Morgan Freeman: Stop talking about race and racism will end
CVK
(Thanks to Luke for this!) I’ll have to set my Tivo for this. This Sunday’s 60 Minutes will profile actor Morgan Freeman, who lashes out against Black History Month and offers his solution to end racism: stop talking about it. Ahem. No comment yet, I’ll have to watch this show first.
“You’re going to relegate my history to a month?” Freeman asks Wallace. After noting there is no “white history month,” he says, “I don’t want a black history month. Black history is American history,” he tells Wallace.
The notion of a special month for black history may be hurting rather than helping efforts for racial equality, Freeman believes. When Wallace wonders whether racist attitudes may be harder to eradicate without the education that Black History Month provides, Freeman retorts: “How are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it!”
Freeman believes the labels “black” and “white” are an obstacle to beating racism. “I am going to stop calling you a white man and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man,” he says. “I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You wouldn’t say, ‘Well, I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.’ You know what I’m saying?”
Anon wrote:
Sounds like John Howard, the PM of Australia’s strategy to “fight” racism. Speaking of Australia, is MMW going to do a post on the recent riots there?
Posted 17 Dec 2005 at 4:53 pm ¶
John wrote:
In the interview, Morgan Freeman also said ‘forgive but never forget’.
He talked about his home state’s past history of racism and wanting the Confederate emblem removed from the state’s flag.
Posted 18 Dec 2005 at 8:48 pm ¶
William Theodore wrote:
I think Morgan Freeman is entitled to his opinion. After all, this is America, a free country. I personally find his comments to be ridiculous and absurd. Does Mr. Freeman really think that racism would go away by not talking about it. Will Aids go away by not talking about it? Will Breast Cancer go away by not talking about it? Paul Robeson must be rolling in his grave, Sidney Poitier, I am sure is embarrased by this man, Harry Belafonte must be upset. But this brother is really a very good actor. He sure had me fooled. I really thought that he was an intelligent Black Man. But he was only acting. He is really an Idiot disguised as an intelligent person. Keep on driving Miss Daisy my brother.
Posted 18 Dec 2005 at 9:45 pm ¶
JK wrote:
If one actually heard Freeman’s statements in the interview, you’d realize comparing his views to John Howard’s is wrong. Freeman clearly doesn’t have his eyes closed about racism. The statement quoted is clearly directed at the attitude of some people who keep referring to a person’s race, ethnicity, or religion, well-meaning or otherwise, at times when its irrelevant. People who can’t see others beyond their “appropriate grouping”. He obviously didn’t have the time to give a long, nuanced answer detailing his multi-point plan on eliminating racism.
Posted 18 Dec 2005 at 11:40 pm ¶
White Blacks... wrote:
Does Freeman really think that America is colorblind?
He gets awarded the “wizened negro” role time after time by guilty White libs seeking racial redemption - in large part BECAUSE he is old and BLACK.
And if he ever tried to play a role outside of those confines - he might see just how aracially “versatile” (or not) people really view him.
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 9:02 am ¶
Ben wrote:
i gotta agree with freeman, at least in theory. if you don’t call black people “black people” anymore, we suddenly just become… people. sounds good to me.
in practice, though, the first step is to enable everybody to see that race is a social construction. human variation is real, race is artificial. examining “race” from that perspective exposes its shallow roots and forces us to rethink how and why we classify people at all.
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 4:08 pm ¶
Ostrich wrote:
If I close my eyes, does that turn the lights out?
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 4:28 pm ¶
Ben wrote:
“If I close my eyes, does that turn the lights out?”
no, but what evidence would you have that the lights were still on?
race is a social construction. a human creation. it is exactly what we make of it - nothing more, nothing less. it is completely within our power as humans to get rid of it.
many natural phenomena are subject, at a fundamental level, to human segmentation: we have divided the visible spectrum into 6 or 7 different colors; the passage of time between sunrises into 24 hours; the difference between ice and steam into 100 or 180 degrees; and the spectrum of phenotypic variation within homo sapiens into races. these are all categories that we invented - the borders between them are arbitrary and, ultimately, disposable.
Posted 19 Dec 2005 at 5:44 pm ¶
I PWN U wrote:
“the borders between them are arbitrary”
Yes, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist, either. The color “red” can be defined as light within a given range of wavelengths - if you wanted to get technical. But it’s easier to say “red” than “7000 angstrom light.”
