I found it ironic that we celebrated the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on the same day President Trump was inaugurated as our 47th president. Here was a man who spent his life trying to get the rest of America to acknowledge Black Americans as people in every sense of the word, compared to a President who is trying to destroy any notion of diversity. America will be run based on merit alone, President Trump assures us, which sounds good when you say it fast, but ignores the unlevel playing field people of color have faced since the creation of our country.
Today is the start of Black History Month. Edmund Burke once said, “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it.” I like what Mark Twain said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” And it’s rhyming today in America as we fight over issues plaguing us since our beginning. Today’s issues of race relations, equal rights for women, and states’ rights vs. the federal government are just some of the same problems dealt with by America’s founders.
I admit, growing up in lily-white Utah, I didn’t know much about Black history. I didn’t know much about it because I saw it as irrelevant, as a person of color was hard to find. When I was eleven, I remember my mother telling me she voted for Barry Goldwater instead of Lyndon Johnson. She supported Goldwater by saying that a conservative was what the country needed. Since I was only eleven, I did not know what a conservative was. In later years, though, I would learn a lot about Republicans and Democrats and conservatives and liberals and everything in between.
Looking back, I am not surprised my parents were conservative Republicans. On the whole, Utah was conservative, with many following the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the “Church”), such as Ezra Taft Benson, a known member of the John Birch Society and an ardent anti-communist. I was too young to remember Sen. McCarthy’s attack on Communists in the 1950s. Still, in the early 60s, I remember my brother telling me Peter, Paul, and Mary, one of my favorite singing groups, were card-carrying Communists. But I liked their music anyway. Many of their songs led me to take political positions different from those of my parents.
Perhaps worse, the Church taught me that Blacks were cursed from the days of Cain, and therefore, couldn’t hold the Priesthood (the Church lifted that ban in 1978), and segregation was the Lord’s way. An apostle of the Church, Mark E. Pederson, said it this way:
“The Lord segregated the people both as to blood and place of residence. At least in the cases of the Lamanites and the Negroes we have the definite word of the Lord Himself that He placed a dark skin upon them as a curse—as a punishment and a sign to all others. He forbade intermarriage with them under threat of extension of the curse. (Book of Mormon; 2 Nephi 5:21) And He certainly segregated the descendants of Cain when He cursed the Negro as to the Priesthood and drew an absolute line. You may even say He dropped an Iron curtain there. The Negro was cursed as to the Priesthood, and, therefore, was cursed as to the blessings of the Priesthood. Certainly, God made a segregation there.” (Address given August 27, 1954, at BYU to a group of seminary and institute instructors.) (The Church disavowed these theories in a Gospel Topic Essay in 2013.)
Only two African Americans attended my junior high. Neither were in my grade, and they moved away after a year. Only two African Americans were enrolled in my high school during my entire three years. Both were a year older than me. In other words, during my six years of secondary education, I never had a single African American as a classmate.
As I started high school, black athletes began protesting racist policies and practices. In the 1968 Olympic Games, some black athletes, such as Lew Alcindor (now Kareem Abdul Jabbar), refused to participate. John Carlos and Lee Evans raised black-gloved fists in protest on the medal stand. But then the protests hit closer to home. In 1969, 14 black football players on the University of Wyoming’s team attempted to wear black armbands to protest the Church’s stand on Blacks and the priesthood. Instead, Wyoming’s coach, Lloyd Eaton (who is white), dismissed all 14 from the team. Wyoming fans started wearing yellow armbands in support of the coach rather than the athletes. And BYU fans often wore red armbands in protest of their opponents, who invariably had few Native Americans enrolled in their school.
It wasn’t until after I graduated from law school and moved to Colorado then to Texas that I began associating with people of color. I worked with them; they became my neighbors; our kids played sports together. Through these experiences, I became an example of what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once taught: “Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they cannot communicate; they cannot communicate because they are separated.” (From his 1958 speech, Strive Toward Freedom.)
As an adult, I have come to realize that my history includes Black history. But since I had little interaction with people of color until becoming an adult, I have learned much about Black history through movies. For Black History Month, I recommend everyone watch or rewatch at least these three movies:
The Six Triple Eight[i] tells the true story of a battalion of Black WACs during World War II tasked with sorting a three-year backlog of undelivered mail. Faced with discrimination and a country devastated by war, they managed to sort more than 17 million pieces of mail within 90 days, restoring much-needed morale to soldiers at the front lines and their families back home. Here is my favorite scene from the film:
All the Way[ii] tells the true story of how President Lyndon Johnson used all his political skills and allies, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you like Bryan Cranston, you’ll love this movie. Here is the trailer for the film:
Selma[iii] tells the true story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s efforts to secure equal voting rights by leading a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. Here is the most gut-wrenching scene from the film:
There are many other films dealing with Black History. Take the time to watch a few.
Nelson Mandela said, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
Let’s learn to love.
[i] The Six Triple Eight:
- Production Companies: Netflix, Georgia Department of Economic Development, and Tyler Perry Studios
- Director: Tyler Perry
- Screenwriters: Keven Hymel and Tyler Parry
- Starring: Kerry Washington, Ebony Obsidian, and Milauna Jackson
- Release Date: December 20, 2024
[ii] All the Way:
- Production Companies: HBO Films, Amblin Entertainment, and Tale Told Productions
- Director: Jay Roach
- Screenwriter: Robert Schenkkan
- Starring: Bryan Cranston, Anthony Mackie, and Melissa Leo
- Release Date: May 21, 2016
[iii] Selma:
- Production Companies: Pathé, Harpo Films, and Plan B Entertainment
- Director: Ava DuVernay
- Screenwriter: Paul Webb
- Starring: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, and Oprah Winfrey
- Release Date: January 9, 2015
Life Lessons Through Film 