Teaching Race Relations from Feature Films

In this video age, our students construct much of their understanding of race relations from visual material. In still-segregated America, many white students have had little in-depth contact with African Americans, Native Americans, or Hispanics before they reach our classes. The images and information in feature films provide white students with much of their knowledge about people of color. According to black film critic James Murray, people of color also are influenced greatly by movies as they form views of society and themselves (Manchel 1990). Students need to learn how to examine this material. A second reason for using feature films is that many of them focus on the two historic processes of race relations that have shaped the moder world: slavery and the great encounter between Western Europeans and indigenous peoples. This article suggests three films, each locally available for inexpensive rental, that provide marvelous teaching opportunities: Gone With the Wind (GWTW), Mississippi Burning, and The White Dawn.