that is when the change has occurred.
References
Du Bois, W.E.B. (1903). The Souls of Black Folks. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co.
Dunbar, Paul Laurence (1926). The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar. New York:
Dodd, Mead, & Company
Ringer, Benjamin B. (1983). “We the People” and Others: Duality and America’s Treatment of its Racial Minorities. New York: Tavistock Publications
Waxman, Sharon. (2003, March 23). For Black Actors, A New Story Line. The Washington
Post. Retrieved from the World Wide Web: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wpdyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A6169-2003Mar21¬Found=true
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Wu, F. H. (2002). Yellow: race in america beyond black and white. New York: Basic
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