I was scared to see this movie when it first came out. The title is pretty intimidating because I probably have things to learn about racism. As much as we like to believe we're not racist, that's simply impossible. In college, I had a professor explain that racism is not the same as prejudice, it just means viewing anything through the lens of race. Exactly what the word says, right? Then why does everybody claim they're not racist? If you're human and you have any contact with or knowledge of different race than your own, you are racist.
I was afraid of two things in watching this: being accused of things for which I'm not responsible and being stereotyped as someone I'm not.
By the end of the movie, I certainly felt convicted for the ways I've viewed black people wrongly, but I never felt judged or mocked. This movie was one of the most gracious presentations of racism I've ever seen. I felt honored that someone who probably feels pretty pissed at how stupid white people can be chose to approach this subject without accusations or stereotypes. Also, a lot of the movie was about how black people view and label each other into different categories, some more acceptable than others. So the blame didn't rest solely on white people. For the most part, it was an invitation for black people to view themselves and each other fairly and not hold unfair judgments over them of what's an okay way to be black and what's not okay.
I highly recommend this to people who want to learn and grow.
Watch it.
No comments:
Post a Comment