A Different View of “Gone with the Wind”

The mythical “Old South” portrayed in “Gone with the Wind” focuses on interactions between the chivalrous gentleman Ashley Wilkes, the self-sacrificing, forgiving Melanie Hamilton, the self-centered Scarlett O’Hara, and the social cad Rhett Butler. But if one pays closer attention, one will notice how Black people are portrayed—and what is left unsaid.

The movie is entertainment focused on rich white people, so we don’t see the harsh working conditions of the Black slaves, the poor housing they live in, or how they are treated by the cruel white overseer. There is no mention of how slave families could be broken up and sold separately to different buyers. There is no mention of the severe whippings for disobedience.

The one exception in the movie is Mammy, the stereotype of a dark black, overweight, maternal, reliable, middle-aged woman wearing an apron and a kerchief on her head. In the movie, she is played by Hattie McDaniel. Mammy is strong, wise, and devoted to her “white family.” She raises the children, scolds them when necessary, and gives herself to them—even if she has children of her own. She may eat better and dress better than field slaves, but she is a non-person. This stereotype continued into the 20th century in treatment of domestic workers, cooks, and hotel maids. They continued to be non-persons. Even now Black Lives Matter has to remind America that they are equal human beings.

For her performance in the movie, in 1940 Hattie McDaniel won the Best Supporting Actress award, a great honor. However, at the award ceremony, she had to sit at a segregated table: Black attendees were not allowed to sit together with whites.

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