African_Americans_In_The_Media

African Americans In The Media “African American Portrayals in the Entertainment Media” The entertainment media as we know it started in 1891 when The Edison Company successfully demonstrated the Kinetoscope. The first film to tell a complete story was Georges Milieus’ “A Trip to the Moon”. Soon there were many motion pictures. It wasn’t until 1941 that television came to America and along with motion pictures formed the entertainment media as we know it. Early motion pictures and television shows depicted African Americans very negatively. It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that African Americans began to be viewed by the entertainment media in a positive way. In 1915 D.W. Griffith released the motion picture “The Birth of a Nation”. In this motion picture African Americans were portrayed as sex crazed rapists that raped white women. Negative portrayals of African Americans in the entertainment media continued for decades. The first African American woman to win an Academy Award was Hattie McDaniel for her role in “Gone with the Wind” in which african, media, entertainment, americans, american, motion, best, television, show, first, award, pictures, awards, actor, academy, win, wasn’t, until, roots, role, rights, portrayals, picture, know, depicted, civil, annual, actress, act, world, won, women, woman, wind, whites