For decades the American film industry has shunned African Americans, giving black actors a minor role here and there and leaving all the big business to the whites.
We were given stereotypical roles in mainstream pictures. Every black woman was a maid. Every black man was a criminal.
The only way for an African American actor to make a living was to entertain the white audience with racist films like Blacula and Foxy Brown, using our racial identity to humiliate ourselves.
Then Rachel Getting Married came along and featured an equal split of black and white characters. Rachel Getting Married made it a point to say Look: black people are no different to white people.
