The historic absence of African American actors and actresses in leading roles has been evident throughout the history of Hollywood films. When African Americans were cast, lighter skinned actors were preferred for more prominent roles. Roles for darker skinned individuals generally played on or amplified racist stereotypes. This placed both lighter and darker skinned African Americans in a situation where many felt as though they could not simply be black without being categorized. This identity crisis caused many lighter skinned African Americans to make attempts at passing for white in public settings in order to compete for more opportunities, which led to increased tensions in the black community. A Harvard study found that out of about 12,000 female prisoners, those that were light-skinned served 12.9% less prison time than dark-skinned women. They are also proven to have lower levels of education, income, and job status; they lastly, are less likely to even marry.

Stereotypes of Asian characters in films are as old as Hollywood itself, and they continue. This guide focuses on East Asians: Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Thai, Vietnamese, other Southeast Asians, and Americans with those ethnic backgrounds. Often overt, sometimes covert, the tropes have taken several forms, but all are filled with exoticism and otherness. Some clichés contradict others. The inability to speak English without an accent or using pidgin doesn't get in the way of being highly intelligent in the form of mystically wise, criminally clever, or geeky. Women can be dragon ladies, China dolls or tiger moms. Men are too often either seen as emasculated or lecherous or both. Once most East Asians were seen in meek servant roles, but in modern films, martial artists predominate roles for both men and women. The stereotypes are usually further enhanced when white actors are selected for Asian roles, and the practice called yellowface remains controversial.