Black Men and Media: Historical VS. Contemporary Roles

Since I wrote about black women and media historical vs. contemporary, I thought I should do the same for black males.

Drug dealer, dead-beat dad, and comedian. These are just a few characters roles seen on television, advertising, and film today played by black males. These roles can be seen throughout the history of media. Black men are seen as toms, coons, and the black buck. A comparison between historical and contemporary roles suggest that characters may have changed in name but the traits are still alive and well.

The Tom, considered a good Negro, loyal, and submissive. He is the male counterpart to mammy. James B. Lowe played this character in "Uncle Tom's Cabin", as to what a good Negro should be. No matter if he is imprisoned, beaten, and insulted, he never turns against his master. He is here to obey his master and life is good if he does so.¹ Today's film culture you may see black men protecting a white counterpart. for example, in "Man on Fire" starring Denzel Washington, he is hired to protect a white child and to do anything even giving his life to do so to protect her.

The Coon, there are two types of coons. One is the pickaninny and the other is uncle remus. A pickaninny is a child character who is harmless, typically uses facial expressions to bring humor. The most historically recognizable character would be "buckwheat" on "The Little Rascals." Later the image of the pickaninny became known as lazy, good for nothing, and unreliable. Basically seeing the black male as unreliable and lazy can be seen on almost every television show or film. One movie in particular is "Waiting to Exhale", where every guy is utterly useless except for one. The "uncle remus" is the other coon image. He is also harmless but he is also content with the system, just as the "Tom" character.²

The Black Buck, the brutal and oversexed. This character can be seen in the famous film " Birth of a Nation." There buck character in "Birth of a Nation" lusting after a white female to the point she falls off a cliff and dies. This character's image seems to be sexually repressed and extremely angry. He lets out his anguish upon innocent whites. This character can be seen on any show just as the "coon" character. On any given action film the assailant is typically young, black, and angry.³

It is unfortunate that black male images have not changed much. It does not look as if there will be any change in the near future. The one positive aspect that I do see is there is a little more balance of character roles than there were fifty years ago.

Sources:
1)Donald Bogle. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films, pp.4
2)Donald Bogle. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films, pp.7
3)Donald Bogle. Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films, pp.10-12