Stereotypes of the African American dates back to the colonization of America. African American depictions were controlled by Whites which birthed the historical stereotypes of Blackface: Sambo, the Mammy figure, the Mandingo Negro, Sapphire, and Jezebel. Although the United States has made progressions past slavery, racial stereotyping exists today. Modern depictions stereotype African Americans as drug lords, drug abusers, welfare queens, the Magical Negro, the Angry Black Woman, and the Independent Black woman; these too are misrepresentations and fall short of the truth behind African American culture. Considering Sterling Brown’s essay “Negro Character as Seen By White Authors, he defines seven specific characteristics of the African American
