"I Am Not Your Negro"

    “I Am Not Your Negro” was quite an appalling film to watch. Throughout its entirety, I was in awe of both the candor with which the speakers presented their ideas and the disgust at a racial hierarchy that upholds violence and human degradation as its core (albeit blind) tenants: “[White people] don’t want to believe still, less to act on the belief, that what is happening in Birmingham is happening all over the country.” One of the most successful aspects of the current Black Lives Matter protests is the overwhelming presence they’re having across the country. Police brutality doesn’t just occur in Minneapolis, but in all fifty states. Awful video footage of police pushing protesters to the ground (around minute twenty-six) isn’t just a thing of the past, but it continues to happen today. This inundation of voices and evidence and frustration is perhaps the impetus our country (white people, mainly) need in order to enact change. Already, we’re seeing positive results of these protests.

 

    The quote around minute thirty-six reigns all-too familiar. How painful to think our country might be in the same place it was all those years ago. What difference is there between the photo of those white cops on that black woman’s neck and the video that has made its way around the world, the video that has racked our country with so much pain and fear and grief and violence?

 

    I was also struck by the similarities between parts of this film and Just Mercy. If you haven’t seen it, make sure you brace yourself before you press ‘play.’ As difficult as it was for me to watch, I think its thesis and premise should be taught in schools as a part of history and social justice in an attempt to convey the ongoing realities of systemic racism. The film is currently free on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and other streaming sites in order to “educate viewers on systemic racism.” Be sure to watch it this month, if you haven’t yet.

    Also, watch this video. 

P.S. The part of “I Am Not Your Negro” that discussed segregation and integration of schools made me think of a Hidden Brain podcast about the relationship between the races of students and teachers and its importance in encouraging students to continue with their education and be successful. The podcast presents findings that suggest students are most likely to be successful if they are taught by teachers of the same race as themselves. The researcher, who identifies as black, presented these findings alongside a moral dilemma: does this research suggest schools will be more successful if they’re segregated by race? She doesn’t know how to answer, and neither does the podcast host. Listen and decide. Can you moral conscience weigh in?