The experience of African Americans in the period from slavery right up to the present day remains possibly the most discussed aspect of black history, and for good reason. African Americans faced, and still do to some degree, some of the worst injustices the world has ever known, and it is shocking to know that right up to the 1960s, black people in America were denied their basic civil and human rights. This is an area of history that simply must never be forgotten, and thankfully, cinema is one of the areas ensuring that it isn’t. From slavery to the present, this is the history of civil rights on film.
These two recent but very unique films explore the horrors of slavery to a very different effect. The former, directed by Steve McQueen, is the true, horrific story of Solomon Northup, a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery. The latter, meanwhile, is directed by Quentin Tarantino, who you can expect took some liberties with regards to history in favour of the rule of cool. Nevertheless, both films present slavery as utterly barbaric, from the horrific whippings of Patsey and Broomhilda, to the sadistic plantation owners Edwin Epps and Calvin Candie. Both, however, take pains to show that the morality of the characters is not as black and white as their skin colours. William Ford in Twelve Years a Slave and Dr King Schultz in Django Unchained are both white men who are, in essence, morally decent, while circumstances force Solomon and Django to commit some reprehensive acts of their own, as when Solomon is forced to whip Patsey or Django has to leave another slave to be torn apart by dogs. The focus remains on the resilience of the two leads: Solomon refuses to be broken by his painful, shocking treatment, and Django...well, he gets his explosive revenge.
These two films, both made in different periods with different interpretations, are alike only in that they focus on the same time period. Let us take Birth of a Nation first of all. Directed by D W Griffiths, Birth of a Nation is a horrible film, but a significant one. It survives and is viewed to this day due to its pioneering cinematic techniques, and remains significant in exposing the blatant racist attitudes of the American south, for Birth of a Nation was filmed in a period during which the Ku Klux Klan were still at large, and directed by a white supremacist. The film sees white men play African Americans in black face, presenting them as evil rapists and villains, while the Ku Klux Klan sweep in to save the day. It is a necessary film, but only because it exposes the truth of the time. Lincoln, meanwhile, is a recent release, and quite obviously condemns the treatment of black Americans while celebrating President Lincoln’s Emancipation of the slaves. While the focus remains on the man himself, played here to Oscar-winning effect by Daniel Day-Lewis, the film remains the antithesis of everything Birth of a Nation stands for.
The 1950s and 1960s were, undoubtedly, the most important period in the fight for civil rights. This was the period that saw Lyndon B Johnson pass the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, the successes and the assassinations of Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy and Malcolm X, and the emergence of black radicalism that continued through to the seventies (during which period, the genre of blaxploitation started to develop). With such a rich and diverse range of stories to tell in a small period of time, it is no surprise that two of the greatest films detailing the period, Malcolm X and Mississippi Burning, are stories drawing on true life experiences. The former sees Denzel Washington star as Nation of Islam follower Malcolm X, whose advocating of violence stood in direct contrast to Martin Luther King’s peaceful method of protest, and yet, like King, was struck down in tragedy. Mississippi Burning and the fiction film In the Heat of the Night are both set in Mississippi, focusing emphatically on the black experience in the South. Mississippi Burning is based on the true story of the murders of three civil rights activists (two white, one black) by the Ku Klux Klan, while the latter film sees Sidney Poitier play a black detective embroiled in a murder investigation in a racist Mississippi town. With In the Heat of the Night being made only three years after the passing of the Civil Rights Act, only a year before King’s assassination, and the other two films focusing so squarely on events of the period, these are the three films that most accurately highlight the spirit of the time.
While many would argue that Crash is a flawed film, and did not deserve to take the Best Picture Oscar away from Brokeback Mountain, it nevertheless showcases that the problem of racism is still very much apparent in contemporary America. The film illustrates prejudices of black Americans being violent thugs or criminals, stereotypes carried over from even the period of slavery. But it is perhaps Fruitvale Station, released only this year, which is the most illuminating. The film is the true story of Oscar Grant, a young, unarmed black father who was killed by California police on New Year’s Day 2009. Along with other recent releases such as Precious, which emphasises that African Americans are more likely to live in poverty, these films are damning evidence that, while the civil rights movement brought about a lot of significant change, perhaps there still hasn’t been enough