Here are a few clips of black male performers–like Lincoln Perry (Stepin Fetchit) and Bill Robinson (Bojangles)–who were working before and during the early years of of Sidney Poitier’s career. At the time, American movie and television audiences were far more familiar with these kinds of representations of black masculinity than they were with what Poitier came to represent.
A. Stepin Fetchit–Lazy Richard
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/f69GdiSZ-NA" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
B. Bojangles (with Shirley Temple)
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/AjCFYpWDmfM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
C. Cartoon version of Amos n’ Andy (with white performers doing the voices)
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/xIrdgyd-i3w" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]