After watching Ava DuVernay’s 13th, a deep dive into America’s broken prison system and how it’s a new form of slavery, you should definitely check out the documentary I Am Not Your Negro. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, the film is based on activist James Baldwin’s unfinished book Remember This House, and it explores racism in America through his recollection of civil rights leaders Malcolm X, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King, Jr.
The clip above, titled “Segregation,” perfectly explains how a white person who has black friends or is really nice to their black maid doesn’t automatically mean they’re not racist. As he recalls in the video, his friends would invite him other to their house but never came to his. They were segregated not just in school, but in life because that white friend doesn’t know his experience outside of their limited interactions. “I’m sure they have nothing against Negroes [but] that’s really not the question,” Baldwin says. “The question is really a kind of apathy and ignorance.”
Basically, just because one isn’t burning crosses on their black friend’s lawn doesn’t mean they can’t be racist. For those with a black friend who refuse to visit that person’s neighborhood or are uninterested in hearing about their experiences, the question to ask yourself is why.
(image via screencap)
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