Black women are by far some of the most talented, diverse, intelligent, and beautiful groups of not just women, but of human beings periods. In every sector of today’s society, black women set trends and break down barriers. However, this road has taken centuries to smooth out. Although all black Americans are and have been systematically oppressed by the system in some form or fashion, paraphrasing the words of Malcolm X, the black woman is the most disrespected, unprotected, and neglected person in America. We have dealt with a great deal of suffering, oppression, and discrimination that will never be experienced or endured by any other group of people. Black women have been victims of sexual abuse and murder, which has caused traumatic pain that dwells within the depths of our souls and is often only treated with forced silence. Black women have been unprotected by the men and women of their cultural communities. We have been ridiculed for our Afrocentric features in the workplace and in our own homes, made to feel less than because of the internalized self-hatred and jealousy of others. Though we are strong, our strength is often misinterpreted as a synonym for being “unable to feel pain,” and every cry for help is ignored. Because of our strength, it is believed that we are beings that do not need or deserve, recognition for our accomplishments. Even once we have overcome these external and internal factors by our willpower and strength endowed by whatever higher power we look to as individuals, we are still alienated by society.
This especially occurs in Hollywood. As an advent Hollywood film industry lover, I do not see enough women who look like me in the mainstream Hollywood Industry. Nor do I see enough black female characters that cover the diversity of Black women. Why is this?
In my opinion, those in power in Hollywood build walls to keep black women from gaining access to success on the other side and fulfilling the possibilities that await them. This is a reaction to either the threat that black women pose to the fame, power, and prestige in Hollywood or implicit and explicit bias. Either way, both have led to the exclusivity of Black women from films and a preference for white actresses and their roles. When Black actresses recognize these barriers, they build steps based on education, knowledge, diligence, self-actualization, devotion, and confidence. Unfortunately, when Black women climb over the wall, those in power may not try to push them out of Hollywood directly. Still, they may consciously or unconsciously try to blackball them from or minimize their presence in Hollywood by not giving them recognition or awards for their accomplishments or adequate roles. Actress Viola Davis spoke about black actresses being in “crisis mode” due to the sparse amount of roles created for them and the opportunities they receive (Thompson, 2013). Though this may not be the intention of Hollywood, every injustice is injustice, whether intentionally or not-period. Now that we have a foundation to understand where the plight comes from let’s unpack two aspects of the plight.
The first part of the plight of Black women is the inadequate recognition they receive and they have to work twice as hard to receive it compared to their white female actresses. Once recognized, Black women have to work harder to cross over into “mainstream Hollywood” and receive not just nominations but wins in Academy Award categories. Almost twenty years ago, in 2001, Halle Berry, for her role in Monster Ball, became the first and only black woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress in Lead Role (Gant, 2020). This was about fifty years after Dorothy Dandridge was the first black woman to be nominated in the same category in 1954. Also since 1954, there have only been seven black female nominees, including Berry, in the category; this is truly insane and, all around shameful. This shows that though black women are recognized, we are not recognized enough. Moreover, only eight black women including Hattie McDaniel, Whoopi Goldberg, Jennifer Hudson, Monique, Octavia Spencer, Lupita Nyongo, Viola Davis, and Regina King,(in this order) have won Best Actress in a Supporting Role out of the twenty-five that has been nominated between 1939 and 2020 (Penrice, 2019).
Clearly, these facts show general recognition of black actresses, but this isn’t enough; it is the bare minimum. The awards that black actresses awards receive from major associations are moving at a slower pace than one of a society that has claimed to evolve in race relations and representation as well as inclusivity. The accolades given to Black women are by no means equal to the accomplishments they made to get to that point. For example, Angela Basset has played roles in over fifty films, including Tina Turner’s biopic, What’s Love Got to do with it, and other well-known films such as Malcolm X, Notorious, Waiting to Exhale, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Yet, Basset has only received two mainstream awards, including a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award (Biography.com Editors, 2020). In another case, Black-ish star Jennifer Lewis, known as “The Mother of Black Hollywood,” has had a career of about four decades, with over forty films under her belt but with no mainstream nomination or awards to show for it. One could say this may be the fault of the actress, but in Lewis’ specific case and the case of multiple other Black actresses, this would be like saying that racism is the fault of people of color.
You may be asking, “Well, if Black women can climb over the wall to enter Hollywood and gain some recognition, why can’t they use the same thing that got them there to elevate themselves and receive even more recognition?” Remember that the industry simply was not built for them. Also, by societal standards, Black women have not dominated the entertainment industry long enough to assert that power to change such a historically and systematically white industry. Everything about the foundation of Hollywood was built on misogyny and racism– two things that work against black women as a double minority at its core. It was only after centuries characterized by slavery and Jim Crow laws that Black women could possess the tools needed to cross over from domestic jobs as housemaids to professional clerical and medicinal jobs to entertainment. However, when they entered the film industry, the roles they gained were indifferent to their existence and depth as women and as human beings. This point brings us to the second part of the plight.
