Segregation Movies: 10 Hollywood Movies on Civil Rights

America officially ended segregation in the country in 1964 when it barred anyone from discriminating based on Color, Race, Religion, Sex, and Country of Origin. But it has been a slow and painful transition. For a country that champions justice and equality over the world, its fulfillment within borders has been tardy, at best.

Today’s hyper-segregation is evident in most metros where you can see development of ghettos and clusters of people living separately. Although the South accepted and adopted the diktat wholeheartedly, things didn’t change much in the North that once championed the cause. According to the 2000 U.S. census, the 10 least segregated areas in the country lie in the South while the North fares pretty badly.

Movies about Segregation and Civil Rights

These are some of the best movies that portray life of African Americans before the Civil Rights law was passed in 1964 and their ongoing struggle.

Mississippi Burning

Set in a fictional town of Jessup, Mississipi, the movie traces the path of three civil rights workers who go there to witness the living conditions. But when they go missing without a trace, an FBI investigation team arrives to investigate their disappearance. The team soon realizes that they are against a biased lot, many of whom are part of the infamous Ku Klux Klan. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture.

A Time to Kill

Based on the novel by John Grisham by same name, the movie explores the justice system in the South. The father of a black girl kills the arrested rapists, who in all probability would have gone free. The movie then focuses on the trial of the father and ensuing social pressure put by the Ku Klux Klan.

Malcolm X

A biographical of Malcolm X or Malcolm Little, played by Denzel Washington, dramatizes key events in Malcolm’ life. It traces Malcolm X’s criminal past, his incarceration, conversion to Islam and finally his assassination. Denzel Washington won the Film Critic’s Circle Award for Best Actor and the movie is added to the national Film Registry as culturally and historically significant.

The Help

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVTMkINRChk

The movie looks in the times and life of domestic help, mostly African-Americans, in the time of segregation. Skeeter a young, white daughter of Walter’s household has finished education and wants to be a writer. Realizing the partial treatment of the Help and innuendos by her socialite friends, she decides to write a book about Black domestic help and their experiences. This is her story of discovery and the perspective of life from the other side.

The Rosa Parks Story

Although segregation and discrimination existed across the North, it didn’t have any legal backing. However, segregation laws existed in most of the Southern states in the US. The Rosa Parks Story shows the events around and after Rosa Parks was asked to vacate a seat on the segregated bus for a white man. The uproar resulted in a boycott of the bus service by African Americans and eventually the court ruled in their favor.

Remember the Titans

Denzel Washington plays Coach Boone in the movie that explores racism and discrimination in athletics. As Boone comes to replace a former coach, he fights for a racially diverse team to play football for a high school in Alexandria, Virginia. The movie takes the viewers through the problems and biases that he must overcome to make his team perform as one unit.

The Long Walk Home

The tells the story of an African-American woman, Odessa Cotter, in Alabama during the Montgomery Bus Boycott movement that started with Rosa Parks. As the boycott stretches and the bus system starts running up losses, tensions flare. To help herself and save Odessa from fatigue of walking to work, her employer, Miriam decides to side with her maid and other black workers against oppression.

The Great Debaters

Melvin Tolson, a debate coach at the Eile College in Texas is working hard. The movie follows this coach as he trains his debate team. His dream is to place the all-black debate team on equal footing with other White participants. It covers a range of social issues faced by African-Americans during the Great Depression era. Based on a true story, the movie omits the fact that the team was not allowed to be called winners as their entry to the debate society was not allowed until World War II.

Separate But Equal

The movie – a television docu-drama – follows the landmark Supreme Court desegregation case Brown Vs. Board of Education. The issue before the court is to asses whether the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution dictates and nullifies the ‘Separate but Equal’ law.  Starring Sidney Pottier, the movie was awarded the Outstanding Miniseries award by the Academy of Television Arts.