The situation with regards to racism has changed dramatically over the past fifty years; this is largely down to the work of black activists such as Dr Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Another individual who had a colossal impact on the system of segregation which had previously been in place prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which legitimised the civil rights of black people to not be discriminated against; was a seamstress from Montgomery, Alabama who on December 1st 1955 refused to move from the ‘white section’ at the front of the bus to the ‘black section’ at the back of the bus. This singular act of courage rocked the nation and started a revolution. This woman, Rosa Parks, is an important symbol to black people, serving as a reminder that sometimes, it is not the people in authority, but the actions of one or two citizens of conscience.
There is much contempt from ‘white America’ towards African-Americans, and many Caucasian Americans hold the value of black lives in complete disregard. This is prominent even within American institutions such as the American government with President George Bush Snr actively opposing the release of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and other structures of society including, the Motion Picture Association of America, which is the organisation responsible for rating films. Michael Moore (director of Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11) released his first film, ‘Roger and Me’ in 1988. This film was given an ‘R’ rating, (which is the equivalent of an ‘18’ rating in the UK) not because it featured actual graphic footage of American police shooting an innocent black man, but because it included a brief non-graphic recording showing a rabbit being killed. This exemplifies the disdain of the white community, even in relatively modern times towards black people, the fact that the life of a rabbit was deemed to be of more significance and deserving of more sensitivity than the murder of an African-American.
The American film industry still consistently shows prejudice towards black people, as shown by my feature text ‘Black Knight’ but also others such as the Matrix trilogy (Neo) show black people in positions of power, then show them being killed by white people, connoting that a Negroe cannot effectively hold a position of supremacy. Other films also give the same verdict, some of these include contemporary movies, such as ‘White Chicks’ where two black American policemen dress up as white teenage girls, and also cult films such as ‘Men In Black’ where although Will Smith’s character holds a position of power in an elite government team, he is also inept, accident prone and used for comedic purposes whilst being subservient to a white member of the same force who holds a higher position in the team. America however has a tradition of producing racially offensive films, beginning the habit as early as 1915 with the release of ‘Birth Of A Nation’ which was the first true full length film and glorified the Klu Klux Klan as true American heroes.
The American public however, seem apathetic towards the subliminal messages reinforcing white supremacy and are actually unwilling to even consider their media consumption, with films with racially provocative connotations such as ‘Men In Black’ and Rush Hour 2 grossing over $225 million each, while the motion picture biography of Malcolm X, one of the most important cultural icons for black people, and one of the most influential figures in the change of racial tolerance and ultimately, world society grossed just $48 million.
American society is still intolerant of black people and in film, more often then not, cast the African-Americans in the role of the minstrel. This has been noted by black people and have now taken to playing up to the role by creating spoof films such as the ‘Scary Movie’ trilogy which grossed over $500 million in total.
This shows that whilst society in America has not changed much, except that white people pretend to be less prejudiced, black people have decided to take control and use their own societal positions to take advantage of white America.