Similarly, each “race” is a loose term for groups of people statistically possessing/lacking certain combinations of identifying genes. Hence, race is a valid statistical concept (within statistical bounds) within the practicing medical community.
Posted 20 Dec 2005 at 8:41 am ¶
Ben wrote:
I’m not saying they don’t exist, I’m saying they don’t have to exist. Crayola divides the spectrum into 8, 16, 64, 128… as many ways as they want to, because wavelengths are all equally distinct. There is no natural division of the visible spectrum - there is only the division we have imposed on it.
On a much more complicated level, the same is true of race. As Richard Lewontin famously showed in 1972, 94% of human genetic variation can be found within members of the same race, leaving only 6% to be determined by race. While one might certainly impose preconceived notions onto these data, the data themselves do not suggest natural racial division.
Posted 20 Dec 2005 at 6:04 pm ¶
eric daniels wrote:
Freeman’s ridiclously naive “don’t talk about it” was said in France, Brazil, Australia and now “those people” are rioting because you cannot legislate what someone thinks or does in their hearts or political policy. I am sorry If this offends the moderators or your mixed- race or mono color auidence. As a Black American male, I don’t trust this country at all or it’s citizens to treat black folks with respect. History is on my side and though race is a social consturct, This philsophy (social and economic)has made America the most powerful nation in the world. So I don’t see the majority giving it up any day soon.
Posted 21 Dec 2005 at 10:15 pm ¶
Doubletake wrote:
Funny thing is, if a WHITE MAN had said that same thing - such words would be used to inherently indict him as an insensitive throwback racist-in-denial. No questions asked.
But, isn’t the fact that Freeman gets publically applauded for the same thought a RACIST DOUBLE-STANDARD in itself?
Does Freeman really think this world is colorblind? Does he realize that he can only make that statement because he is BLACK, NOT White, “Morgan Freeman” or not?
How ironic that Freeman doesn’t even realize that the fact that he is BENEFITTING from racism here…is solid evidence of silent racism that still exists - whether he explicitly refers to it or NOT.
Posted 24 Dec 2005 at 4:56 pm ¶
R.U.BLIND? wrote:
HELLO?!
DID ANYONE READ JOHN’S & JK’S COMMENTS???????????????????
FREEMAN’S “DON’T TALK ABOUT IT” STATEMENT WAS EITHER AN INCOMPLETE QUOTE OR AN INCOMPLETE THOUGHT.
Posted 24 Dec 2005 at 9:14 pm ¶
Lyonside wrote:
I agree. I’ve heard Freeman’s type of comments before, and I think the point is, to not make “race” or ethnicity the definition of a person. If you’re pointing out someone to a friend, or telling a story, there’s rarely a reason to say, “That black man over there is my chiropractor” or “So the black man said to me..” Unless, of course, that is the only characteristic that sets the person in question apart. In Freeman’s case, I’d say he’s also talking about color-blind casting and stereotypical roles.
I really think you should cast the best ACTOR for a role, not the best *insert race* for the role. With the obvious exception that if something is historical, and/or people are supposed to biologically related, etc., color-blind casting that disregards all laws of genetics and known history can be distracting.
That said, I have to say that sometimes some initially odd casting can be made to work. Case in point: I’ve had people object to Branaugh’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” in which Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves play brothers. But wait, they are half-brothers, and from Italy in the 1600s. There is no real reason that the two characters’ father could not been (at least part) or could not have married a Moor (as Washington’s character’s mother), and the perceived ethnic differences would add a deeper layer to the hatred and contempt that Reeves’ villian has for his favored half-brother. Will would have likely approved
Posted 28 Dec 2005 at 9:55 am ¶
andre wrote:
Morgan Freeman is correct you can simply STOP labeling people to STOP racism. Key word STOP, we will not end it because it’s the human nature to become insecure about other people when they are better than others. This is where my opinion takes. Freeman talked about ending racism, but I say it wont end because people were not mant to not be insecure. Example, if a black guy bought a new expensive mp3 player people at school is going to criticize him. People will be jealous and they will say things that are not true, like he stole the money, he sold drugs to get money or he jumped someone and took the player. This all being said because people don’t know that he worked for months to get it. They rather assume that. Coming back to the topic ” black history month”, showing people that black people are people to and that they don’t deserve all the bad credit will not change the people’s opinion about them. Different people make up a community, and different communities make countries.
