African Americans in cinema (and people of colour in general really) have always had a difficult time in the movie industry. This history ranges from an absurd number of racist stereotypes from all over the media industry, even from child-friendly companies such as Warner Bros. and of course the House of Mouse itself, Disney, to not even being seen in media at all. The video linked below proves this point by showing all of the screentime given to people of colour in the 1982 classic, 'E.T. The Extra Terrestrial'.
That's right. E.T. had a whole 9 seconds of people of colour speaking, and it was an unnamed van man. And modern movies aren't much better. You'd think a franchise as huge Harry Potter would have at least an hour of screentime dedicated to black people. However, the true number totals at a little over 6 minutes. Harry Potter is known for it's racist, sexist, homophobic and antisemitic stereotyping though so this may not be the best example.
In the early years of cinema, a black character would've been played by a white actor wearing heavy, dark make-up known as blackface. It took until 1914 for a black actor to even be cast in a leading role in a movie (said actor was Sam Lucas, a black stage actor and songwriter and the movie was Uncle Tom's Cabin). Throughout the '20s however, an influx of black actors came onto the Hollywood scene, hired by companies such as The Foster Photoplay Company and the Lincoln Motor Picture Company (the first ever production studio owned by black people).
Of course while this absolutely is progress, stereotypes still existed. Black people in media were still depicted in tribal clothing with huge pink lips and a bone through their hair, and it was being pushed onto children as well as adults, as shown here with an infamous image of Mickey Mouse in blackface and what was considered "Black clothing". And of course we can't forget about the infamous gang of crows in Dumbo, led by Jim Crow (Named after the Southern American segregation laws to enforce segregation). Nowadays, this has all been neatly dusted under the carpet with warnings in front of racist depictions on Disney+ but that doesn't change the fact they happened.
During the 40s, more black stars began appearing. Black people began to appear in prominent media and were becoming more of a household name. People were beginning to catch up with time. The 40s had stars such as Lena Horne (The first black actress to sign a studio contract), Dorothy Dandridge (Later in life, the first black Oscar nominee) and of course, Louis Armstrong.
This huge success continued into the 50s and 60s where Sidney Poitier became the first black man to win an Oscar and is considered the first black movie star. Sadly, Poitier passed away just earlier this year in January at the age of 94, but his career consisted of over 50 films, including a posthumous appearance in a Biopic of his life, 9 directorial roles and several appearances on famous talk shows from the 60s right through to the late 2000s
This new breeze of fame did come with negatives though. Blaxploitation is a term that came into usage in the early 1970s and described the usage of black people and their struggles by white directors to gain a profit. These movies took place in very stereotypical environments such as urban areas and the main character usually spent the movie overcoming "The Man" (typically a white oppressor) and the movies often features heavy violence and sexual connotations. These movies, however, did have the positive impact of portraying black people in a positive and heroic role, which was and unfortunately still is seen very little
Much like the 40s, the 80s and 90s came with many new black stars in the media who remain to be household names today. The 80s came with the rise of huge stars such as Eddie Murphy, Samuel L Jackson and Denzel Washington in the movie industry and legends like Prince, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie in the music world. All of these names are still known today with Samuel L Jackson currently holding one of the longest continuous runs as a single character with 15 years under his belt as Nick Fury in the MCU and of course Michael Jackson being, even posthumously, one of the most well-known musical artists in the world.
Today, black actors and filmmakers are bigger than ever, with Oscar winner Jordan Peele quickly becoming one of the most respected horror directors of recent years, Ryan Coogler's Black Panther becoming the first MCU movie to be nominated for best picture in 2019 and fellow Oscar winner Spike Lee bringing movies that send a message out, like 2019s BlacKkKlansman, telling the real story of a black police detective invading the KKK in 1970s Colorado. So with so many brilliant black directors making critically acclaimed movies, why is it that the Oscars