As Viola Davis spoke about the crisis mode, many Black womens’ way in and key to staying relevant in Hollywood is through roles that may encourage stereotypes, leading to negative labeling and stereotype threats, and those roles that excessively call attention to black trauma. The beginning of black female roles in Old Hollywood films began as Mammys, a stereotyped figure of a middle-aged black woman that provides moral support and comfort to her white employer as if she were their mother (Jones, 2019). Mammy was derived from race relations, serving to elevate the white protagonist, and counter the white beauty standard that the white protagonists fulfill (Jones, 2019). Ironically, this was the role played by Hattie McDaniel, which won her an Academy Award. In this aspect of the Plight of Black women, they are in a dilemma of having to choose between their careers and maintaining a self that is separate forms stereotypical roles created for black actresses. Angela Basset, when speaking on how she manages this dilemma, once said, “My people were slaves in America, and even though we’re free on paper and in law, I’m not going to allow you to enslave me on film, in celluloid, for all to see.” Though Mammy roles are not as prevalent in Hollywood as they were, aside from historical dramas, other films too often call for black actresses to depict black women as angry, “ghetto,” unattractive, unintelligent, promiscuous, homewreckers, junkies, single mothers, or neglectful mothers. Though there is nothing wrong with black women accepting these roles or for film writers creating plots that call for these kinds of characters, these should not be the only films or roles that black women can be guaranteed to have. Black actresses should not be used to serve the small-mindedness and bigotry of film writers and casting directors, black or white. Black women are more than their flaws. We are more than stereotypes. We are a wide diaspora that deserves to be depicted as anything from the President of the United States, to being in love, to being from the upper class, and to being anything outside of generalizations and biases.
The Take Away
Hattie McDaniel became the first actress to earn an Academy Award during a time of segregation and inequality; it was surely a win. Although her award-winning role as Mammy is not ideal in our modern times, it was probably the first foot in the door that Black women of the time had in Hollywood. This foot in the door gave way to other black actresses. Stars such as Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Cicely Tyson, Ruby Dee, and Josephine Baker changed the game. They made an effort to show America that we were more than roles of housemaids whose only premise was to cater to the character development of white costars. Though they did not all receive the due amount of the credit they deserved, their work and contributions hold strong. Since then, Black women in Hollywood are occupying more spaces that were once unimaginable. They are working twice as hard to constantly change the narrative and three times as hard to solidify it. Today’s leading Black women of Hollywood such as Viola Davis, Lupita N’yongo, Octavia Spencer, Regina King Anglea Bassett, Taraji P. Henson, Issa Rae, and Cynthia Ervio are the new pioneers of an ongoing fight to increase inclusivity and recognition that is far from over. To ensure that the difficulties in Hollwyood do not continue longer than it already has, each of us, whether black women or not, must recognize and appreciate their accomplishments, dedication, and contributions to not only the story of black entertainment, but to the greater story of American entertainment. As there is a new generation of black actresses such as Zendaya, Yara Shahidi, Storm Reid, and Marsai Martin, let’s work to heavily increase the recognition, role availability, and role diversity that Hollywood has to offer Black actresses. Eradication of the plight may come later than sooner, but the work can be done now. This work starts on the inside; it starts with a deep questioning of how the film industry has validated your own biases and maybe even vice versa. This work begins by educating yourself on Hollywood’s many great unsung Black women, such as Alfre Woodard, Margret Avery, Aunjuane Ellis, Sharon Leal, Robin Givens, Kimberly Elise, Anika Noni Rose, and Tasha Smith. Their names may not hold as much weight in the film industry repertoire as they should. Most importantly, we must uplift today’s and tomorrow’s Black actresses and remember those who have paved the way.
Sources:
Jones, Ellen. “From Mammy to Ma: Hollywood’s Favourite Racist Stereotype.” BBC Culture, BBC, 31 May 2019, https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190530-rom-mammy-to-ma-hollywoods-favourite-racist-stereotype.
Jones, Ellen. “From Mammy to Ma: Hollywood’s Favourite Racist Stereotype.” BBC Culture, BBC, 31 May 2019, https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190530-rom-mammy-to-ma-hollywoods-favourite-racist-stereotype.
Thompson, Arienne. “Where Are the Black Women in Hollywood?” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 17 Dec. 2013, https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/12/17/hollywood-turns-a-blind-eye-to-black-women-in-film-tv/3443751/.
Penrice, Ronda Racha. “Black Women and the Oscars Have a Storied History.” Medium, ZORA, 25 Apr. 2021, https://zora.medium.com/black-women-and-the-oscars-have-a-storied-history-ef66d32f6078.