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Pop quiz–Can you name at least two current black action stars, excluding Will Smith and Denzel Washington?  Or the last time you saw an interracial couple on the big screen where the storyline didn’t revolve around the color of their skin and/or didn’t end as tragically as a Shakespearean play? Columnist J.F. Sargent at humor site, Cracked.com explores some of the racial and sexist stereotypes Hollywood  just can’t seem to let go of.  Even with a black man as president, mainstream audiences aren’t comfortable or just don’t care to watch black actor/actresses unless we are in certain supportive roles: the sidekick, the BBF (Best Black Friend), or the domestic (The Help).  The author states:

So how does this play out in real movies? Black characters end up in supporting roles, instead of being well-developed characters. They’re just there so we can “judge the other (white) characters by how they treat them.” In other words, we certainly don’t root for racist characters, and we’ll boo racist stereotypes. But our open-mindedness usually stops at the point of actually paying to see a black leading man. Other than Will Smith.

Read rest of article HERE

What say you readers?  Which tired racial stereotypes should Hollywood retire? Express your thoughts in comment section below.