Lee Daniels ' The Butler

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

If you take a look at most Hollywood movies, a good majority of the actresses are fair skinnend. One of the first African American female actress was Nina Mae McKinney whom as been inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Since she was black she was only offered low budget films and looked at as the standard barer for future lead roles when using black women. Fredi Washington was a light skin, light eye female and was described as being too beautiful to play a maid but wasn’nt offered romantic leads. Her skin was so pale that some

In Chapter 4 of his book, which is aptly titled “Postwar Passions”, Daniels chooses to focus on the experiences of African-Americans in the post-WWI era, specifically focusing on race riots that occurred during the “Red Summer” of 1919. (104) There is a long-standing history of racial discord between whites and African-Americans, but the post-WWI years are a unique time. It has been more than fifty years since slavery has been abolished, but it will still take another forty plus years before discrimination on the basis of race is made illegal in America. Industrialization after the turn of the century and blatant racism in the South led to the migration of millions of African-Americans to northern

Wilson stated that ''The truth is that often where there are esthetic criteria of excellence, there are also sociological criteria that have traditionally excluded blacks.'' He then continued on to say ''... raise the standards and remove the sociological consideration of race as privilege, and we will meet you at the crossroads, in equal numbers, prepared to do the work of extending and developing the common ground of the American theater.'' Through these powerful words Wilson is saying that in order to reflect American culture in the theater, the history of African American’s must be reflected. There have always been systems in place that have excluded African Americans and white Americans will never understand the way that sense of oppression felt. White Americans will never understand how it feels to be enslaved, be powerless in protecting your family, and being sold off as property, as Eliza Harris from Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and millions of other slaves felt. Photographing the “American Negro” by Shawn Michelle Smith presented the idea that white Americans have tried to take away the histories of other races in America. People have always turned against embracing the histories of the African Americans because they were seen as alien to their owners. Their different skin tone separated them from the white Americans who thought of them as uncivilized before they were brought to work for them. Ultimately Wilson calls for Black Theaters to prevent the culture of the

This research paper gave you an insight trough the black history of America and connected dots between reality and the movie The Butler. All the questions, which were asked in the introduction, can be answered now. The first point of this research paper deals with the question: “Why do Cecil and Louis have so different views towards the Civil Rights Movement?” So the answer is, that Louis do not want to accept his father's attitude towards the Civil Rights Movement. Louis and his father have completely different views towards the Civil Rights Movement. The age or Cecil's former life can also be a reason for their different points of view. Louis and his friends fight for equal rights whereas his father, is only observing from the outside. Louis becomes angry with his father, because he sees how his father works for the President in the White House everyday, and does not try anything to influence them. But Louis does not know, that his father influences the Presidents unconsciously. Even Cecil does not know that. But as you read

The Film I Am Not Your Negro is a 2016 Documentary that depicts the key events of the 20th Century African American History. This documentary was inspired by James Baldwin’s thirty-page unfinished manuscript. The manuscript was going to be his next project in which he called Remember This House. The manuscript was to be a personal explanation of the lives and successive assassinations of three of his close friends, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Unfortunately, in 1987 James Baldwin passed away leaving the unfinished manuscript to be forgotten, well that is what some thought. Now master filmmaker Raoul Peck envisions the manuscript James Baldwin never finished. The outcome is a fundamental examination of race in America, using Baldwin's original thoughts and materials to make the project possible. I Am Not Your Negro is a journey into black history that connects the past of the Civil Rights movement to the present of Black Lives Matter. It is a film that questions black representation in Hollywood and beyond. And, ultimately, by confronting the deeper connections between the lives and assassination of these three leaders, Baldwin and Peck have produced a work that challenges the very definition of what America stands for. Though this is the main thought of the documentary there are many key features that make this film much so about whiteness in American History and now.

The presentation of a 150 year timeline of Black newspapers: from their roots during the Reconstruction period, to their “deaths” shortly after the Civil Rights Movement through various aids proved the film’s strength. The use of actual photographers, journalists, and editors from the Black newspapers solidified this film’s sincerity; it allowed the people that actually lived through those changes and events to recount their stories. Even when it profiled different people from the past, the filmmakers used voiceovers that fit each character, facilitating the film’s narrative. These qualities elevated the movie and enhanced the understanding of it overall.

