Black Buck

Black Buck, also known as Big Black Buck, is a stereotype of an African American male: large, violent, and voraciously attracted to white women. It is closely related to the African American stereotypes of the black brute and the mandingo.

According to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the stereotype originated as White Americans feared freed African American males would exact revenge for slavery against white men by raping their daughters, wives, mothers or grandmothers while Riché Richardson says it was created at the end of the 19th century to justify lynching African Americans.

The stereotype has been depicted in films to reflect negatively on African Americans such as The Birth of a Nation (1915) and to reflect positively such as Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971), although it has been challenged by some in the African American community as to whether these depictions are good.