Thursday, July 2, 2015

The Soul Within Us: The soul within us is impervious to anysort of deg...

The Soul Within Us: The soul within us is impervious to anysort of deg...: The soul within us is impervious to any sort of degradation. It was Frederick Douglass (1818 -1895) who was an African-American social r...

The soul within us is impervious to any sort of degradation. It was Frederick Douglass (1818 -1895) who was an African-American social reformer, abolutionist, orator, writer and statesman that observed, “The soul that is within me no man can degrade. Still, with the introduction of film in the United States, African Americans were stereotyped in the roles they played. The Flights of Nation (1907) showed a lopsided and demented black culture. D.W. Griffith (1875 – 1948) with The Birth of a Nation (1915) chronicled the story of the free South in the civil war which depicted the revenge of the Ku Klux Klan on blacks for the attempted rape of two white women. This movie that was considered a masterpiece, did set the precedent of portraying blacks as idlers, brutish, vagabonds, and outcasts.

Role of Blacks

In such an environment, blacks never really had a chance to be presented as normal human beings, nor leaders. It was Colin Powell (b. 1937) an American statesman, a retired four star General of the United States, and formerly Secretary of State who believed, “I think whether you're having setbacks or not, the role of a leader is to always display a winning attitude.” Early blacks never had a chance to display their God-given leadership rights because racism was prevalent and society excluded them from holding leading positions.

Other films showed the grizzled tramp in Jim Tully's tale of the lowly Beggars of Life (1928), the seaman in James Craze's Old Ironsides (1926), black roles in Showboat (1927), Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927), and those that were in the early sound films like Dudley Murphy's St Louis Blues (1929). However, some blacks played conventional roles as chorus girls, convicts, boxing trainers, ill-mannered servants, and persons of disrepute.

In the 1940s and 1950s, white actors Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll were the talent behind the popular radio show Amos 'n' Andy. These two actors were masters in their imitation of the degrading dialogue that most Americans at that time associated with blacks. Their condescending techniques made for the popularity of the program. But we may ask, “Where was Christ during these acts of dehumanization?” The Holy Spirit was always alive and well, waiting to reveal a new day.

The Idea to Stereotype

Chinua Achebe (1930 – 2013) who was a Nigerian novelist, poet, critic, and professor remarked, “The whole idea of a stereotype is to simplify. Instead of going through the problem of all this great diversity – that it's this or maybe that – you have just one large statement, it is this.”

In the era of TV, white actors were replaced by blacks in Amos 'n' Andy, and the show's popularity continued. Eventually, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was able to persuade Hollywood to abandon these negative stereotypes of blacks in their films, and TV followed suit. Such a decision did not produce changes overnight, but there was progress made.

Christians on Race

Christians have long been opposed to any form of racism. Throughout history, there has been a number of abolutionists in the United States and abroad. The Gospel assures us that whether we are Jew or Gentile, God looks at our hearts. We can't hide. As a matter of fact, Jesus was forthright in warning the rich about the exploitation of the poor. Most of these blacks belonged to the lower class because of the atrocious past of slavery.

Interestingly, although there were many Americans that considered themselves Christian, racism was still prominent in American society. However, the Christian faith reminds us to love our neighbor as ourselves. The story of the Good Samaritan is alive and well for us to heed. In the 1960s, with prayers, sacrifice, and dedication, social change was on the horizon when the Civil Rights era began to impact these wrongs, which were degrading our society of its true Christian way of living.  A person's soul can never be degraded.