MARCH 2, 2010 | PERSPECTIVE
Why Are People Racist?
By Andrew Guilford
Do people change their core values? Do nations? This crucial question confronts many, ranging from national leaders signing treaties or passing laws, to general managers for sports teams considering a trade for a recognized troublemaker, to judges imposing sentences. This issue of changing values permeates a new book from Justice Eileen Moore, “Race Results, Hollywood vs. the Supreme Court, Ten Decades of Racial Decisions and Film” (Cool Titles, 2010), as it explores the impact of the film industry and the judicial system on race relations in America since the advent of movies. Like many growing up in the 1950s, Justice Moore observed firsthand irrational racism in people she loved. As we all should, Justice Moore looks over that shocking part of our American history, asking why the evil exists, and how the evil can be corrected. Why are people racist? And how has our nation moved beyond that evil, even to the election of a black president? Answers might be found in disciplines like economics, history, psychology, or philosophy. Justice Moore finds intriguing answers in a legal/sociological review of two major institutions in our country: the U.S. Supreme Court and the film industry. She concludes that over the years, our Supreme Court has helped improve race relations, but for too long and too often, our film industry has promoted racial stereotypes and harmed the cause of racial justice. A key part of her thesis is her surprise that the Supreme Court, which she believes many find to be conservative, would have a better record on race than the film industry, which she believes many find to be liberal.
The premise of the book that institutions can change individual and societal values is extremely important. Many would find it not surprising that the branch of our government specifically assigned the duty of protecting minority rights has led the way in establishing racial justice. It is also reassuring that other institutions have been powerful forces for racial justice. With some unfortunate exceptions, this includes churches and their leaders. Indeed, the Civil Rights Movement was led by a man of God, possibly the greatest American of the last century, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Sports are also a powerful force shaping the hearts and minds of Americans. Jackie Robinson obviously had a huge impact on the integration of blacks into baseball and American society, and should be considered the most influential athlete of the last century. Americans recently saw a strong statement for civil rights when we witnessed Americans of diverse colors, genders, and orientations win medals at the Winter Olympics.
As noted by Justice Moore in her book, the integration of the armed services by President Harry Truman was another important step forward in shaping our views. This elevates President Truman as one of our great presidents, and the armed services as a potential force for needed social change.
So, institutions can and have changed the values of people and nations, of Americans and America. Justice Moore’s review of countless movies and cases provides insights into how change may come. She does a fine job of documenting the failings of the movie industry. Her review begins with the shocking and unforgivable racism of the 1915 blockbuster “Birth of a Nation.” Another blockbuster decades later, “Gone With the Wind,” also is attacked by Justice Moore for its racism and elevation of the antebellum south as an idyllic land where blacks happily embraced slavery. That is followed by heaps of other movies presenting racist, stereotypic images of blacks, and a picture of a highly segregated America. This is attributed largely to the “southern box office” notion that financial success required pandering to southern racism.
Reviewing the 1960s, Justice Moore describes the synchronization of films with Supreme Court decisions of that decade: “To Kill a Mockingbird” and Gideon v. Wainwright; “In the Heat of the Night” and Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States; “A Raisin in the Sun” and the restrictive covenant cases like Shelley v. Kraemer; “Lawrence of Arabia” and Katzenbach v. McClung; and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and Loving v. Virginia. But when the Civil Rights Movement left the rural South and arrived in large northern urban areas, she says Hollywood changed tactics as the country met face to face with busing in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, with affirmative action in Griggs v. Duke Power Co., and with quotas in Fullilove v. Klutznick. At that point, when the middle class fled big cities and watched television in the suburbs, she says the film industry seduced white audiences back to movie theaters with films associating blacks with crime, seemingly validating white fears and frustrations. This cynical strategy continued into more recent times with “Blaxploitation” movies and their heavy emphasis on racy racism, and use of sex and violence as the major themes. Justice Moore properly provides scathing reviews of these movies.
With the many movies mentioned in the book, it’s not surprising that some will take issue with some of the negative reviews. I dissented on occasion when some of my favorite flicks were panned. For example, a negative comment by a gangster about blacks in the classic “Godfather” may be beyond reproach as an accurate and necessary depiction of the racism of some immigrant Italians. And racist statements from despicable people might have the positive effect of branding racism as despicable. Also, although in “Glory,” a white officer is placed above blacks in the ranks, overall the movie delivers a powerful message of racial equality and the character and courage of black Union soldiers.
Likewise, Justice Moore’s reviews force us to consider whether depicting all-white scenes is racist, or instead sometimes beyond reproach as a simple sad statement about a segregated America. Or whether it’s wrong to present Alice Walker’s negative portrayals of every major male black character in “The Color Purple.” Regardless, Justice Moore’s highly sensitive reviews of countless movies should heighten our awareness of racism in movies. It should also inspire us to consider how racist movies have slowed the necessary change in American values as we move toward racial justice.
Justice Moore shows that our Supreme Court is a much more positive force in changing our values toward racial justice during the times that movies have been part of our culture. Key Supreme Court cases are presented along the way, and they are usually much more racially enlightened than movies of the same period.
A key case in the middle of the century, of course, is Brown v. Board of Education. Outlawing segregation destroyed the separation that allows false stereotypes to continue. Those pessimistic about whether people or nations can change should compare the South of the 1960s with a nation now led by a black president. Brown was a necessary part of that movement.
Other positive trends in Supreme Court history are reviewed, including cases on housing, employment, voting rights, busing, miscegenation, jury selection, criminal procedure, access to public accomodations, and affirmative action. While some may dispute some of the legal interpretations in the book, the dialogue promoted by dissent is productive. And of course, the Court’s record on race is far from perfect, even to this day. Justice Moore points out these shortcomings while generally noting that even when the Court was bad, Hollywood was worse.
Beyond lofty ideas of changing hearts and minds, “Race Results” gives us a delightful compendium of movies, their plots, and their characters. Justice Moore covers the Top 100 American movies selected by the American Film Institute, the annual winner of the Oscar for Best Picture, and all of Alfred Hitchcock movies. Even movies without racial significance are briefly discussed in thorough footnotes. Although an index would be helpful, the book’s decade-by-decade organization makes facts readily accessible. Movie lovers should have fun with the book.
Dr. King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” Justice Moore’s book reminds us that our institutions can make that arc shorter and more acute by changing our hearts and minds. She inspires us to work through institutions like the courts and Hollywood, and churches and sports, and so many others, to make that happen.
Andrew J. Guilford is a United States District Judge.