Final answer:
African Americans might have been hesitant to support African American art that offered realistic or critical portrayals of their own communities due to a history of misrepresentation, the need to maintain a positive image during the civil rights struggle, and the exclusion from the mainstream art market. Artists after World War II, influenced by Pan-Africanism, began to reclaim their heritage and identity through art.
Step-by-step explanation:
The hesitation that African Americans might have felt in supporting African American art that offers a realistic or critical depiction of their own communities could be rooted in a complex set of social, historical, and cultural factors. One reason is the legacy of harmful stereotypes. Lisa E. Farrington highlights how African men and women have been historically misrepresented in Western art, often depicted as brutish or lewd characters. As such, African American art that seemed to reinforce negative imagery could be met with resistance from within the community.
Moreover, the African American struggle for civil rights and equality, as personified by figures like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, often sought to present a counter-narrative to prevailing racist ideologies. Any art that was perceived as not contributing positively to this narrative faced criticism. Additionally, the American art market and critical establishment have historically marginalized African American artists, which might have influenced the community's attitudes towards its own art.
In the post-World War II era, the rise of Pan-Africanism and the work of artists who engaged with their heritage and identity, such as Ibrahim El-Salahi and Skunder Boghossian, have shown a continued evolution in how African American and African diaspora art reclaims and confronts historical narratives. The complex journey of African American art reflects efforts to assert a self-defined cultural identity while confronting external perceptions and market realities.