Ok, I must come out of the closet: I like "Coal Black". I find it too beautiful from a sheer cinematographic point of view. Propaganda? Oh, yes. But great cinema too. Mind you: I am aware of all the stereotypes - and I have always hated racial stereotypes. But the convergence of music and images (I like musicals), and the idea of Snow White choosing the dwarf over the prince... no, I can't help liking it. Does this make me a racist?

(I now realise that all that I have said about "Coal Black" may apply to "Casablanca" - where you furthermore have half a dozen ethnic stereotypes. Including a slimy Italian: and I am Italian, and I happen to like "Casablanca". Rooting for Sam and Claude Rains, of course.)

(By the way: I did not like this cartoon, on the other hand. Too rough-cut.)

(I realise only now that my "am I racist" sounded like a rhetorical question. It was not. I grew up in a quite racist environment, and I am trying to outgrow it - but still I need pointers.)

"Putting on black face affects their intelligence and speech as they go from being smart to dumb."

Be careful how you say this. It sounds like you're saying African American English is a symptom of their decrease in intelligence.

African Americans who speak in Standard English often get called "articulate" because of such an attitude. African American English is seen as a less intelligent, broken form of speaking, when it is certainly not.

Kate,

Thanks for pointing that out. I meant to suggest that the speech was supposed to represent low intelligence, but not that it, in fact, does accurately measure such a thing. I will go back in and re-word it.