American Racism

            Racism today is often times hidden. It’s subtle. I don’t know anyone who would openly admit to hating people of a certain race. I do, however, know people who have prejudices. They would never confess this underlying discrimination, but it’s there nonetheless. Maybe it’s the way they renounce racism too heavily but in reality are apprehensive of people of other races. Maybe it’s prevalently hidden in conversations they have about race. Whatever it is, we see racism everyday; it’s just not as blatant as it once was.

            This same genre of racism is rampant in movies. Even movies like Crash, that are supposedly battling it, have their fair share of racist moments or themes. American History X is one of these movies. Other movies seem to be coincidentally racist. It just so happens that the bad driver is Asian. Or it just so happens that the alcoholic is Native American. American Gangster is one of these kinds of movies.

            American History X is about a Derek and Danny Vineyard. Derek became apart of a neo-Nazi organization. He is involved to the degree that he is one of the better-known figures in white supremacist organizations in the area he lives. He hates minorities. The movie shows him brutally murder a couple black guys among other severely racist acts. He is idolized by most of the racist white people in the community.

            The movie is supposed to show its anti-racism through the journey Derek, and consequently Danny, takes to becoming an accepting person. He realizes that racism is a terrible thing and tries to reverse some of the damage he caused. He tries to convince his friends that he was wrong. Through this transformation the viewer idolizes Derek. His change of heart is the act of a noble protagonist. The problem is that he always was the protagonist. Even when he was ruthlessly murdering people just because they were of another race the viewer is, to some extent, on his side. He hates people who aren’t white and the viewer is almost encouraged to sympathize with him. His change of heart is so trivial and hinges on such a weak turning point that Derek’s arguments for why he is racist almost drown out the moral of the movie.

            In one scene the Vineyard family is having family dinner. Derek gets in an argument with his mom’s boyfriend about minorities. The mom’s boyfriend is trying to convince Derek that often times minorities are victims trapped in a racist system. Derek hates this idea. He also argues to justify cops beating up black guys. Cops have the authority to make “those calls.” He argues similar things throughout most of the movie. Obviously he has a change of heart in the movie but in a lot of ways it doesn’t seem to do much for the message. In the family dinner scene Derek is extremely persuasive. He’s intelligent and speaks eloquently. He still seems to be the protagonist while arguing these points and the film almost encourages the viewer to side with him. A clip of the scene is on youtube and the top comment agrees with Derek: “This whole speech is dead on. The fact that they make the character a nazi just takes away from the fact that he's telling the truth. I don't agree with everything he says in this movie, but I sure agree with this. Rodney King was a piece of shit.”

            As well as being intelligent Derek is handsome, tough, and charismatic. When that face is put on racism it’s a lot more appealing. I think in a lot of ways this movie encourages racism. Like the person who commented on youtube, most people won’t subscribe to Nazism. They will, however, accept some of the racist attitudes when the argument is too one-sided. In another scene Derek and his white friends play a group of black guys in basketball to see who gets the court. The loser isn’t allowed to play there ever again. Derek’s team wins. Again, he’s still the protagonist. There is a sense of victory felt by the viewer.

            In American Gangster Denzel Washington’s character, Frank Lucas, is as likeable as any of the other characters he’s played. He’s smooth, savvy, charming, and tough. The problem is, he’s the biggest drug dealer in Harlem. He’s being chased persistently by Russell Crowe’s character Richie Roberts. Richie is in a lot of ways like the American cowboy type of character. He’s wild, gets the girls, accomplishes tasks through unconventional means, but is still a good guy who makes ethical decisions. Frank on the other hand is the face of drug dealing. He also happens to be black. So the face of drugs in the movie is a black one. If that doesn’t reinforce harmful stereotypes then I don’t know what does.

            Recent studies from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention have shown that white people are more likely to sell and use drugs then black people. This is contrary to most people’s belief. When you put a black identity on the drug problem, in a hit Hollywood movie, it encourages these fallacious beliefs.

            It seems as though we can’t escape racism. Whether it’s subtle or blatant it seems to always be hidden somewhere. Even in movies that are supposed to be battling the disease seem to subconsciously perpetuate it. If we’re not conscious of it we might find ourselves being persuaded towards discrimination.