I Am Not Your Negro

Baldwin repeatedly invokes the western genre, and Peck uses clips from the films that Baldwin references to underline his points. For Baldwin, westerns illustrate how history is misrepresented to support White supremacy. The traditional western makes White settlers into heroes and Native Americans into violent enemies, erasing the reality that White people committed genocide against Native Americans. This ashistorical representation provides a narrative justification for both settler colonialism and White supremacy.

Baldwin also uses the figure of Native Americans to illustrate the awakening of young Black Americans to the reality of racism. He points out that because American cinema is so dominated by White faces (John Wayne is a primary example) that both Black and White Americans grow up seeing White actors as heroes. It is a shocking and uncomfortable experience for young Black viewers to realize that their social position in America is more similar to that of the Native Americans than the White heroes. They, like Native Americans, are subjugated for the benefit of White supremacy.