Walter White, the Executive Secretary of the NAACP from 1929-1955, fought to improve portrayals of Black people in Hollywood. In 1942, he negotiated an agreement with major studios to monitor depictions, but it lacked enforcement. While some films made small strides in integration, most stereotypes remained. White faced criticism from some Black actors who felt their roles were threatened, though his goal was expanding opportunities. Though he saw little immediate change, White helped shift Hollywood and lived to see more diverse roles emerge in later years.

1. Walter White And The
Fight For The Black Image
NAACP Executive Walter White took many a fight to improve
the quality of life for Black America. His battle with
Hollywood would be one of his most epic.
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2. Walter White Executive Secretary of The NAACP from 1929-1955
Before Breaking Bad there was another Walter White. An actual living breathing
human being who's impact on the United States in regards to the advancement of
African-Americans was incalculable.
Mr White Goes To
Hollywood: Walter White And
The Battle For The Black
Image

3. "I Am A Negro"
In his autobiography A Man Called White (1948) the author described himself as
such: "My skin is white, my eyes are blue, my hair is blond. The traits of my race
are nowhere visible upon me."
Yet White embraced his Blackness with a passion respect and love that would be
his guiding light for the majority of his life.
Born to George and Madeline White on July 1, 1893, Walter was one of seven
children. Given the family complexion George and Madeline could have easily
chosen to pass as Caucasians.
But these two former slaves had no intention of turning away from who they were.
It would have been understandable given the hostile racial climate of the time (and
in many instances Negroes did pass) but George and Madeline proudly claimed
their African American heritage and passed that pride to their children.

4. "I am not white. There is nothing within my mind and heart which tempts me to
think I am. Yet I realize acutely that the only characteristic which matters to either
the white or the colored race—the appearance of whiteness—is mine."
The Great Awareness
In 1906 Clark Howell and Hoke Smith were candidates for governor of Georgia.
Both men had been in the newspaper business and had mastered the fine art of
pushing all the right emotional buttons in print and campaign speeches.
The buttons in this case were white people's fears of Black people taking over the
state. As the prime example Smith and Howell pointed to Atlanta's prosperous
Black Middle Class even though neither one was exactly clear why a certain
segment of the population pulling themselves up by their boot straps (amid Jim
Crow laws and a hostile environment built and exploited by men like Smith and
Howell) was a bad thing.
It didn't matter the fuse was lit and on September 22, 1906 after being given the
usual excuse that white womanhood was under attack Atlanta exploded in a four
day orgy of racial violence that left scores of people (mostly Black) dead or
wounded.

5. Illustration of The Atlanta Race Riot
And the area that was hit the hardest? You guessed it - The one containing the

6. homes and businesses of the Black middle class.
As he and his father armed themselves in order to defend their home from the
roving mobs, Walter White then 13 years old described years later in vivid detail
his coming of age.
"I knew then who I was. I was a Negro, a human being with an
invisible pigmentation that marked me a person to be hunted, hanged,
abused, or discriminated against, kept in poverty and ignorance, in
order that those whose skin was white would have readily at hand a
proof of their superiority, a proof patent and inclusive, accessible to the
moron and the idiot as well as to the wise man and the genius.
No matter how low a white man fell, he could always hold fast to the
smug conviction that he was superior to two-thirds of the world's
population, for those two-thirds were not white"
Their home was spared but from then on White was on a mission.
Into The Breach
In 1917 White began working for the NAACP. For the next decade he would put
himself in harms way in order to investigate lynchings, riots and police brutality
that afflicted the Black community on an all too frequent basis.

7. The crowd reaction after a lynching. You can see the victims legs
dangling at the upper right. For many in White America lynching was
nothing short of a party. Walter White's complexion allowed him to
investigate scenes like this first hand
His pigmentation allowed him to go deep deep undercover. White collected
photographic evidence and actual confessions from many of the perpetrators. It
also granted him access to the mentality that was at work. After being sworn in as
a deputy sheriff one of his colleagues told him, "Now you can go out and kill any
Negro you see and the law will be behind you."
White was discovered on a few occasions but never caught.
Taking Charge
In 1929 James Weldon Johnson retired as Executive Secretary of the NAACP.
Johnson had done an exemplary job increasing membership and bringing national
awareness to many issues that plagued the African-American community.
Yet for all of his efforts Johnson and the organization had little to show when it
came to political and legislative victories.
That would change dramatically when Walter White was chosen to replace
Johnson. White would turn the NAACP into a political and legal force to be
reckoned with. This was demonstrated in 1930 when he spearheaded the drive to
block the confirmation of Judge John J. Parker to the Supreme Court. Parker had
made no secret of his approval of racial segregation. President Herbert Hoover
chose him anyway. After a close Senate vote Parker was rejected. White and the
NAACP had finally won a major political battle.

8. Members of the NAACP. Walter White front row 4th from left would
turn the organization into an undeniable force for change.
The Arts
Yet it wasn't just politics. Like James Weldon Johnson before him Walter White
had a passion for the arts and in particular the promotion of African-American
talent.
A writer himself White was a major figure of the Harlem Renaissance and helped
many artist gain notoriety among them were Langston Hughes, Claude McKay
and operatic tenor Roland Hayes.
So it came as no surprise that eventually White would turn his attention to
Hollywood.
The Dream Factory
Hollywood has always been a curious place. Isolated from the rest of the world
and yet in tune to what was going on around it.
Yet the tune Hollywood was singing when it came to its portrayal of Black people
looked and sounded a lot like Dixie.

9. A place of make believe that fired the imagination. Hollywood (1937)
While it had been there before the movies, Tinseltown became the greatest
distributor of racist stereotypes the world had ever seen. None more so than D.W.
Griffith's landmark ode to slavery the confederacy and the Ku Klux Klan commonly
known as Birth of A Nation.
It became a battleground for the NAACP in 1915 which sought to have the film
banned. The organization did have a small amount of success but not enough to
stop the Nation from becoming the first blockbuster of American movie making.
Yet Birth of A Nation was only a symptom of what ailed Hollywood and the rest of
the country. Shutting down the film was not going to stop the proliferation of
negative African-American imagery Hollywood seemed to delight in.
No doubt by 1942 progress had been made. Hattie McDaniel became the first
African-American to be nominated for and win the Academy Award.

10. Hattie McDaniel celebrating her Academy Award with Fay Bainter
(1940). The irony was The Ambassador Hotel which hosted the
Oscars had a no Blacks allowed policy.
Unfortunately her triumph as Mammy in Gone With The Wind reinforced the same
old ideology. For Black Leaders of the time including Walter White, Hollywood
hadn't come nearly as far as it could or should have. The only way to get
something done was to go once more into the breach.
Watch Hattie McDaniel's Acceptance Speech
Walter At The Movies
Walter White on motion picture stereotypes
Walter White on the future of African-Americans in movies and theater
"Restriction of Negroes to roles with rolling eyes, chattering teeth, always scared
of ghosts, or to portrayals of none-too-bright servants perpetuates a stereotype
which is doing the Negro infinite harm."
In February of 1942 White and Wendell Wilkie landed in Hollywood. Wilkie lost the
1940 Presidential election to FDR but remained very active in the public arena
including working with the NAACP.
White was there to do two things. One was to persuade movies executives to

11. focus more on the Black middle class. and thereby move away from menial
stereotypes.
Bette Davis signing autographs for soldiers. Davis owned and
operated the legendary Stage Door Canteen of WWII with John
Garfield. The Canteen in Davis' own words was for men and women in
uniform of all races. Exactly the kind of thing Walter White talked
about.
The second was even more ambitious. White wanted more integration in the
movies. Scenes where Black people were truly part of the mosaic and not isolated
off only to be left on the cutting room if necessity dictated it.
White wined and dined with the Hollywood elite and by some reports became quite
starstruck.
No surprise. Hollywood since its inception had that effect on heads of state. The
executive Secretary of the NAACP was not immune.
But that didn't stop him from making his pitch. And after shuttling back and forth on
a number of occasions. White sealed the deal:
"In 1942, NAACP Executive Director, Walter White, worked with

12. politicians and studio executives to establish an ad hoc committee with
the major studios to monitor the image and portrayal of African
Americans on the screen."
The agreement was trumpeted in Black media across the country. The leading
Black Newspaper of the day The Pittsburgh Courier opined:
“This is one of the greatest moments this industry has ever had for
doing the job we have all dreamed of doing for our country and the
world.”
The Fine Print
While there were many in Hollywood that truly desired a more honest depiction of
African-Americans, Hollywood as a whole was not interested.
Moguls and producers were not willing to offend their Southern market or any
other market that may show their disapproval at the box office.

13. Daryl F. Zanuck was the only studio head willing to meet with Walter
White.
But more that that many were comfortable of the way Blacks were portrayed
because they had the same prejudices as the audiences they catered to.
White got to meet a few in the Hollywood power structure. Most avoided him like
the plague. The ad hoc agreement was hailed as a step forward. In truth there was
no leverage to enforce it.
You could point to a change of sorts with movies like In Sahara and Bataan (in
both these films the integration was due to war time necessity) but Star Spangled

14. Rhythm and Follow the Boys(1944) not only showed what White was up against it
also proved his point to a tee.
In Follow the Boys a troupe headed by George Raft travels around entertaining
military personnel On one occasion a Black soldier comes and ask can they pay a
visit to his outfit. The white entertainers are asleep Raft explains and he doesn't
want to wake them. A Black performer (Louis Jordan) wakes up and says he and
his combo will go.
Raft and Jordan go in the heavy rain and do a rousing number with Raft doing
some fancy stepping to the delight of the Black soldiers.
The question is why couldn't Raft wake the others to do the same? After all they
had done the same for White soldiers. Anytime anyplace.
It was pretty obvious from the way the scene was staged that it could (and would)
be cut out when it was sent to different parts of the country.
We're all in it together...but not really. Rochester Anderson and
Katherine Dunham in Star Spangled Rhythm. For all their use of talent
Hollywood made sure everyone knew African-Americans were
separate from the rest of the American landscape.
Star Spangled Rhythm is the same. The final scene headed by Bing Crosby is a

