By Ama Boateng, Hamilton HS, Class of 2026
I have found film to be an extremely powerful medium to tell stories, share information and inspire the masses. However, the racist history of American film causes me to ask a multitude of questions about the depiction of African Americans.
For example , mainstream perspectives on the origins of film often refer to white male creators such as Charlie Chaplin as the most influential pioneers of the film industry. Chaplin’s most popular creations–The Kid and The Great Dictator–foreshadowed the political power movies would later hold. Case in point is the grotesquely orchestrated abomination of D. W. Griffiths’ The Birth Of a Nation. This film depicts the rampant influence of white supremacy, not as a horror, but as a cleansing savior to early twentieth century white audiences . In Griffiths’ film, white men adorned blackface,( a practice of replicating the speech and physical characteristics of Black folks as a form of mockery and entertainment) and depicted Black men as brutes seeking to rape and exploit “pure” docile white women .
I had long understood the value of film simply for its virality and impact. So, I came to realize the danger of this category of film. Directors like D.W. Griffiths’ profane bigotry produces media that depicts us as savage and inhumane, stripping us of control over our image. However, if African Americans were in control of the narratives of our own stories, we would be able to convey this art form to our communities, highlighting both the horrors and triumphs of our history.
Unfortunately, when assessing the quality of modern day historical films that depict our experience, we are clearly not in control. Although I was excited to see films such as Harriet and 12 Years a Slave, the main protagonists of these films are not portrayed by African Americans. I believe we should support and invest in our community to maintain authenticity; which means working to ensure that African American casts and writers are hired. Although the actors in the films I mentioned are African in origin, they were born or raised in Britain with minimal to no ties to America (I’m specifically referring to Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Chiwetel Ejiofor Thandiwe Newton, David Oyelowo, Cynthia Erivo). Why were African Americans not telling or depicting our own stories?
There is a deep emotional and cultural connection African-American peoples have to their history. Many times we face reminders of a past, rich in culture, that was forged out of resistance and suffering. Today we find our history actively being censored, rewritten or flat out ignored.(See, for example, the Rise in the Heritage Fund and Christian Nationalistic Rhetoric). So what does it mean when we are cut out of benefiting from the notoriety of a history we are still living in? While I’m unsure of the exact motive of actors or producers who fit this bill, it is certain that a lack of respect for African Americans is normalized in these feature films. However, our lived experience of 500 years in the making reaps billions at the box office.
Actors such as David Oyelowo display painful ignorance of the African American experience. He was recently featured in an interview making derogatory comments about African American Southern speech and negatively comparing it to Nigerian accents. In the interview he said: “Southerners? If you take the Nigerian accent like this and you slow it down, you put a lot of slavery in there, and then you start to uh uh put a little bit of subservience in it, this is what starts to happen to the Nigerian accent,”(03:04:00)
I was struck by the similarity between his ideology and the anti-African American viewpoints I’ve encountered. I’m a Ghanaian American (through my father’s side) and I’m well aware of the rhetoric spewed by David Oyelowo. Family and friends often accuse African Americans of being lazy, unintelligent, and devoid of culture, deeming them deserving of the treatment bestowed upon them by society. This is a common ideology shared amongst West African communities, and most certainly others, that is dangerously misinformed and riddled with ethnocentrism and colonialism. It serves as a fearful attempt to remove all similarity between African and African Americans despite the fact that. in the eyes of a country obsessed with race, being “African” won’t save you. Oyelowo’s comments also caused me to question the ideologies behind other African British actors that make their money in American media.
While actors play a part in the misrepresentation of the Black experience, directors play a more forceful role in these narratives. Films that focus on African American history are often not directed by those who share the Black experience. For example, Hidden Figures and The Green Book were directed by white men, a far shot from a thorough understanding of the experiences they aim to portray. With these films we often come face to face with the “White Savior”. In Hidden Figures it presents itself as the fictitious “Al Harrison”, boss of the Black women engineers and mathematicians featured in the film. In The Greenbook, the White Savior is Tony Lip, the bodyguard of protagonist Dr. Shirley, who is African American. These White Saviors serve to protect not only the Black protagonist from hateful bigots, but the white viewer from having to deal with the truth of racism. The role of these white characters provides a palatable version of African American stories which are often diluted for the comfort of white audiences. White Saviors are always depicted as “aiding” Black characters’ survival of the horrors of racism. Without White Saviors, there is little to no moral escape white audiences can engage in. So, while the audience is provided with recognition of African American heroism, these films ultimately cater to mainstream America, i.e. white folks.
It is with strong will that I aim to change how my people are seen. The virality of media is a double edged sword that can either be of aid or destruction. It is imperative that we recognize disparities that are presented as dog whistles because, if they aren’t critiqued, who knows how long they will go without being unchecked.
Ama graduated with high honors and a 4.0+ GPA from Hamilton HS. She will be a college freshman in the fall. Ama’s academic and professional aspirations include attaining her Bachelor’s and PhD in Aerospace Engineering and joining a start-up or large corporation to manage/contribute to Aerospace and astronautical systems while actively using her knowledge and skill set for prosperity.
