Ethnic Notions Marlon Riggs is keenly aware of the impact of stereotypes on real social norms related to race. In Ethnic Notions, Riggs enacts some of the prevalent stereotypes against African-Americans. The actors and comedians enacting these stereotypes often hid behind the veil of "comedy" or "humor" as an excuse for what is actually a racist reflection of prevailing social norms. Riggs uses the documentary format to showcase two main issues. The first issue is that stereotypical roles reinforce stereotypes and prevent social progress. Second, that the perpetuation of stereotypes has caused a corresponding lack of serious dramatic roles for African-Americans. A lack of dramatic roles reinforces stereotypes because it dehumanizes the "other," turning an African-American into a caricature.

According to Riggs, some of the prevalent stereotypical roles for African-Americans include the Mammy, the Sambo, and the Black Rambo While these stereotypical roles have been used to entertain, they can also exclude African-American...

Stereotyping was not present in the Cosby Show. Instead, the show revealed fresh ways of depicting race in America. Race was almost taken out of the equation in The Cosby Show, because the family was just ordinary Americans. Riggs is not suggesting to ignore race, but to allow for more realistic depictions of African-Americans.
The lack of dramatic roles for African-Americans has dehumanized and disempowered an already disenfranchised community. Actors like Morgan Freeman have shown that Hollywood is willing to overcome the racist stereotypes that permeated American society. Now, there is a greater awareness about the harm that stereotypes can do to actors and to the society at large.

2. In the lecture "The Danger of the Single Story," Chimamanda Adichie criticizes the one-sided story as…