The History Of Token White Characters In Black Movies

The token black friend is one of the longest-standing film archetypes of all time, but Black Hollywood is all about turning those archetypes on their head. When looking at the poster for Think Like A Man, which had a strong showing at the box office last weekend and stars notable black actors including comedic powerhouse Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, and Romany Malco, we couldn't help but notice how hilariously Turtle Jerry Ferrara stands out from the rest of the pack. History has a lengthy account of all the memorable token black characters, but where is the comprehensive list of token whites? Look no further, we got you covered.

But first, the criteria. Those featured were one of the only prominent white characters in their respective black films, if not the only white overall. Also, they usually fulfill one of three standard roles within the narrative. Number one is, of course, the antagonist, almost undoubtedly a racist as well. Then, in keeping with the changing times, we have number two, the White Fish Out of Water, whose curiosity is piqued by African-American culture. Finally there's number three, the fully assimilated white guy. Sometimes he wears du-rags (though we have no idea why), the slang rolls off of his tongue with ease, and he's draped up and dripped out in whatever the rappers are currently wearing. Without further ado, here is The History of Token White Characters in Black Movies.

Written by Frazier Tharpe (@The_SummerMan)

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Boss Nigger isn't the first blaxploitaiton film, but it embodies all of the aspects of the genre like no other—just look at the incendiary title. Writer-producer and Boss N himself Fred Williamson was defending his racial epithet usage way before rappers were.

Of course, true to the genre's form, Boss is all about reversing the standard. That means the black guy is the lady-killing badass (with an awesome theme too) and—you guessed it—the white dude is the lawless fugitive. He's your atypical cartoonish Caucasian villain, with the Beverly Hillbillies-esque name and the pure hatred for anybody who isn't lily-white. You best believe Boss gets his man.

If a white guy is part of the cast and he isn't an antagonist, he's either one of two types: street smart and organically in tune with black culture, or awkward, ultra "white" and dying to be considered "cool" and fit in. Enter NPH's hilarious turn as Lance, the dweeby intern at the B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D. espionage agency, in the classic blaxploitation parody Undercover Brother.

He comes in handy when the plot calls for the titular hero, Undercover Brother (Eddie Griffin), to go, well, undercover, teaching him proper Caucasian demeanor, but otherwise is extremely marginal and only even there because of—get this—affirmative action.

It's hard to top the randomness of Peter MacNicol starring in a black comedy but here he is, fulfilling Modern Token Role #2: the nebbish white guy whose life is in some sort of specific disarray and looks to our wise, hip black hero to set him straight. Even better, the film starts with him as Foxx's boss before a windfall of fame and success flips the scales. From superior to sidekick: righteous!

It's all good, though, because MacNicol appears to be enjoying himself—we're sure this was a 180 of an experience from Ally McBeal. What's more confusing is how his character manages to land a hottie like Jennifer Esposito, no offense.

Roll Bounce is set in the 1970s, but it anachronistically features the post-modern trope of the black antagonist with the quintessentially diversifying white goon on his henchmen team. That honor hilariously goes to Paul Wesley, now of Vampire Diaries fame. Before those steady checks started rolling in dude wasn't above playing third fiddle to Wesley Jonathan's ridiculously flamboyant skating nemesis.

We're pretty sure people who were actually of the 70s wouldn't have been caught dead rocking some of the stuff these guys did. See above.

In nine out of 10 films the white protagonist spends the running time getting into crazy antics while consulting his impossibly sage black friend for advice along the way. Of course, the whole concept of the Token White friend is to flip those scales, so we have veteran character actor Steve Buscemi, pre-Nucky Thompson, counseling Chris Rock and his wandering eye.

Thankfully Rock and Louis C.K.'s sharp script mostly avoids the typical racial miscommunication material without making Buscemi a du-rag-rocking, slang-dropping homie.

As Kanye famously detailed in "Gold Digger," locking up a white woman is an ultimate win for a black man. This Christmas is your standard holiday family dramedy, with a cast big enough to play out every usual dramatic "coming home" trope. So, of course, Columbus Short's plot involves a secret, pregnant wife and—twist!—she's white, too! Good on you, dog!

The typical one-liners are made but mercifully there is zero race-relations drama. By 2007 it's about time to move on from that particular well, no?

Landing a prized white chick has long been a staple of black films but every now and then things get really crazy and switch up with a black girl brings home a white guy. This is familiar territory for Zoe Saldana, as she played this trope out before in 2005's Guess Who remake with Bernie Mac (R.I.P) and Ashton Kutcher (and Avatar as well, if you think about it).

Here, her white chocolate is played by James Marsden, who gamely lets it all hang out when he accidentally takes a hallucinogenic drug and spends the entire movie tripping balls and causing problems.