Racial Stereotyping In Disney

Racial stereotyping is not an innate behaviour, it is learned and has been used to categorize ‘race’ into basic identifiable groups (Leu, 2015). Racial stereotyping is used ubiquitously in contemporary society as a way of helping certain groups (usually the dominant group) to understand other groups different to themselves. The dominant groups can then make assumptions based on the ‘others’ appearance, beliefs and culture (Maddox, 2006). Dumbo and Aladdin are two very popular Disney films children know and love. Although a child may not notice any racial stereotypes portrayed in the films, they still begin to associate the phenotype of characters shown with other groups. As well with their own identity, thus leading to racial stereotyping (Gordon,

Tiana (the main character) is independent and empowered, she diminishes the usual African American stereotype (Gregory, 2010). Tiana is introduced as a hard-working ambitious girl who is discriminated by others in the business community for her age and gender. Her character is largely inspired by the life of Leah Chase, a highly respected African American Chef in New Orleans (Bertsche, 2010). This is in stark contrast to Disney’s Dumbo where the crows are represented as intellectually inferior and lower-class to Dumbo and the mouse. Even one of them is named Jim Crow to emphasize racial segregation. Many black characters are negatively portrayed in early Disney films, but The Princess and the Frog challenges the ‘norm’ to create a character that effectively links races

Black characters usually play the valet or the servant and the whites play the powerful characters. The fact that he is white emphasizes that both black and white people can have the same ‘roles’ in society, we are all one race and there should not be any stereotypes or prejudice. Finally, some scholars argue that the prince should have been black, I believe it was a creative approach to show how truly similar different ‘races’ are. Disney shows that interracial relationships can occur. Other scholars agree with this view, arguing that the film presents a number of marital possibilities for black women (Breaux,