History Main / AngryBlackManStereotype

-->'''[[Music/IceCube Dickson]]:''' [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall I know what you're thinking.]] Angry black [[DaChief captain.]] [[{{Cliche}} Ain't nothing but a stupid stereotype.]] ''But guess what, [[PrecisionFStrike motherfuckers?]]'' I'm black. [[SelfMadeMan And I worked my ass off to be the captain.]] [[HairTriggerTemper And sometimes I get angry.]] ''So suck a dick!'' [[JustifiedTrope What I'm trying to show you is, embrace your stereotypes.]]

-->'''Faran:''' Shut your ''[[PrecisionFStrike fucking]]'' mouth right now, Tyler, if you know what's good for you.

'''[[SurroundedByIdiots King]]:''' Get the ''[[PrecisionFStrike fuck]]'' out of my office.

This trope refers to a stereotype that portrays black men (and black people more broadly) as perpetually and often [[IrrationalHatred irrationally]] angry due to perceived racial discrimination. Popularized in the 1970s after the successes of the [[UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement American Civil Rights Movement]], this stereotype often works to discredit, minimize, and silence any criticisms that black people make regarding their treatment in society by reducing them all to just "being mad." After all, (cue SarcasmMode) racism is legally forbidden now! And there are many wealthy and successful black men and women, so things can't be ''that'' bad. So all of that talk about continued racial oppression should be waved away as the mere rantings of a person simply determined to be angry with their lot no matter what.

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1654004607063165600 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1551697942012964700

** 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 later reused in Cyborg, and his name was recycled as Deathstroke's son.

* [[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.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1551697942012964700

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1654004607063165600 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

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

A stock character and stereotype popular in the 1970s–1980s. A male black youth, the Angry Black Man knows that [[BlamingTheMan The Man 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.

Liberal white people will attempt to befriend him, but he will have none of it, seeing even being friends with white people as a betrayal to his race without realizing the hypocrisy of this logic.

Not quite a DeadHorseTrope, because while society has ''mostly'' marched on through affirmative action and other policies intended to help black Americans get ahead in addition to [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama even electing a black man President]], this behavior is still prevalent within the black community as ancient culture is near-impossible to track due to the dilution of cultural traits during the slave trade. Jazz musicians and other historical greats like UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli and UsefulNotes/JackieRobinson, while talented, mostly only matter to people today in the context of rebelling against the historical oppression of their people. There were few black heroes that weren't rebellious in some way, leading some black youths to try to emulate them despite living in far better conditions and even lambast [[TheWhitestBlackGuy those who rebel against]] ''their'' rebelliousness for [[CategoryTraitor "acting white"]].

Oh, and [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant despite the name]], this trope is ''not'' about characters who are black and have a HairTriggerTemper (see ScaryBlackMan for that). Compare MalcolmXerox. Compare and contrast AngryWhiteMan. In South Asia, the equivalent is the Angry Tamil Man.

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

* Jenny's Black Panther acquaintances in ''Film/ForrestGump'', to the latter.
* Sergio in ''Film/GetHimToTheGreek''. He's a likeable character. He gives Aaron a break--and Aldous Snow ends up abandoning him when Aaron sets up his own record company.

* Probably one of the best examples of Creator/SamuelLJackson as an Angry Black Man is Zeus Carver from ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance''.

* ''Film/{{Shaft}}'' is basically all about taking this character and portraying him as the most badass motha you can imagine, allowing him to successfully stick it to the Man.

* Sgt James Doakes from ''Series/{{Dexter}}''. "[[MemeticMutation SURPRISE, MOTHERFUCKER!]]"

* Music/{{NWA}}: Niggaz Wit Attitude. The music even reflects this trope.
* MC Ride, the frontman of Music/DeathGrips, is known for putting a never-before-seen level of ferocity into his vocal delivery, tending to [[CarefulWithThatAxe shout and scream]] his raps.
* Music/TupacShakur: He made several songs that made him fit this trope.
* Music/KanyeWest He is no longer like this today, but in the beginning of his career some of his songs fitted this trope like All Falls Down, he even had an Angry Black Man moment in real life who can forget him saying on live T.V. George Bush doesn't care about Black people.
* Music/PublicEnemy: With songs like "Fight the Power," "Fear of a Black Planet" and many other similar songs, it's easy to see why they fit this trope.
* This trope is a common stereotype of black rappers even today, largely owing to the confrontational lyrics and socially conscious themes present in popular 80's and 90's hip-hop artists such as the aforementioned Public Enemy and Tupac. Even after mainstream rap moved towards a more introspective direction and became more stern than angry in socially conscious works, the typical image of a hip-hop artist among nonblack members of the public tends to be that of a Tupac or Public Enemy expy (if not glam rappers like Biggie Smalls or Li'l John).

