(CNN) -- Actor Michael Jai White thinks the negative connotation surrounding the term "blaxploitation film" is a bunch of jive. Michael Jai White stars in the new spoof "Black Dynamite." "The problem I have with the word is that it seems to encompass movies that don't fall under that category," White said. "As soon as you hear the title 'Shaft' people think 'blaxploitation' and that is absolutely unfair because that film was made before the term even existed." White, the star and co-writer of the new movie "Black Dynamite," would rather people focus on what he views as the positives of the genre of 1970s urban action films starring African-American actors.
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"Black Dynamite" spoofs the blaxploitation genre
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Film stars Michael Jai White, who says he is a fan of the movies
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Director Scott Sanders says genre greatly influenced the culture
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Author says films reflected a post civil rights era spirit
They also gave @placeholder-American actors a chance to work and reflected a people's pride following the gains of the civil rights era.