Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Sideny Poiter stars in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" as an accomplished Doctor who just met the love of his life. The problem he encounters is that he doesn't think meeting his girlfriend's parents is going to end well.

Movie poster 

I didn't talk about the race of either character in my quick synopsis above because if you just read that it wouldn't sound like too good of a movie. The fact that race is so deeply ingrained as a difference-maker in people's eyes is sad.  

On the other hand, I didn't enjoy this movie directed by Stanley Kramer because I thought it was slow and had a boring plot. I guess it was interesting and weird for viewers at the time to see a scenario like this on the big screen but I thought it was ehh.

I enjoy Sidney Poiter and thought he did a very good job as well as his beautiful co-star Katharine Houghton who played his girlfriend. Also, the whole idea of how they wanted to get married while only knowing each other for 4 months or so was kind of dumb. 

Dr. John Prentice and Joanna Dayton

The message displayed is a good one, but it's still an important topic today. Interracial marriage was different than other parts of integration because it dealt with the powers of love. Therefore, it was an important decision for the parents to make.

One line that struck me was when Joanna's father was in the car with her mom and he says to himself "I never thought that this would happen." That stuck out to me because it made me aware that he was never prepared to make this conclusion. 

 

Who was Hazel Scott?

Sadly, schools today don't teach about amazing people like Hazel Scott and I felt bad that I didn't even know who she was either before Professor Smith taught us. There were so many black figures during the civil rights era that have gotten forgotten because of the superiority of white people.

Hazel Scott was a pianist prodigy from when she was just a little girl. She was born in Spain in 1920 but eventually moved to New York at the age of four. In New York, she lived only with her mother who was also a piano performer. 

Hazel tried out for the Julliard School of Music at the age of eight which was very popular and well-credited at the time. She was admitted and the rest was history. She attended the school and was a thriving musician by the time she was thirteen when she was playing in her mother's jazz band. 

A young Hazel Scott posing for a picture

Hazel Scott eventually was the first African-American woman to host her own TV show. Aside from her brilliant piano skills, she was also a key part of the Civil Rights Movement.

TV poster for The Hazel Scott Show

She was the type of person that would never abide by the rules of segregation even if it meant losing her job. Considering she was a huge star in her twenties and thirties she got treated much better than the average African-American but it was still rough for her at times.

She moved out to LA where there was a large sense of racism in the rich-profiting Hollywood industry. She also was offered many roles when she first moved out there but declined a lot of them because the studio wanted her to pose as a "singing maid". 

Hazel always declined those sorts of roles because she believed it was demeaning to her and to black people. She eventually starred in some movies where she played herself but her time in the movie industry eventually came to an end. It ended after Hazel was in a scene where other black ladies were dressed in raggedy clothing saying goodbye to her and she made the studio put them in nice clean dresses. The studio head eventually blacklisted her because of this and the many other stances she held toward racial discrimination. 

Not only that but she also would never perform in segregated audiences. She could have just done these things like play at those audiences and perform in those movie roles but she didn't because she knew that declining was more important than fame and money. 

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Bakke v California Mock Trial/EOTO Reax

Considering I already wrote a blog reiterating the details of the Fair Housing Act I thought I'd give my opinions on Bakke v California. During the mock trial, both sides had some very convincing points but it all sounded more research-based and not from their own point of view.

I can see both sides in this case because it would make sense to just say that both of them are right. However, that's not how court cases work. 

Bakke grew up in the 50s when racism and segregation were still happening around the country. He also grew up with money therefore he was able to obtain a good education. He also was a white male which was the most superior of all races and genders at the time.

Considering all this he already had a jump on the competition for a successful life than other minorities. These are some reasons why I think UC Davis should be allowed to admit less intelligent minorities over white people. 

As well as this Bakke had the grades and test scores to get into medical school but he got denied. There were still 84 students that were smarter than him which makes me think that it's not entirely the school's fault for not enrolling him. Who know that he would still be allowed in over 16 other students if the racial quota wasn't in place. 

Front page of the LA Times stating Bakke's victory

Seeing all of this, I still believe that the racial quota system Ideas should never be considered when dealing with processes like college acceptances. The Equal Protection Clause was written because of the discrimination towards black people but it is not just one-sided, it is written for all races.

Obviously some of those minorities who were a part of those 16 out of 100 didn't have the opportunities like the white people but I still believe that you should admit the most qualified. It's not about race it's about who puts in the most work to get in. 

Protests defending Bakke

In today's world I fully believe that things like this happen, it may be crazy for me to say it but I believe people will accept minorities over white people in some instances. This country always loves to preach diversity and condone racism but I think that's the reason it still doesn't happen. If people teach their kids about how much different the races are then they're going to grow up thinking that they are which leads to more differences. The way to solve this is to raise your kids right and to stop preaching differences altogether.

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Klansville, U.S.A

Klansville, U.S.A. was the name given to a town in North Carolina booming with Ku Klux Klan members during the 1960s. After a dramatic fallout during the 1920s, it was a matter of time before the KKK made their much-awaited return.  The time that made the most sense was during the Civil Rights Movement. 

Once the Klan settled down after booming in the reconstruction era it was only a matter of time before they made their way back into the spotlight. The Klan responded to the acts of progression made by African-Americans during this time by rebuilding the Klan to be larger and more influential than ever.

Bob Jones was born into a family of two former Ku Klux Klan members and was raised to be one. He was a member of the military as well until he refused to salute a black officer and was immediately discharged. After that, he lived and worked to make a somewhat decent living until he decided to organize a rally in August f 1963 in North Carolina not expecting many to show up.  About 2,000 showed up which was far more than grand dragon Bob jones expected.

A young Bob Jones in his Naval uniform

After Jones found out that there was a community that would follow him he decided to take it to another level. He would drive around the state having rallies and setting up new chapters to build the population. Eventually, the Klan in North Carolina grew to 10,000 members. This was shocking considering North Carolina was considered one of the few southern states that made a lot of progress in the field of civil rights. 

One of the many marches Bob Jones (Middle) held throughout the cities and towns of NC.

These Klan rallies were not all about preaching white supremacy and racism, it was almost like a town fair because of all the attractions and events they had going on during them. With such a large following Bob Jones and the leaders had so many donations to really get people involved. Following the end of the rallies, they would burn a cross almost thirty feet tall!

Ending ritual of a burning cross during a KKK rally

The Klan in North Carolina was so successful that it actually gained political involvement. However, this began the downfall of the Klan because with their growing popularity the FBI started to investigate their dark secrets like the finances of the group. The FBI started to bribe one of Bob Jones's closest acquaintances George Dorsett and he started to expose them. 

Bob Jones was eventually arrested for contempt in congress and this started the downfall of Klansville, U.S.A. Members started to lose faith in Bob Jones because of his fishy tactics, and even President Lyndon Johnson warned the people of North Carolina against it.

The Klan is still around today even though it is nothing like what it was then. In 2017 it was reported that there were 42 active groups spread throughout 22 states. In the end, it is legal to be a part of the Klan because of the First Amendment but with the dirty history and horrible racist values, the Klan holds it is hard to believe people still want to be members.

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