African Americans in Film By Sean Champa ‘23
VISIBILITY // 1
Black History month may have different meanings for different people, but it is primarily a celebration dedicated to focusing on achievements made by black people and the adversity they faced. An industry that African Americans have made great strides in but has been the culprit of many stereotypes created of them is the film industry. Some of the earliest films and representations of African Americans were The Gator and a Pickaninny (1903), in which a fake alligator eats a black child and The Watermelon Contest (1908). These films portrayed many of the racist stereotypes already seen in literature and minstrel shows at the time. These stereotypes would continue, used to justify racist ideologies and over time they would change to fit cultural contexts. At the time, Hollywood rarely made films portraying African American life and culture with humanity. Because of this, many African American entrepreneurs went into filmmaking in order to fix the negative portrayals. Bill Foster is one such entrepreneur who founded the first black film production company in 1919, the Foster Photoplay Company. Oscar Micheaux was a noted novelist who founded the Micheaux Film and Book Company in 1918. Oscar Micheaux went on to create forty-three films over the three decades. These film
companies created “race movies,” movies that featured almost all-black casts and were marketed to black audiences. On the other hand predominantly white-owned studios hired white actors to play African American characters using blackface. Warner Bros.’ The Jazz Singer (1927) was one such film. The main character, Jakie Rabinowitz, a jewish singer, performs in blackface. He wants to be a jazz artist but his father wants him to become a cantor. In his nonreligious persona his performances draw from the blues tradition and black spirituals, an example of Hollywood taking advantage of black expressive culture. Beginning at the end of the 1940s, following World War II, a heightened sense of liberalism in American society led to changes. Films about race and power began to be produced by major studios such as Intruder in the Dust (1949) and Home of the Brave (1949). By the 1950s the “separate cinema” had ended and African Americans no longer had creative control over their movies. Hollywood looked for black talent but continued their racist, exclusionary policies. The civil rights movement brought about social change which influenced the box office. The first African American movies stars such as
