If the past decade has taught us anything it’s that racism is alive and well and thriving in America. The death of George Floyd might be the tipping point to finally bring some real change, if only to the way police departments behave. However, we’ve been here many times before and nothing ever really seem to get better. The Black Lives Matter movement looks like it’s here to stay but the US is long overdue a confrontation with its racist past.
Jeffery Robinson is the former Deputy Legal Director at the (ACLU) American Civil Liberties Union. Despite having a privileged education, he has been all too aware of the role race plays in his country. However, it wasn’t until he started raising his son that he began to contemplate what he should tell him about being a young black man surrounded by prejudice and racism. In a new documentary, Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, he confronts this full-on.
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America is a thoughtful, intelligently constructed and compelling film about the history of anti-black racism in the ‘Land of the Free’. Emily and Sarah Kunstler’s documentary goes back hundred of years to unearth a number of startling revelations, placing them within the context of a modern capitalist democracy. With Robinson at its heart, Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America is a fascinating and informative visual lecture/call to action.
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America screens at Sheffield Doc/Fest.
