History Main / AngryBlackManStereotype

Mostly a DeadHorseTrope as society has marched on. Compare MalcolmXerox. See also ScaryBlackMan. Compare and contrast AngryWhiteMan.

* Tyroc in the ''Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}},'' even though it takes place in the year 3000. Notably, the writers and artists were all painfully aware of how this trope was being played in a setting where racism should've been eliminated, but were forced to portray Tyroc as such due to the ExecutiveMeddling. When Paul Levitz brought Tyroc back in the late 2000s, he received some CharacterDevelopment beyond his initial portrayal.

* ''Series/{{Oz}}''. Kareem Said, leader of the Muslim prisoners, is a more updated version of this trope. His is an angry black man, but his anger is more a controlled burn than an explosive rage. Plus, he also accepts Beecher (who is white) as a friend, or at least an ally.

* ''Literature/TheTurnerDiaries'' explores this trope from, to put it as tactfully as possible, the sort of people real-life examples of Angry Black Men are angry ''with''.

** {{ComicBook/Luke Cage|HeroForHire}}, a.k.a. Power Man, the superpowered version, zigzags this trope. He started it off playing this trope straight, if downplayed (his major enemy was, in fact, fellow Afro-American "Diamondback", a former buddy of his turned crime-lord). However, he grew out of this behavior as he gained experience and matured. However, there are times when he slips back into it, and it's DependingOnTheWriter whether or not he still holds these views.

* VideoGame/Medabots: Metabee's [[{{Woolseyism}} English voice actor plays him as one of these]].

* VideoGame/MedaBots: Metabee's [[{{Woolseyism}} English voice actor plays him as one of these]].

%%* VideoGame/MedaBots: Metabee's [[{{Woolseyism}} English voice actor plays him as one of these]].

** Creator/KeeganMichaelKey later went to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkAK9QRe4ds 2015 White House Correspondents' Dinner]] to play Luther for the ''real'' Obama. [[spoiler:And it was the real Obama who wound up going into this mode on the issue of ClimateChange, to the point where even Luther eventually had to tell him to cool it.]]

** His [[HeroKiller Hall of Pain]] World Heavyweight Champion run in 2011-12, which saw him at his angriest and most aggressive, taking his [[LongEunner 15 years of frustration]] on any and everyone.
* Wrestling/BookerT became this in 2004 after being drafted from RAW to SmackDown, most of it stemming from his belief that the blue show was the Minor leagues.

* Warren "Easy Money" Williams in ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' constantly butts heads with his boss, [[ScaryBlackMan Benjamin King]], largely due to the fact that he sees King "sticking his nose up them white boy asses" at city hall as a waste of time and proposes directly attacking [[NeighborhoodFriendlyGangsters Saints Row]] every time the Vice Kings suffer a setback. [[PragmaticVillainy King]] tries to point out that working with men like [[CorruptPolitician Richard Hughes]] grants the Kings an advantage over other street gangs, and that they can't [[AttackAttackAttack start a war every time someone challenges them]], but Warren is dead to his arguments.
-->'''King:''' Working with them is what gives us power.\\
'''Warren:''' Man, fuck that! (''displays his gun'') ''This'' is what gives us power!\\
'''[[SurroundedByIdiots King]]:''' Get the ''[[PrecisionFStrike fuck]]'' out of my sight.

* Subverted in ''Film/WhiteMansBurden''. Set in an alternate America where blacks are on the higher end of the social ladder, John Travolta's character is an angry ''white man''.

* Taken to the hilt in the ExploitationFilm ''The Black Gestapo'', where, you guessed it, the residents of a terrorized black community conclude that even the Black Panther image is "too soft" to fight back effectively against TheMan and start a full-on [[PuttingOnTheReich black supremacist fascist militia]].

** Creator/KeeganMichaelKey later went to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkAK9QRe4ds 2015 White House Correspondents' Dinner]] to play Luther for the ''real'' Obama. [[spoiler:And it was the real Obama who wound up going into this mode on the issue of GlobalWarming, to the point where even Luther eventually had to tell him to cool it.]]

* Mr. Grits from ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty'' loathes [[IncrediblyLamePun crackers]].

* Mr. Grits from ''WesternAnimation/Sausage Party'' loathes [[IncrediblyLamePun crackers]].

Mostly a DeadHorseTrope as society has marched on. Compare MalcolmXerox. See also ScaryBlackMan.

** Eddie Murphy did it first with [[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/84/84iminute.phtml Prof. Shabazz Morton's Black History Minute.]] Better remembered now for one of the few times Eddie screwed up on camera.

** Gets turned up to eleven in "Spin the Bottle". Teen!Gunn was REALLY militant.

** Chris Rock's character from ''The Dark Side with Nat X''.

* Wanda Sykes as herself plays a female version in ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm''. She constantly interprets everything that Larry does as racist and yells at him about it.

->''"You know what the most dangerous thing in America is, don't you Lamar? A nigger with a library card."''

