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Historical Cultural Analysis of Films About Slavery

The political, economic and social reality of slavery in U.S. history often justified the worst atrocities against African Americans. This was particularly true prior to the Civil Rights Movement and the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1965. Even though the Civil War ended and Lincoln freed the slaves, racism, prejudice, segregation and violence toward Blacks continued unabated well into the mid-20th century in American society. In ôCrowd Cheered and Laughed at NegroÆs Horrible Deathö and ôBig Preparation Made for Lynching Tonight,ö we see ample evidence that horrible inhuman abuses were being perpetrated against African Americans in the 1930s. In the film ôMississippi Burning,ö set in 1960s Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement, we see that both Blacks and Whites who supported them were still being subjected to similar atrocities. In 2002, ôAntwone Fisherö showed that racism and prejudice are covert if expressed at all in contemporary society, but African Americans still carry some of the burden of abuses against their culture in the past. Taken together, these historical accounts and films demonstrate that the Civil Rights Movement marked a turning point in race relations in American society. During this era, these documents and films will express what film critic Roger Ebert (p. 2) praises: ôThe Civil Rights Movement of the early 1960s was the finest hour of modern American history, because it was a painful hour in which we determined to improve ourselves, instead of others

The New York World-Telegram of Nov 29, 1933, details a kidnapping of a Black prisoner from jail by an armed and violent mob. After kidnapping the man, the mob proceeds to drag the helpless victim to the center of the town where they drench him in gasoline and burn him alive. The Macon Telegraph of Oct 26, 1934, details another kidnapping of a black man that results in his public lynching by a similar unruly mob. Both of these inci...

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Historical Cultural Analysis of Films About Slavery. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:02, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1710796.html