ABSTRACT
African explorers coming to the “new world” before Columbus were men. The fact that they did not seek to dominate and/or destroy the indigenous native people who were living on these shores reveals that their sense of masculinity was not defined by the will to dominate and colonize folks who were not like them. The fictive Africans in the film Amistad are sensitive spiritual learned men of feeling
who struggle to cope with the alien ways of colonizing white settlers. Compare and contrast this fictive image (a representation based on true accounts) with the image of Africa, Africans, and African-Americans interested in recognizing African roots in films like Made in America and the more recent Undercover Brother. In these films the black male who is interested in Africa is portrayed as a lying clownish buffoon, easily duped by faulty Afro-centric ideas. These negative images are created by white and black males; they help maintain white-supremacist thinking.