[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/BobSapp's larger-than-life character in Japan.
* [[Wrestling/AllenCoage Bad News Brown]] basically hated everything and trusted no one.
* The Nation of Domination under [[Wrestling/RonSimmons Faarooq's]] leadership were a PowerStable of Angry Black Men. After [[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson The Rock]] became the leader, these characteristics were downplayed.
* Originally, the formation of Wrestling/TheNewDay was under these circumstances. This was quickly dropped and only implied as they turned heel soon after their debut, with Kofi Kingston intimating they embrace positivity by clapping, or they snap.
* R-Truth's 2011 FaceHeelTurn combined this and SanitySlippage.
* Theodore Long's Thugging & Bugging Enterprises, which was a SpiritualSuccessor to the Nation, featured Wrestling/MarkHenry, Rodney Mack, [[Wrestling/CarleneMoore Jazz]], Wrestling/DLoBrown, and Wrestling/ChristopherNowinski as the group's TokenWhite.
* Wrestling/MarkHenry whenever he's a heel. ScaryBlackMan is always in effect as well.
** Joined the Wrestling/TheNationOfDomination in 1998.
** Joined Thugging & Bugging Enterprises in 2003.
** His [[WrestlingMonster Monster Heel]] run of 2006.
** His [[HeroKiller Hall of Pain]] World Heavyweight Champion run in 2011-12, which saw him at his angriest and most aggressive, taking his [[LongRunner 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.
[[/folder]]

* Chaka's brother Vince Chandler, in the Literature/WhateleyUniverse. Even though the Chandlers are upper-middle class in the nice suburbs of Baltimore.
** The Tigers are an Afro-centric martial arts club at Whateley, formed by N'Dizi in response to perceived (and probably real) racism on the part of the existing martial arts club, the Dragons. N'Dizi has basically made this trope mandatory for the members, male and female alike, though he himself seems to see women as inferior and encourages such sexism in the group.

Not quite a DeadHorseTrope, because while society has ''mostly'' [[SocietyMarchesOn marched on]] through affirmative action and other policies intended to help black Americans get ahead in addition to [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama even electing a black man President]], this behavior is still prevalent within the black community as ancient culture is near-impossible to track due to the dilution of cultural traits during the slave trade. Jazz musicians and other historical greats like UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli and UsefulNotes/JackieRobinson, while talented, mostly only matter to people today in the context of rebelling against the historical oppression of their people. There were few black heroes that weren't rebellious in some way, leading some black youths to try to emulate them despite living in far better conditions and even lambast [[TheWhitestBlackGuy those who rebel against]] ''their'' rebelliousness for [[CategoryTraitor "acting white"]].

Not quite a DeadHorseTrope, because while society has ''mostly'' [[SocietyMarchesOn marched on]] through affirmative action and other policies intended to help black Americans get ahead in addition to having [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama even electing a black man President]], this behavior is still prevalent within the black community as ancient culture is near-impossible to track due to the dilution of cultural traits during the slave trade. Jazz musicians and other historical greats like UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli and UsefulNotes/JackieRobinson, while talented, mostly only matter to people today in the context of rebelling against the historical oppression of their people. There were few black heroes that weren't rebellious in some way, leading some black youths to try to emulate them despite living in far better conditions and even lambast [[TheWhitestBlackGuy those who rebel against]] ''their'' rebelliousness for [[CategoryTraitor "acting white"]].

Compare MalcolmXerox. See also ScaryBlackMan. Compare and contrast AngryWhiteMan.

Oh, and [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant despite the name]], this trope is ''not'' about characters who are black and have a HairTriggerTemper (see ScaryBlackMan for that). In South Asia, the equivalent is the Angry Tamil Man.

Oh, and [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant despite the name]], this trope is ''not'' about characters who are black and have a HairTriggerTemper. In South Asia, the equivalent is the Angry Tamil Man.

Not quite a DeadHorseTrope, because while society has ''mostly'' [[SocietyMarchesOn marched on]] through affirmative action and other policies intended to help black Americans get ahead in addition to having [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama even electing a black man President]], this behavior is still prevalent within the black community as ancient culture is near-impossible to track due to the dilution of cultural traits during the slave trade. Jazz musicians and other historical greats like Muhammad Ali and Jackie Robinson mostly only mattered in the context of rebelling against the historical oppression of their people. There were few black heroes that weren't rebellious in some way, leading some black youths to try to emulate them despite living in far better conditions and even lambast [[TheWhitestBlackGuy those who rebel against]] ''their'' rebelliousness for [[CategoryTraitor "acting white"]].