15. salute to America. One guy is not buying it so in one sequence they have a White
southerner answering him.
As a backdrop he references black singers humming. They are in no way part of
the American landscape as they are positioned more off to the side. for that matter
so are the other Black performers including Eddie Rochester Anderson.
For all of the fanfare White's venture garnered Hollywood was not ready to give up
the ghost.
Thunder From Within
Upon his initial trips to Hollywood, White had made the mistake or calculated
decision to not meet with the people working in Black Hollywood.
They didn't take it well
Clarence Muse called him a committee of one and claimed that White wanted only
a few Black skinned Negroes on the screen with the emphasis shifted to more light
skinned and mulattos. He also argued that roles for Black actors and actresses
were better than before.
Louise Beavers may have been speaking for many in Hollywood when she stated
”We do not have to be led by anyone taking our hands and leading us
to the studios. Actors and actresses are all Dr. Jekylls and Hydes. We
play a role and then we forget it. It is not a matter of degrading the
Negro race"

16. Hattie McDaniel. Her personal attacks on Walter White revealed
something ugly inside of her
But it was Hattie McDaniel more than anyone who took it personally. McDaniel in
no uncertain terms declared war on Walter White. More than Clarence Muse,
McDaniel hammered home the racial aspects of the conflict.
"I even though of darker skin and stout must have a right to gain my
economic security also"
In reference to a smear campaign against her she let it fly:

17. "...the instigator of this campaign happens to be one of lighter skin
than myself."
Walter White according to McDaniel was only one eighth Black and that alone
disqualified him from speaking for Black America. She also accused him of being
prejudiced toward those who were dark skin.
Striking A Nerve
Black America knew the exact opposite. Walter White for all of his faults was
virtually unmatched in his service to African Americans of all hues. He had risked
his life to investigate lynchings without asking if the victim was light or dark skin.
He would embark on a worldwide trip to examine the conditions of Black soldiers
and continue the battle for equality at home.
Watch NAACP's Reaction to Segregation in the Military During World War II
Muse and others were correct when they stated White didn't know anything about
the movie business.
But he knew what he saw on the screen and more than Muse, McDaniel or Black
Hollywood combined he had his fingers on the pulse of Black America and
understood explicitly that they wanted what he wanted. A change.
White had no desire to see dark skin actors disappear from the screen. Nor
servants either. Many people that contributed to the NAACP worked menial jobs.

18. Lincoln Perry aka Stepin Fetchit in an all too familiar pose. No one
including Walter White could deny Perry's talents but it was his
stereotype as the shiftless Negro that made many in Black America tell
Hollywood enough is enough.
He was asking for a fair and more inclusive representation of Black people. That
they're not off to the side or cut out because it might offend someone or if they do
menial jobs there shown as people not caricatures.
That shouldn't have threatened people like McDaniel and Muse. Since they were

19. quality performers couldn't they adapt to these roles? Wasn't Clarence Muse a
good enough actor to play a lawyer and not just the help? In real life Muse had a
degree in international law. Something he had earned from Dickinson College in
1911.
More talented than Hollywood would give her a chance to display.
Butterfly McQueen.
What many didn't understand about Walter White is the fact he was trying to
expand their opportunities. McDaniel was a terrific singer and dancer. Why
couldn't she be the star of a musical instead of sweeping up backstage and
making wisecracks?
For White all the noise coming from Black Hollywood (though to be fair quite a few
Blacks working in the industry supported him) was about one thing. Protecting
their livelihood.
As one actress told him if the only way she could stage a comeback was to play

20. menial roles she would do it.
White later wrote he had never been "quite so disgusted in all my life as I was at
the sheer selfishness of some of these people." It was all about the paycheck
regardless of the "effect their actions would have upon the future of Negroes as a
whole."
Right on cue McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen would have supporting roles in
David O' Selznick's Since You Went Away (1944) a wartime drama in which they
reprise their Mammy and Prissy roles as two house servants. Set in Connecticut
McDaniel talks like she's on loan from Tara and McQueen reminds us how
dependably flighty she was.
Something From Nothing
White's gambit yielded very little in the way of substance when it came to actually
changing things in Hollywood. Wendell Willkie died in October of 1944 and with
him White's always fragile lifeline to TinselTown died as well.
While he would continue the fight he was never able to come close to forging the
progress he had such high hopes for in 1942. Reluctantly by the early fifties White
had for all intent and purposes given up.
But no matter how slow the process things did start to change in Hollywood. White
may have lost the initial battle yet he lived long enough to see the tide turn in
Black America's favor. The late forties and early fifties saw Canada Lee in Body
and Soul, Juano Hernandez in Intruder in The Dust and The Breaking Point, Ruby
Dee in the Tall Target and others begin the breakthrough.

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