Description: "Charts the development and shifting popularity of two stereotypes of black masculinity in popular American film? "the shaman" and "the scoundrel." Starting with colonial times, Williams identifies the origins of these roles in an America where black men were forced either to defy or to defer to their white masters. These figures recur in the stories America tells about its black men, from the fictional Jim Crow and Zip Coon to historical figures such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois."
Review Quotes: Provides a valuable analytical framework to continue to understand the ways in which the proliferation of black actors on film are confined by the stereotypical legacy of the industry.....Would be of use for those with interest in American Film, African American popular culture and United State racial politics.-- "The Popular Culture Studies Journal Reviews"