The Magic Negro!

The magical negro is typically "in some way outwardly or inwardly disabled, either by discrimination, disability or social constraint," often a janitor or prisoner.^[5] He has no past; he simply appears one day to help the white protagonist.^[6] He is the black stereotype, "prone to criminality and laziness."^[7] To counterbalance this, he has some sort of magical power, "rather vaguely defined but not the sort of thing one typically encounters."^[6] They are patient and wise, often dispensing various words of wisdom, and are "closer to the earth."^[3]

The magical negro serves as a plot device to help the protagonist get out of trouble, typically through helping the white character recognize his own faults and overcome them.^[3] In this way, the magical negro is similar to the Deus ex machina; a simple way for the protagonist to overcome an obstacle almost entirely through outside help. Although he has magical powers, his "magic is ostensibly directed toward helping and enlightening a white male character."^[5] It is this feature of the magical negro that some people find most troubling. Although the character seems to be showing African-Americans in a positive light, he is still ultimately subordinate to whites. He is also regarded as an exception, allowing white America to "like individual black people but not black culture."^[8]

To save the white protagonist, however, he would do anything, including sacrificing himself, as Sidney Poitier did in The Defiant Ones, the prototypical magical negro movie.^[3]