"Walter's Thing" The NAACP's Hollywood Bureau of 1946--A Cautionary Tale.

Stereotypes; African Americans in motion pictures; World War II; Motion picture censorship; Race discrimination; Motion pictures; Race discrimination in motion pictures

For a quarter of a century, from its founding years, the NAACP stood against pejorative stereotyping in the movies, but with only sporadic success. Then during World War II, the goals of the organization coincided with the war aims of the Allies. Walter White of the NAACP grasped an opportunity--to affect movies at their source by means of a "Hollywood bureau" rather than be restricted to the single tactic of censorship. White's attempt, when analyzed, offers "the lessons of history" to the founders of the new NAACP Hollywood bureau and makes a broader point about the perils of one person or group seeking to represent blocs of individuals who deserve to have input about actions that will affect their livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]