The movie industry has a reputation for excluding Black actors, writers, and directors, so it’s no surprise that it would produce children’s movies with racist content. Here are some that were problematic.
#1: All This and Rabbit Stew (1941)
A side character in this movie was obsessed with playing craps, had exaggerated pink lips, and eventually went naked except for a leaf. All of these factors were made intentionally to perpetuate stereotypes of Black people at the time. Fortunately, the movie has been banned since 1968.
#2: Dumbo (1941)
The movie featured faceless Black men singing about their love for slavery. A crow named Jim mimicked a Black person, sourcing the concept from the minstrel show character Jim Crow in the early 1830s, played by a white actor. It took until 2021 for the original movie to be removed from Disney+.
#3: Song of the South (1946)
The movie was set in the post-Civil War South, and spread the myth that Black people were more than happy to stay on plantations after slavery ended. This film was also excluded from Disney’s streaming service.
Racist stereotypes in children’s movies hurt our liberation by whitewashing and helping to cripple our future leaders. These movies harm Black children’s abilities to see themselves as they truly are: beautiful, intelligent, and capable of anything they seek to achieve.