Morgan Freeman Was Taken Out Of Context

[Brewman_Jax]

Ever notice that the only time racists bother to listen to black people, or POC in general, is when they think that said people actually agree with them? Collaborators and lawn jockeys aside, there's rarely any time that racists and POC share any common ground. This is another one of those times.

I watched the Youtube clip of 60 Minutes with Morgan Freeman being interviewed by Mike Wallace. When Morgan Freeman said that there shouldn't be a Black History Month, he was saying that there shouldn't HAVE to be a Black History Month, it should be part of American History. In theory, he's correct. In truth, that has never been true. That is why Carter Woodson created Black History Month (starting from Negro History Week) in the first place: people of color were being ignored and deleted from American History, except for slavery and the Civil Rights Movement and other parts that are not easily overlooked, but those were severely diluted and quickly passed by. Any in-depth study would be reserved for college courses.

Mike Wallace's declaration of "I'm Jewish!" to Morgan Freeman's questioning of which month is White History Month, rings rather hollow and sounds very disingenuous said by a man that's obviously white IAW social convention. If he said that as some sort of agreement for solidarity, he didn't sound very convinced, or very convincing, but I digress.

The other part of the of the clip was the "stop talking about racism" part. Most of the racists, and too many others, just don't want to talk about racism at all. It will magically go away if no one says anything about it. Morgan Freeman meant to treat any and everyone you encounter fairly and equally without regard to race or what they look like. Again, he's correct, in theory. In truth, that does not happen, esp. in a racial caste society, and that's not going to change in the immediate future, regardless of the presence of a black man elected President of the USA. In 1911, the year Madame C.J. Walker became the first black millionaire, 69 lynchings were recorded. The presence or achievements of extraordinary black people did not change the social climate or structure. That will take time.

Morgan is correct, if we lived in a fair and just society, but we do not. Until then, we will have to talk and fight and struggle and educate and convince and deal with the willfully ignorant, morally bankrupt, intellectually dishonest, mentally deranged, and the historically deprived, i.e. those that "want their country back".

[jaxx]

Well said Brewman_Jax. I was thinking the other day about the National Museum of African American History and Culture to be built in Washington DC on the mall.....it's years past due. And it shouldn't be. We need the Black History Month to tell the truth to the people in this country. The haters can't be allowed to erase history.

[KonaKane]

Denying that racism still exists is only the latest trick in the arsenal of the dyed-in-the-wool racist. It comes after being apologists for America's long and nasty history with it.

[Brewman_Jax]

I can empathize with Morgan's annoyance at the fact that we're still wrestling with the issue in the 21st Century with no end in sight. I don't think that he meant to oversimplify the issue, though that can be inferred, but I think he meant to break it down to its simplest and basic parts--be fair, be just, and do the right thing.