Jim Crow & Jezebel Go To Hollywood

The power of cinema to shape public perception is as old motion pictures themselves. In the late 19th century, Jim Crow was the term for a system of laws and policies designed to maintain racial segregation. Jezebel was a featured character in Southern literature at that time, an irresistible black woman seducing white men. The silent films of the early 20th century offered a powerful new medium for re-enforcing these stereotypes. It was an inexpensive entertainment. Millions of new immigrants went to the movies and absorbed Hollywood’s version of race in American history.