Here Are The 12 Best Movies On Netflix That Are About Racism:
As Ibram X. Kendi says within How to Be an Antiracist, “not racist” is not the same thing as being racist. “It’s against racism.” Kendi then says that part of being antiracist is knowing the problems with power as well as policies that keep racial inequality going.
Society has been putting people into groups based on their heritage, genetics, physical traits, as well as social or cultural traits since the start of time.
Racism is a horrible thing that happens when people of one race try to be better than people of another race. Racism and hatred against people have caused a lot of bloodbaths, wars, genocides, and various other horrible things in and out of history books.
Many different types of movies have looked at this problem. People can watch some of the best movies about racism and the lives of individuals who have fought against it on Netflix.
13th:
“13th,” a documentary-drama by Ava DuVernay, is a deep look at how the U.S. jail system works. The movie turns over some unknown pages in American history and shows how racism has affected the past.
Scholars, activists, as well as politicians all give their opinions in this story, which paints a vivid picture of how African-American identity is criminalized and ends with a general science regarding the people.
In this work that makes you think about race, human rights, justice, violence, pain, and shame, DuVernay also looks into the numbers behind the so-called “prison boom” in the U.S.
Did You Wonder Who Fired The Gun?
Did you think about who shot the gun? It began to be a live documentary regarding a white director who had to face the racist past of his family. In 1946, Travis Wilkerson’s great-grandfather killed a black man. Many years later, Wilkerson went to Alabama to try to figure out what happen.
Wilkerson told the tale while sitting upon stage and clips as well as photos were shown on the screen. He used interviews, pictures, music, and a very honest statement to do so.
You can feel Wilkerson’s anger and grief as he deals with a past of white racism that runs through his family and through him. This is also clear in the recorded version that you can view at home.
The Battle Of Algiers:
Trussell says that many of these films were works of art, yet they were also very importantly utilized as political agitprop. Gillo Pontecorvo’s 1966 historical drama about the Algerian War was shown at BAM as part of Clark and Trussell’s Rise Up Portraits of Resistance program in March.
Revolutionaries all over the world used “The Battle of Algiers” as a guide for how to mount armed resistance in different settings. This idea often bleeds into the present moment we’re discussing, where the work is both artistic and political, and it serves as both a tool for organizing and a personal reflection. It’s all of these things at the same time.
The Best Of Enemies:
The drama film “The Best of Enemies,” which was directed through Robin Bissell and based on a true story as well as book through Osha Gray Davidson, is very strong.
The movie takes place in 1971 and stars Taraji P. Henson to be Ann Atwater as well as Sam Rockwell to be C.P. Ellis. It’s about how they work together to desegregate Durham, North Carolina schools, which seems like an odd pair.
The movie does a great job of showing how complicated racial issues can be by following the journey of two highly prejudiced people as they learn to understand and accept each other’s points of view.
Their strange friendship turns into a sign of hope and proof that things can change. “The Best of Enemies” is an important and moving look at racism and healing.
Do The Right Thing:
Spike Lee’s favorite from 1989 is a comedic movie with an angry edge that you should still watch today. Tensions start to rise in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, upon the hottest day of the summer, which leads to a fight.
In order to stop the fight, the cops choke and kill a black man called Raheem, then leave the scene of the crime, which leads to more violence.
Lee named the movie after six people who had been hurt by racial violence and police brutality: Eleanor Bumpurs, Michael Griffith, Arthur Miller Jr., Edmund Perry, Yvonne Smallwood, as well as Michael Stewart.
Do the Right Thing was attacked when it came out not because it showed police violence, but because some reviewers, like Joe Klein of New York magazine and David Denby of the New Yorker, said it could lead to racial violence.
Now it’s painfully clear how accurately it described and showed how black Americans receive treatment.
The Murder Of Fred Hampton:
This film is about a Black Panther leader from Chicago who was 21 years old and was killed by the FBI and the Chicago police force. He was one of the most amazing speakers of the 20th century.
“It goes right back to the idea of how black protest and dissent have been crushed as well as bodies have been killed, and this keeps happening over and over again.”
It’s not easy to find the movie, which shows that watching a lot of black radical movies isn’t always as simple to be going to Netflix as well as booking five movies in a row.
A big part of the story of black radical cinema is that these are often pictures that were banned or only made available in limited quantities.
Get Out:
Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” is a scary, thought-provoking movie that does a great job of dealing with racism and cultural borrowing.
The movie is about Chris, played wonderfully through Daniel Kaluuya, who goes to visit his white girlfriend’s family farm and finds a dark plan involving black bodies being manipulated.
The movie does a great job of showing the upsetting details of racism, focusing on the small slights and structural biases that black people have to deal with.
‘Get Out’ is a powerful look at racial tension, with great acting from Allison Williams as well as Bradley Whitford, and great writing by Jordan Peele. It makes viewers face the horrors of racism within a way that is deeply disturbing and makes them think.
Hale County This Morning, This Evening:
Hale County by RaMell Ross is both a tone poem and a documentary. The best word to describe this morning as well as this evening is “lyrical.”
Ross carefully puts together hours of video he took while residing in Hale County, Alabama. The videos show things like water drops on a baby’s skin, kids having fun in the parking lot, people singing at mass, old houses, bugs, and more.
They are like brushstrokes that paint a picture of a community and its way of life within a place that is heavy with history.
Ross wanted to change the “vocabulary” that’s usually used in movies when black Americans are shown upon screen. To do this, he shot and edited the movie in ways that allow viewers to pause judgment and fight the stories they usually bring to movies.
And the few times Ross uses text upon screen, the lines are just as carefully and beautifully put together as the pictures, adding a story as well as emotional weight that is very moving. County Hale This Morning, This Evening was a big book that is very satisfying to read.
Blacks Britannica:
PBS in Boston commissioned the documentary Blacks Britannica in 1978. It looks at racism through the eyes of black working-class Brits and features talks with a number of black activists.
Clark says, “It was made in the United States, but it was heavily censored within the United States and outright banned in the United Kingdom.” Clark and Trussell say, “Work that is honest is often fought against.” “The international language is frequently pushed down.”
The Black Godfather:
“The Black Godfather,” directed through Reginald Hudlin, is an interesting documentary about the life and impact of Clarence Avant, a huge name in the entertainment and music industries.
Even though the story isn’t typical, the movie deals with racism by showing Avant’s journey to be an African American artist working in a business mostly made up of white people. He was a key figure in breaking down racial obstacles for many artists.
The documentary has interviews with a lot of important people, like Quincy Jones, Bill Clinton, as well as Barack Obama. They all talk about how important Avant was in breaking down systemic racism in the entertainment industry. This makes the story an exciting one of strength and fighting racial injustice.
The Hate U Give:
The Hate U Give is based on the best-selling book by Angie Thomas and stars an amazing group of actors, led by Amandla Stenberg. Starr, played by Stenberg, is one of the few black students at her private high school and sees the cops shoot her friend in an event that goes viral across the country.
Although it calls itself a simple family story, the movie has a lot to say and doesn’t hold back from being honest about it. But The Hate U Give is the right mix of a coming-of-age story and a social drama. And because it never gives up either of those two goals, it’s a great example of both.
Malcolm X:
Clark says that Spike Lee’s 1992 big movie Malcolm X includes video of the Rodney King beating within the main credits. Denzel Washington was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the movie.
Lee has always been brave enough to include and cut together very modern things, which might have seemed over the top or too direct at the time. But the longer racism goes unchecked or gets worse, the more relevant as well as powerful his films appear to become.