If you agree please email me back at andreisevil666@hotmail.com
Posted 04 Jan 2006 at 7:26 pm ¶
dingo wrote:
If you have a friend who is black or white, why would you introduce him/her as your “black/white” friend? If you were describing a person that you didnt know, of what value would it be to add or to identify him/her as a “black/white” person?
I agree that sometimes it IS necessary to use race as a descriptor, e.g., if someone committed a crime and you needed a description of that person. But otherwise, of what value is it to know of someone’s race?
I’m with Mr. Freeman, if the situation doesnt warrant it, why bother? When do we get to the part about the “human race?”
Posted 12 Jan 2006 at 1:45 pm ¶
Morgan Christ wrote:
I think Freeman’s sadly mistaken liberal White guilt for honest respect, and has confused all his subsequent roles as the magic negro/God with reality for Joe non-White Average.
Posted 17 Jan 2006 at 4:22 pm ¶
clark wrote:
half-thought - truly.
stop talking about it.
Ha!
come on, man.
You stop talking about it and eventually it becomes taboo to talk about it…then it regains power that has been stripped by all of the “talking about it” that has been done over the past 50 years.
no, we need to keep talking about it - but talk about it where it is - and drag it out into the light where we can kick it around…and around and around and around until it really IS no longer the status quo.
Posted 26 Jan 2006 at 3:07 pm ¶
Ridwan (South Africa) wrote:
Freeman is a confused brother. His role in the movie “The Power of One” was just simply apalling. See the movie. Watch this “wizened” brother support a white English speaking boy to a “saviour” for downtrodden black South Africans. What was Freeman thinking? I would remind the brother that Dubois remarked that it was not the name/label that counts but “it is the THING” that counts. Dubois was telling us that no matter how we delude ourselves with name changes, or ignoring labels, the “THING that counts” is structural racism. Racism is a lived reality not a semantic delusion. Freeman’s ignorant statements tells me he has learned well from the white-liberal community that sustains him.
Posted 09 Feb 2006 at 4:45 am ¶
Mike Goodman wrote:
I am a Euro-American male (46) and am unapologetic for racism and slavery. My family got here in 1900 from eastern Europe. I am Jewish. My history is that of “Fiddler on the Roof”. Haven’t seen it? You might want to. It’ the one where the Russian soldiers burn down our villages and rape our women.
My family got here like any immigrant family knowing no one and speaking no English. They worked as laborers and worked their way up to shop keeper. They learned English and saved money. My brothers and I went to college.
We faced rasicm of our own. After serving in WWII my uncle was denied entrance into college because: “We have enough Jews”. He was forced to change his name.
Look forls, Freeman said: “How are we going to get rid of racism? Stop talking about it!”
If you want to read into that, go ahead. I say it’s the cure. Dialogues like this are helpful and serve to heal (I hope), but in the long run our good kids have found a way to stop the nonsense.
I teach in a middle school (52% Euro-American, 25% black, the rest Asian, Hipanic). Kids are largely color blind. They sit with each other and giggle.
Two additional points: (1) they know what a THUG is and the good kids stay away from them. (2) Kids also frequently group up “by color”, but who’s that hurting?
Finally, I asked one bright African American kid, one time, if he had ever heard of the “achievement gap”. [It was in context of something else.]\
The long and short if it is that he hadn’t. He was too busy ACHIEVING to worry about the gap.
Any Blacks who want to to grow into the middle class should learn from the Whites and Hispanics and FROM OTHER BLACKS who just put their nose to the grindstone and WORK.
Does any of this mean I am going to have a RAINBOW coalition in my home? Probably not. But that, too, is okay. I have my situation, you have yours.
Maybe our kids will do better.
Posted 19 Feb 2006 at 8:48 am ¶
Anonymous wrote:
>Goodman- “We face racism of our own.”
Well, then THAT is something YOU can speak about from YOUR experience.
There’s a difference between ‘color blind’ and ‘color mute’.
Posted 20 Feb 2006 at 1:03 pm ¶
mboy wrote:
I love how some of the obviously white people on this board want to tell Freeman how he should feel. THEY know better, after all. Good grief.
Posted 22 Feb 2006 at 12:34 am ¶