Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Spencer Crew, UCLA Professor of History Eric Avila, author Herb Boyd and many more all chime in. The oral histories it combines with interviews with some of the country’s brightest minds makes it even more informative. The filmmakers’ decision to interweave the history of the automobile industry and the history of African Americans helps makes the film a riveting watch which should make anyone with common sense roil at the idiocy of racism. The information presented in the film therefore is hardly shocking, but still revealing, and goes into well-documented depth. Obama’s rise marked a fundamental shift in how the country thought about race it was the extent of that shift that fell prey to exaggeration. Nevertheless, the historic election of America’s first Black president did represent some sort of advancement toward a distant and amorphous “post-racial” paradise. Trump’s white nationalism eight years later. However well intentioned, for Black people the concept was and has been ridiculous a perception confirmed by the rise of Donald J. Sorin’s film also is a sledgehammer response to the illusion of a “post-racial” America - an idea that first gained traction with the election of Barack Obama in 2008. The police killings of unarmed Black people are a testament to this, so much that in 2017, author Jan Miles published “The Post-Racial Negro Green Book,” which is a take on the historical travel guide - but this one is a 2013-2016 state-by-state collection of police brutality, racial profiling, and everyday racist behavior by businesses and private citizens. Black people who traveled - even within their own vicinity - encountered violence or faced the likelihood of death.Īnd although things have improved in the 21st century, the documentary reveals that it still has been geographically uneven, and there’s still quite a ways to go in terms of the treatment of Black people in America. African Americans could not drive through certain cities, or stay past a certain time of day. Businesses often refused service to Black customers or treated them poorly. Civil rights activists drove around the country, preaching their points of view in person.īut that mobility came with repercussions. Automobiles became a tool for employment. Additionally, cars allowed migration to industrializing cities. Essentially, it meant not having to adhere to humiliating Jim Crow laws. There was no having to give up your seat to a white passenger. In an automobile, there were no “whites-only” sections to deal with. Chronicling the riveting history and personal experiences of African Americans on the road, the film digs into the deep well of information tied to the enduring phrase - “Driving While Black” - which has roots in the everyday African American experience, told through the stories of the men, women and children who actually lived through it.ĭrawing on a wealth of recent scholarship, and Sorin’s own memories of travel, “Driving While Black” begins with an examination of requisite travel during the Middle Passage, considers the limitations on movement enforced during slavery, examines Jim Crow era racism, and eventually gets to the advent of automobiles.įor African Americans, cars arrived as a refuge. But in order to chronicle this history well - as the film does - it has to be. The documentary covers all of that and more. Oscars 2023: Best International Feature Film Predictions 'Hacks,' 'Reservation Dogs,' 'Dopesick' Among 2022 Peabody Award Winnersįrom 'Oppenheimer' to 'Dune: Part Two,' Here's Where to See Florence Pugh Next Why 'Miss Scarlet and the Duke' Abandoning Key Romance Is Good for Season 2
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |