Selma, the Movie: “White” Washing History | Black Agenda Report

 

Selma, the Movie: “White” Washing History | Black Agenda Report – The film also tries to minimize other leaders. It portrayed James Forman, the head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) as a little boy when in actuality he was older than King. By doing this, it eliminates the role Forman played in King’s development. Forman understood that groups that endured were ones that are “group or people-centered” not “leader-centered.” With his guidance, SNCC became a formidable organization, challenging the system and organizing people to stand up and take action to change their lives. Forman and SNCC brought white students to Mississippi knowing their presence would bring media attention to what black people faced daily just for the right to vote, the right to get an education. SNCC was about freedom schools and voter registration drives giving people the tools to stand up for themselves. I was one of those students. When three civil rights workers were murdered, one black Mississippian and two white northerners, SNCC’s strategy was verified as the national and international attention was focused on what happened. Had the two whites not been there, the death of James Chaney, the black Mississippian, would have gone unreported by the national media like the lives a many black people who stepped out of line.

via Selma, the Movie: “White” Washing History | Black Agenda Report.