A stock character and stereotype popular in the 1970s–1980s. A male black youth, the Angry Black Man knows that TheMan is out to get him, and that the Revolution will soon come and whitey will have his back against the wall. The Angry Black Man sees injustice everywhere and is capable and intelligent but usually financially destitute because the damn Honkies won't hire him to give him an opportunity.

* Joe from Anime/MegaloBox. While whether or not he is black isn't ''especially'' clear, he's at least coded black — he sports a large, almost afro-like hairstyle, has darker skin than most of the characters and is from a crime-infested ghetto fond of rap. He also hates authority and the Shirato corporation, especially Yukiko when he thinks she's taking pity on him. He grows out of it eventually, with his disdain for the Shirato corporation and Yukiko being dropped after a few episodes.

* An early ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'' issue featured a teenage hero called Jericho (who is [-ANGRY BLACK!-] Robin) in a racial-issues themed issue. The Executives didn't want controversy so they prevented the story from being published, but many of Jericho's characteristics were latter reused in Cyborg, and his name was recycled as Deathstroke's son.

* ComicBook/TheFalcon was this when he was younger, but moved out of this trope as the 70s were left behind.
* Charcoal of the ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}} did not start out like this, but evolved in this direction. Creator/KurtBusiek gave him a [[ChildSoldiers Child Soldier]] and SuperSoldier background, but otherwise Charlie Burlingame was still a kid who attempted to acquire a semblance of a normal life and make some friends at school. Fabian Nicieza first had Charlie witness the assassination of his best friend, then revealed that under the calm facade Charcoal harbored a lot of anger and resentment at the world. Under Nicieza, Charcoal became angrier, progressively anti-social, and started seeing "racists" everywhere around him. Not only did he have trouble associating himself with his non-superpowered friends, but started demonstrating a sadistic streak. Such as enjoying the smell of his opponents' burning flesh.

* Nighthawk in ''ComicBook/SupremePower'' takes this trope and doubles down on the borderline racist elements to the point of being a blatant black supremacist who [[BoomerangBigot will literally ignore black gangbangers mugging, raping and murdering white civilians to instead rant about how much evil whites do unto blacks]]. Ironically, the superhero who dislikes Nighthawk the most is the African-American {{Superspeed}}ster Blur, who opines that Nighthawk is full of garbage and has actually assaulted him several times, noting that despite living all his life in the DeepSouth, he's received more racism from ''Nighthawk'' than any of the white people he grew up with.

** Subverted in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle''. Harold's cell mate Jackson is a black guy reading a book on civil disobedience who calmly reveals he was arrested because he was black. He then says that he's overweight, black, and has two gay dads, so he's pretty much immune to whatever crap people throw his way. When the police return and get him up against the wall of the cell, he calmly accepts it.
** Subverted again in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarEscapeFromGuantanamoBay'', as with just about every other race trope. The duo's car breaks down in a black neighborhood when Harold breaks a fire hydrant and the water gushing out kills their music box, then a bunch of big guys grab a some metal equipment and start converging on their car, scaring the duo into running away. When they're gone, the viewer is told they were going to [[HelpMistakenForAttack fix the car]].

* ''Film/DontBeAMenaceToSouthCentralWhileDrinkingYourJuiceInTheHood'' parodies this character complete with African robes and long winded speeches to the others about how their behavior is just playing into "the man's" oppression of them. He excuses his own hypocrisy in exclusively dating white women by saying he's "sticking it to the white man, by sticking it to the white woman."

* One could say that there are a few in ''Film/DoTheRightThing'' (particularly Buggin Out), but the trope is somewhat inverted when one black man tells another whom is spouting ABM language that he "doesn't want to hear that horseshit." In the commentary track for the DVD release, Creator/SpikeLee specifically notes, when Buggin Out begins ranting about the pictures in the Pizzeria, that he disagrees with the character, saying that it's Sal's place, so it's his right to put whatever pictures he likes on the walls.

* Hermann X (formerly Hermann Lincoln) in ''Film/BankShot''. An angry black man who join TheCaper in order to fund his campaign for mayor of Anaheim, he carries a gun everywhere and flourishes it at the slightest opportunity. Interestingly, he has no trouble working with a crew of white criminals (although he does {{lampshade}} the fact that he is the only minority on the team) and ex-FBI agent Victor doesn't seem to be able to open his mouth without setting Hermann off.

* Tracy Jordan on ''Series/ThirtyRock'' is often too stupid and distracted to care about race, but he will occasionally cross into this, and sometimes come out with oddly profound and knowledgable (albeit bombastic) statements about race relations and the history of racism in America. For instance, on a walking tour of Boston he calls out an actor playing John Hancock on the hypocrisy of many Founding Fathers being slave-owners.

** Generally subverted however; the Niners are generally shown to be much more controlled and low key than the mostly white Sons, since they are in the employ of a wealthy black businessman with ties to organised crime who keeps a firm lid on them.

* Sgt Greer on ''Series/StargateUniverse'' appears to be setup as a military version of this. Then subvert the hell out of that expectation to the point where he's one of the strongest, most capable, fair but strong-willed members of the entire team.

