pickaninnies who are “parasites” that “infect” the “freckled-face” inno-cence, not just of the original Annie character, but of American childhooditself.
The idea that Black characters are going to corrupt white people and rob them of their innocence is so ironic since it is Black girls who are robbed of this innocence through things such as adultification.
I hateseeing black people take over and in my eyes ruin childhood memoriesI adore.
This reminds me of the discourse that took place with The Little Mermaid live action movie. It is so bizarre that where people draw the line with a mythical and magical character like a mermaid is their race. It's okay if they have every magical power but being Black is just too unrealistic. This discourse is cyclical.
had 17 whiteBoston men vouch for the book’s authenticity
The notion that Black people or their work is only valid if white people say so is still so prevalent in movie and media. Especially mainstream films, they are only seen as good if white audiences say so.
he mass of ignorant Negroes still breed carelessly and disastrously
This idea of the talented tenth that DuBois was a prominent figure for shows that respectability politics within the Black community are quite common. He thought it was the responsibility of the upper class and intelligent ten percent of the population to uplift the "bottom" 90 percent. This idea leads to harmful ideas that the more respectable you are the more shielded you are from white supremacy which is false.
bucket of chicken, a scene in which thecharacter performs the most racist of stereotypes about black people andfried chicken,
These types of stereotypes are rooted in the minstrel show tradition which was ingrained in American popular culture, and still today many of these stereotypes are ingrained in popular culture from films to music. Jezebel and Mammy stereotypes were also vital to this minstrel tradition.
It presents the dark cultural spaces where Preciousresides, along with her children born of incest, framed by all that civili-zation abhors (poverty, filth, disorder, welfare, blackness, etc.)
I find that there is no middle ground when it comes to films with Black main characters. They either play into respectability politics and are upper class and vain or "welfare queens" like how Precious is portrayed. There is a huge gap that is unfulfilled with middle class Black characters who are not constantly being traumatized.
black children are either stereotyped orabsented from mainstream cinema
It is very annoying that the most popular movies often have a black friend who is child. They are often only there to further the plot of the white protagonist.
black female children
I think this inclusion is important. I think the effect of these stereotypes on children is often overlooked because we are told that these are associated with women and not girls. However, girls also deal with this over sexualization or asexualization.
Dark Continen
This myth that Africa is the "dark continent" led to a lot of anthropomorphism and "jungle" themes being associated with Africa even though it is a very diverse continent with dessert, cities, etc.