Racism's Long Shadow
Raoul Peck’s Oscar-nominated documentary, “I Am Not Your Negro,” is not what you might be expecting. Above all, it is a primer on racism in America and a searing indictment of its persistence right up to this moment.
It is not a movie about James Baldwin, for the most part. But it is told exclusively in the famous expat writer’s own words, put together from a book proposal for an unfinished work on the deaths of three civil rights icons—Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers; from others of the author’s novels and essays; and from a number of television appearances.
You may come out of the movie thinking, as I did, that Baldwin was among the most eloquent spokesmen for black liberation, certainly on a par with Malcolm and Martin. As Baldwin explains in one clip, as a writer he could be a more dispassionate witness of the scourge of racism than the movement’s leaders. Although when pushed—such as in a passive-aggressive interview by the TV host Dick Cavett—he could be eviscerate white supremacy with a few well-chosen words.
Baldwin makes it clear that the fight against racism is literally a fight to the death. His flight from America, ending up in Paris, was a matter of being able to work free from physical and psychological harm. Peck, a Haitian-born filmmaker, drives the point home with images of lynchings and other violence—not only from the Civil Rights era, but modern-day violence including police shootings and beatings. At one point we see a brief on-screen roll call of recent victims such as 12-year-old Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin.
The movie’s powerfully-delivered message is unambiguous: racism still bedevils our society today; it is an ongoing American, social problem, a symptom of “moral apathy,” and one rooted in white pathology, as Baldwin explains in this segment toward the end of the film:
“What white people have to do, is try and find out in their own hearts why it was necessary to have a nigger in the first place. Because I’m not a nigger. I’m a man, but if you think I’m a nigger, it means you need it.”
For a Q&A with the audience following a screening of “I Am Not Your Negro” at The Moviehouse in Millerton recently, I invited a friend and colleague, Nana Ashhurst, to lead the discussion. She is an activist with a varied background as a documentary filmmaker in her own right, a minister, and a former president of Def Jam Records, the hip-hop label.
Inevitably, the current political situation and its relationship to racism were hot topics for discussion. Camilo Rojas, a filmmaker and professor of communications at Dutchess Community College, spoke passionately about the similarity of the immigrant experience to black-and-white racism in being treated as invisible much of the time.
Many people wanted to know if racism could be overcome, and how. Ashhurst answered that the country has made progress, but often of the “two steps forward, one step back” variety. Even if past presidents have had a mixed record, the current administration, she warned, is different in not even giving an appearance of wanting to combat racism. As an African American woman, she added, racism is something thought about, if not encountered, every day, making Baldwin’s words not just timely but prophetic.
“I Am Not Your Negro” is continuing its run at The Moviehouse through at least March 2. Check the website www.themoviehouse.net for details and updates.
It is not a movie about James Baldwin, for the most part. But it is told exclusively in the famous expat writer’s own words, put together from a book proposal for an unfinished work on the deaths of three civil rights icons—Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Medgar Evers; from others of the author’s novels and essays; and from a number of television appearances.
You may come out of the movie thinking, as I did, that Baldwin was among the most eloquent spokesmen for black liberation, certainly on a par with Malcolm and Martin. As Baldwin explains in one clip, as a writer he could be a more dispassionate witness of the scourge of racism than the movement’s leaders. Although when pushed—such as in a passive-aggressive interview by the TV host Dick Cavett—he could be eviscerate white supremacy with a few well-chosen words.
Baldwin makes it clear that the fight against racism is literally a fight to the death. His flight from America, ending up in Paris, was a matter of being able to work free from physical and psychological harm. Peck, a Haitian-born filmmaker, drives the point home with images of lynchings and other violence—not only from the Civil Rights era, but modern-day violence including police shootings and beatings. At one point we see a brief on-screen roll call of recent victims such as 12-year-old Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin.
The movie’s powerfully-delivered message is unambiguous: racism still bedevils our society today; it is an ongoing American, social problem, a symptom of “moral apathy,” and one rooted in white pathology, as Baldwin explains in this segment toward the end of the film:
“What white people have to do, is try and find out in their own hearts why it was necessary to have a nigger in the first place. Because I’m not a nigger. I’m a man, but if you think I’m a nigger, it means you need it.”
For a Q&A with the audience following a screening of “I Am Not Your Negro” at The Moviehouse in Millerton recently, I invited a friend and colleague, Nana Ashhurst, to lead the discussion. She is an activist with a varied background as a documentary filmmaker in her own right, a minister, and a former president of Def Jam Records, the hip-hop label.
Inevitably, the current political situation and its relationship to racism were hot topics for discussion. Camilo Rojas, a filmmaker and professor of communications at Dutchess Community College, spoke passionately about the similarity of the immigrant experience to black-and-white racism in being treated as invisible much of the time.
Many people wanted to know if racism could be overcome, and how. Ashhurst answered that the country has made progress, but often of the “two steps forward, one step back” variety. Even if past presidents have had a mixed record, the current administration, she warned, is different in not even giving an appearance of wanting to combat racism. As an African American woman, she added, racism is something thought about, if not encountered, every day, making Baldwin’s words not just timely but prophetic.
“I Am Not Your Negro” is continuing its run at The Moviehouse through at least March 2. Check the website www.themoviehouse.net for details and updates.