Ethnic Notions
(DVD or VCD)

"Signifyin' Works"--Disc label.

Originally produced as a documentary film in 1987.

Edited by Deborah Hoffmann ; original music composed & performed by Mary Watkins ; videographer, Calvin Roberts ; consultants, Phyllis Bischof, Barbara Christian, Alan Dundes, George Fredrickson, Bruce Jackson, Winthrop Jordan, Leon Litwack, Lawrence Levine, Erskine Peters, Robert Toll, Patricia Turner.

Narrated by Esther Rolle ; Bert Williams monologue written & performed by Leni Sloan ; two-man ministrel skit, Rene Collins, Derique McGee ; voices, Ernie Fosselius, Jeffrey Friedman, Janet Keller, Marlon Riggs.

"Takes viewers on a disturbing voyage through American history, tracing the evolution of the deeply rooted stereotypes that have fueled anti-Black prejudice"--Container.

Covering more than one hundred years of United States history, traces the evolution of Black American caricatures and stereotypes that have fueled anti-black prejudice. Loyal Toms, carefree Sambos, faithful Mammies, grinning Coons, savage Brutes, and wide-eyed Pickaninnies roll across the screen in cartoons, feature films, popular songs, minstrel shows, advertisements, folklore, household artifacts, even children's rhymes. These dehumanizing caricatures permeated popular culture from the 1820s to the Civil Rights period and implanted themselves deep in the American psyche.

DVD.

In English.