SOURCE:"'B'… for Black," in Film Comment, October, 1985, pp. 31-46.

Bogle is the author of Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks (1973), a study of the representation of African Americans in movies. In the following essay, he discusses Micheaux's place in the history of African American filmmaking.

The heroine of Oscar Micheaux's 1937 film God's Step Children is Naomi, a high-toned, light-skinned black girl who wants to be white. She frets, pouts, plots, whines, and, well, just plain acts up, turning her tiny black community topsy-turvy. Finally, Naomi does everyone a great service; she throws herself into the river and, like a nasty stain on her race, is washed away. For white moviegoers during the Depression, Naomi's trials and tribulations passed unnoticed. But for black audiences, Naomi's was a lopsidedly caustic and cautionary morality tale about cultural roots and loyalties, racial heritage and pride. It was only one of many...