Hollywood Stereotyping

As one who has spoken out against racism in Hollywood for many years, I sympathize with the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s column (“White-Tinted Glasses Exclude the Real America,” March 24), and the demonstration that he led at the Academy Awards. Nevertheless, I sincerely believe that his emphasis is misplaced. The true crime of Hollywood is not so much its exclusion of people of color from the cinema, but rather the disgraceful stereotyping of the few nonwhites it chooses to portray.

From “Birth of a Nation” to modern sitcoms and movies, African Americans in particular have been largely depicted as criminals, savages, buffoons and idiots. This deplorable practice has ruined our global reputation, poisoned the minds of black children and perpetuated the legacy of racism and intolerance in the this country.

To increase the number of nonwhite faces in films and at the annual Academy Awards ceremony will be a hollow victory if, in spite of this, Hollywood remains a bastion of abhorrent racial stereotyping.

LEGRAND H. CLEGG II