* One ''Series/BlueHeelers'' episode focused on a female version, justified as she is introduced being harassed by a sexist racist and Tom took her from her family as part of the Australian government Indiginous relocation program, the Stolen Generation, some twenty five years before.

* One episode of ''Series/PennAndTellerBullshit'' looked at reparations and how some African Americans and minorities were...um, angry at the real and perceived crimes committed against them and demanded money. But the show also had angry black men who were opposed to compensation because it comes across as, "I'm weak because of my race" up to and including a African proud of Confederate soldiers being men who had answered the call and served even if it was over slavery.

* Played with in ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt''. Titus is pudgy, middle-aged and [[CampGay incredibly flamboyant]], making him utterly unintimidating. But when he needs to get rid of a group of white teenagers, he simply shouts (apropos of nothing) "what'd you just call me?!". They immediately scatter in fear.

* Music/PublicEnemy: With songs like "Fight the Power," "Fear of a Black Planet" and many other similar songs its easy to see why they fit this trope.

* Originally, the formation of Wrestling/TheNewDay was under these circumstances. This was quickly dropped and only implied as they turned heel soon after their debuted, with Kofi Kingston intimating they embrace positivity by clapping, or they snap.

* [[Music/JimiHendrix J]] in ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' is one of these among the [[LaResistance Kreisau Circle]]. He initially treats Blazkowicz dismissively and tells him that that the United States was no better than the Nazis, since both practiced systemic racism and that many Americans practically ''jumped'' into the waiting arms of the Nazis when the United States surrendered, to the point of calling Americans the "Nazis ''before'' the Nazis". Blazkowicz...does not [[BerserkButton take this well]] at first, but both warm up to each other as they fight together, and despite the racial differences, he is close friends with Wyatt and later B.J.
** Grace Walker is the female version of this trope in ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus,'' picking up where J left off by touching on the racial tensions of mid-20th century America and adding in issues on sexism to the mix just to be thurough. As with J, through her encounters with B.J. and fighting alongside him, she becomes one of Blazkowicz's FireForgedFriends by the end of the game.

* Chaka's brother Vince Chandler, in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse. Even though the Chandler are upper-middle class in the nice suburbs of Baltimore.

* Like the ''Series/{{Oz}}'' example, Tacoma from ''WebVideo/DemoReel'' is a slow-burning version. He eventually accepts being white-face because "you crackers had it coming", and tries his best to subvert the awful of ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' when Donnie tells him to spoof it. But he's a NiceGuy too, and opens up to both Donnie and Rebecca when they prove they're good people.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' in "Inside the Outsiders": Black Lightning, the Outsiders' resident ball o' rage, isn't angry at the world--he's merely ''very easily annoyed''. "Sprinkles--on ''coffee?'' What are you, ''six?!''"

* Transcended metaphorically in early episodes of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' which let Bender the robot speak up on behalf of the oppressed robot class. His dissatisfaction with life on Earth sometimes mirrored real life criticisms made by black nationalists, notably in the episode "Fear of a Bot Planet," the episode title itself [[ShoutOut an allusion to a seminal]] Music/PublicEnemy album.

* Joe from Anime/MEgaloBox. While whether or not he is black isn't ''especially'' clear, he's at least coded black — he sports a large, almost afro-like hairstyle, has darker skin than most of the characters and is from a crime-infested ghetto fond of rap. He also hates authority and the Shirato corporation, especially Yukiko when he thinks she's taking pity on him. He grows out of it eventually, with his disdain for the Shirato corporation and Yukiko being dropped after a few episodes.

[[quoteright:304:[[ComicBook/TheAvengers https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/marvel_comics_rage_introduction.png]]]]

* VideoGame/MedaBots: Metabee's [[{{Woolseyism}} English voice actor plays him as one of these]].

* ComicBook/{{Hardware}}, very much so. The trope name is actually the title of his first story. Justified by the fact that he is constantly being directly and intentionally oppressed by a physical incarnation of TheMan, his arch-nemesis and surrogate father [[MagnificentBastard Edwin Alva]]. The conflict is never explicitly made racial, however. It's worth noting that Hardware's creator, Creator/DwayneMcDuffie, is a black liberal who knows what he's talking about, not a white liberal trying and failing to be "socially conscious". If anything, the character is a [[PlayingWithATrope deliberate exploration]] of the trope, not a straight example.

* Joe from Anime/MEgaloBox. While whether or not he is black isn't ''especially'' clear, he's at least coded black — he sports a large, almost afro-like hairstyle, has darker skin than most of the characters and is from a crime-infested ghetto fond of rap. He also hates authority and the Shirato corporation, especially Yukiko when he thinks she's taking pity on him.

** {{ComicBook/Luke Cage|HeroForHire}}, a.k.a. Power Man, the superpowered version, zigzags this trope. He started it off playing this trope straight, if downplayed (his major enemy was, in fact, fellow Afro-American "Diamondback", a former buddy of his turned crime-lord). However, he grew out of this behavior as he gained experience and matured.