| In response to John McCann's question regarding the film, "Amazing Grace," I'd like to offer a response using a two-fold approach: intellectual and critical. First, I sincerely believe I am witnessing "race baiting" in reverse. Not all African-Americans look the same, think the same and most important, share the same e-mail list serve. The digital divide still contains many gaps along the color line. In reference to the film "Amazing Grace," the answer is quite simple: distribution. This appears to be an independent film which did not come through the pipeline of the five media giants (Fox, Disney, Viacom, GE/Universal or Time-Warner) that control the ideological and cultural capital within this country. So before you begin to sing the praises of "white folk," let's really get to the heart of the matter -- the powerbrokers who can green-light projects and enable distribution deals apparently felt this episode in history lacked the potential to generate revenue regardless of merit. Last, as a scholar and critic (in training) of culture, I do take issue with the dominant other attempting to tell the experiences of the historically marginalized from their perspective. What's more, I equally have issue with the propagandizing and normalizing of all things white. As you may have felt some degree of social consciousness viewing the gallant efforts of William Wilberforce, ask yourself this: Why has there not been a film about Nat Turner, Angela Davis, Marcus Garvey or Shirley Chisholm? W. RUSSELL ROBINSON
Durham
May 24, 2007 | 
