Using the films, The Hurricane and Mississippi Burning, as well as your own knowledge, discuss whether or not

Martin Luther King and many civil rights activists would have been pleased with the depiction of black African Americans in modern film. Identify the accuracies and inaccuracies in these representations. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as many other civil rights activists would not have been pleased with the depiction of black African Americans in the films The Hurricane and Mississippi Burning. In these films, blacks are portrayed as fearful and cowardly, violent and also as having no respect for the law. This is a colossal inaccuracy and misrepresentation of the motions of the civil rights movement. In the film, Mississippi Burning black African Americans are represented as being fearful and cowardly citizens in a town of horror and racism. There are numerous scenes where white citizens and Klu Klux Klan members are attacking masses of blacks, as they leave church or simply in the dark of the night. Although the film is accurate in its representation of the white supremacists, it is inaccurate in the representation of blacks, and their cowardly depictions. Martin Luther King and other civil rights activists would definitely have not agreed with this representation of blacks as throughout the civil rights movement black African Americans have shown incredible bravery and disregard for the intimidation methods of white supremacist several times, standing up to those who wished to scare the civil rights movement to a halt. In 1963 at Birmingham, Alabama during a peaceful black demonstration, the commissioner for safety, Eugene Connor set police dogs and fire hoses on black demonstrators. The fire hoses were set to a strength strong enough to break human bones. Without resistance, the blacks, some only of adolescent age, withstood the abuse, not faltering to the intimidation methods. The events at Birmingham were significant as not only did it show to the world the bravery of the blacks involved in the civil rights movement, but it also revealed the high extents of which whites were going to, to stop the movement, relying mostly on violence and intimidation. Because of this, the civil rights movement gained a lot of sympathy worldwide. In the film The Hurricane black African Americans are represented as hateful and violent. Although there is not a group depiction of this, the main character, a boxer named Rubin Carter, is shown as a black role model, encouraging the audience to stereotype blacks to his character and persona. The character of Rubin Carter takes a very violent approach with how he deals with his anger and frustrations of being the subject of racism. Throughout the movie he states things such as I spoke hate and its verbs were fists and I made up my mind to turn my body into a weapon which would eventually set me free, or kill anyone who sought to keep me in prison. Although the film was inaccurate in its representations of black citizens, it was accurate in its portrayal of whites that would persecute blacks with purely racial motives. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have definitely not agreed with this violent representation as his utmost concern and message to civil rights activists was the message of peaceful protests. He believed in protests without any violence and racism on the side of the black civil rights movement, ensuring there was no violence in protests, even if demonstrators became the victims of racism and violence. This is evident in the events of 1961 where the Freedom Riders over the spring and summer of 1961 rode the buses interstate to test the laws prohibiting segregation on buses in interstate travel.

Although they were following the letter of the law, they were attacked by angry mobs. However, believing in peaceful protests the freedom riders did not retaliate. This is significant as due to peaceful protests, the civil rights movement was the first movement in history that did not use violence to make a difference and furthermore, advocated peace and change by the law. In the film The Hurricane blacks are portrayed as not having respect for the law. This is evident in the representation of the main character Rubin Carter, who states himself, that he has spent the majority of this life in prison. Although the film is not accurate about its representation of blacks in respect to their beliefs of the law it then shows in the end that change by the law prevails. This happens when Rubin Carter goes to court and fights for his freedom legally, setting him free. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would definitely have not agreed with this misrepresentation as he advocated the highest level of respect for the law, and change by the letter of the law. He did not believe in using any illegal activity to bring about change, especially during the civil rights movement. He encouraged lawful protests such as the bus boycotts that occurred in Montgomery in 1955-1956, where black African Americans united to boycott the bus services to protest segregation on buses. After a hard year of walking and staying true to their cause, segregation on buses was ruled unconstitutional. This was another advance of the civil rights movement. The Montgomery Bus Boycotts showed to all of America and the world, just how much blacks were willing to withstand and the lengths of which they would go to, to ensure positive change by the law. It proved that they would rather walk miles and miles for over a year peacefully, then resort to violence and unlawful activity. Although the films, The Hurricane and Mississippi Burning provide high entertainment value to those who watch it, it must be noted that there are many inaccuracies such as incorrect portrayals of blacks in regards to their levels of bravery, tolerance and resilience, and their regard for the law. Although there are some minor accuracies, these inaccuracies overshadows them, as what the film mistakes are not only key facts in the nature of the civil rights movement but key elements of the movement itself. Without the bravery, tolerance and regard for the law, the civil rights movement would not have advance as it did, or leapt from history as the only movement that succeeded without bloodshed and violence. As this is either not shown in these films, or misrepresented in these films, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as many other civil rights activists would have not agreed with the representations in this film as they do not do justice to the hardships those who fought for the civil rights movement were forced to endure, or furthermore, they level of effort that went into such an instrumental change in history.