Oh, and [[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant despite the name]], this trope is ''not'' about characters who are black and have a HairTriggerTemper.

* On ''Series/InLivingColor'', you had Herman Simpson, or Homey D. Clown, who was put in prison for a couple of years via a NoodleIncident and had to work as a clown as a part of his release program. Every appearance he had had him going off on at least one tangent (usually in a song) about TheMan.

** ''ComicBook/Hardware1993'', very much so. The trope name is actually the title of his first story. {{Justified|Trope}} by the fact that he is constantly being directly and intentionally oppressed by a physical incarnation of TheMan, his arch-nemesis and surrogate father 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.

* ''Film/{{Shaft}}'' is basically all about taking this character and portraying him as the most badass motha you can imagine, allowing him to successfully stick it to TheMan.

* Taken to the hilt in the {{blaxploitation}} film ''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]].

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.

* This was the personality of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' character The Prowler, as well as Robbie Robertson's activist son.
* Franchise/MarvelUniverse:
** ComicBook/LukeCage, 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.
** However the new Power Man, Afro-Dominican teen Victor Alvarez is this example straight. It'd take forever to list the things he is angry about.
** In the 1990s, Marvel introduced Rage, a superhero from the slums whose first appearance in ComicBook/TheAvengers included him getting up in ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's face about why the Avengers (at the time) had no African-American members, as seen above. The relative immaturity of his arguments and social views was given a surprising explanation: at the time, Rage was actually only ''13 years old''; he was an Afro-American mutant whose powers had awoken at early puberty and basically given him a super-powered body that looked like it belonged to a grown man. Once they learned the truth, the Avengers booted him from their ranks citing that he was far too young to be an Avenger; he instead went on to join the Comicbook/TheNewWarriors, Marvel's primary "teen supers team".
* Lucius Fox's son, Tim, was portrayed this way in 1980s ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comics.
* Tyroc in the ''Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes,'' 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.
* In Franchise/TheDCU, Franchise/GreenLantern John Stewart was originally this kind of character, which meant he had to prove himself to Green Lantern Hal Jordan that he was a worthy recruit to the Corps. While John eventually mellowed for the most part, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini decided the early take on John would make for the most dramatically interesting Green Lantern for the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse version of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''.
* 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 later reused in Cyborg, and his name was recycled as Deathstroke's son.
* ComicBook/Hardware1993, 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 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.
* 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.
* Patriot of the ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' is ''not'' like this, but is assumed to be by his classmates in his solo one-shot, when he tries to give a report about how the first African-American superhero (his grandfather) was treated. (The point of the story is that you don't have to say MyCountryRightOrWrong to be a patriot.)
-->'''Kid:''' ''You're'' the racist! You think everything's about race!
* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': Captain America wants to detain Misty Knight for the incident with the Silver Wing. She replies "Kiss my black butt, Captain Whitey"
* 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/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''. Other than his skin color though, the archetype plays out exactly the same way.

* 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?!''"

* ''WesternAnimation/CodeMonkeys'' has Black Steve, a ludicrously over-the-top parody of this trope, who is literally angry all the time - at white people, at his colleagues, and at inanimate objects.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_Racer Rocket Racer]] in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'' was a GadgeteerGenius and a black teenager living in a poor neighborhood who frequently got in trouble with the police. When he's [[FrameUp framed]] by Big Wheel for a robbery he's confronted by ComicBook/SpiderMan, and goes on an angry tirade accusing him of not knowing what it's like to be poor (not knowing it's [[PerpetualPoverty Peter Parker]] of all people he's talking to) and questioning [[ThenLetMeBeEvil what the point of being good is if everyone assumes you're a criminal]]. However, he calms down after they take down Big Wheel together and reiterates his desire to [[AdaptationalNiceGuy use his skills to help the community]].
* Spoofed in the opening for the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Black Mystery Month", where a ''white'' speaker delivers an over-the-top rant, claiming that none of the students has even seen a real black person (followed by the white and black students looking at one another in confusion) and claiming that Beethoven was black.

* 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.

* 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 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.

* VideoGame/{{Medabots}}: Metabee's [[{{Woolseyism}} English voice actor plays him as one of these]].
* Garterbelt from ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt''.
* 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 later reused in Cyborg, and his name was recycled as Deathstroke's son.

** 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.]]

* Mr. Grits from ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty'' loathes [[IncrediblyLamePun crackers]] up to the point [[spoiler: where he forces the crackers to have sex with him during the food orgy.]]

** 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.]]