The United States has long been a country that has accepted that change is a necessity for prosperity and growth. However, each change within the nation's history was hard fought against those who resisted such change either through racism, bigotry, and blatant discrimination. African American cinema is enshrouded in history that depicts these themes of racism, struggle, and deprivation. Yet, this same cinema also shows scenes of hope, artistic spirit, intellectual greatness, and joy. Black actresses, actors, directors, producers, and writers have been fighting for recognition and respect since the great Paul Robeson. The civil rights movement of the 1950's and 60's was fueled by black cinema through films like A Raisin in the Sun.

Fortunately for us, the various filmmakers did not figuratively heed the tour guide’s admonition to stay out of “this neighborhood only for black people,” persistently covering civil rights politics over the decade and across the Diaspora. By unearthing and arranging this small selection of their filmed observations and being “into it,” Olsson’s documentary humanizes a durable and uniquely American emancipation struggle, inviting audiences of diverse generations to reconsider the global influence of the Black Power

Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were

The truly difficult work of racial governmental issues is finished by Steele, who, clarifying that he, as well, is the offspring of an interracial couple, depicts, as far as his own understanding, the dark individual's technique for being loved by whites (abstaining from appearing to be furious). Be that as it may, in declaring that Obama owes his ascent to being "aided" by whites, he repeats another anti-agents generalization, that of the reliant dark individual who lives grayish individuals' abundance and blame. D'Souza suggests that Obama was chosen as an analgesic to that blame and came to office as a void image and an unexamined amount, whose inclinations and most profound standards—that’s covered outrage—have been kept under tight restraints by the possibility of reelection. With respect to the genuine condition of race relations in America—the motion picture offers not a word about it; the real legislative issues of

From 1968 to 2008, this forty-year period starts with what is considered to be one of the darkest moments in African American history and ends with the ultimate triumph and fulfilment of a dream. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was the spiritual and political leader of the Civil Rights Movement, was gunned down and assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, TN (History.com). Those responsible assumed that this senseless act of violence would thwart and quell the efforts of African Americans in the quest for equality in the United States of America, however, this deed cemented the pursuit and determination of African Americans and many others to bring Dr. King’s dream to fruition. On November 4, 2008, the United States of American elected its first African American President, Barack Hussein Obama, as the nation’s forty-fourth president (ipl2). This week’s assignment is to write an essay on how the 2008 election affected African American History in America and contrast the essay ideas with the history of the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Civil Rights Movement began in the 1950s with figures like Martin Luther King Jr. coordinating marches, making speeches, and fighting for change. Through the years, legal advancements were made and progress was accomplished. In 1962, desegregation of schools was enforced by President Kennedy. In 1965, a Voting Rights Act was put in action to eliminate qualifying tests for voting so that everyone was included. Overall, the 1960s offered great change in civil rights and large advancements in black culture. Viewing this film, it is easy to deduce that Mel Brooks saw this social advancement as a perfect place for him to make a statement in the best way he knew how – comedy. The changing racial atmosphere was at a critical juncture. Beneath the veil of satirical comedy, there are clear indications of the nation’s pending position at the brink of racial equality. The groundbreaking laws themselves were not changing the nation’s overwhelmingly racist opinions, but there was indeed a visibly stirring change occurring. While Brooks was not naïve enough to think that racism was eradicated in 1974, he held a positive view on its progression. Through comedy, Brooks looked to the future with a sense of optimism about society’s improving racial

[1] Before I start this essay, I feel the need to remind the reader that I find slavery in all its forms to be an oppressive and terrible institution, and I firmly believe that for centuries (including this one) bigotry is one of the most terrible stains on our civilization. The views I intend to express in the following essay are in no way meant to condone the practices of slavery or racism; they are meant only to evaluate and interpret the construction of slavery in film.

Quentin Tarantino’s film Jackie Brown, released in 1997, challenges the pervasive stereotyping of not only blacks but specifically black women. Nowhere is the cinematic devaluation of African Americans more evident than in images of black women which, in the history of cinematography, the white ideal for female beauty has overlooked. The portrayal of black women as the racial Extra has been fabricated through many semblances in the history of American film. Film scholars and feminists alike have long been plagued with lament for the negativity and stereotyping that sticks with black women in American cinema. In this paper, I will argue that Jackie Brown highlights and stresses the racial variance of the female African American protagonist,