A Free Man seZ...

[loCAtek]

[Scooter]

I wonder what the state of the world would be like today, if Martin Luther King had said that the best way to eliminate racism was to stop talking about it.

[loCAtek]

Well, I think Mr. Freeman's idea is stop pointing out that there are racial differences.

[Lord Jim]

I don't think anyone would mistake Morgan Freeman for an "Uncle Tom"....

What King had to say was appropriate to his time; I think Freeman makes a legitimate point for consideration; (presumably he elaborated on it; I'd actually like to read the whole interview.)

[Scooter]

Considering that he said this:

Interviewer: How are we going to get rid of racism?

Morgan Freeman: Stop talking about it.

and not this:

Interviewer: How are we going to get rid of racism?

Morgan Freeman: Stop pointing out that there are racial differences.

I think my question remains a legitimate one.

[Lord Jim]

It seems to me that answer must have provoked a follow up question, and an answer where Freeman elaborated on what he meant.

I'd like to see that...

Maybe I'll see if I can google up the full interview....

[Scooter]

I don't think anyone would mistake Morgan Freeman for an "Uncle Tom"

I would never have suggested that. Nevertheless, his vantage point of racism is one that comes from being in a position of great power, wealth and privilege. Someone who has been denied a job, housing, credit, or who has been screwed over by the justice system because of racism, can't afford to "stop talking about it".

[Lord Jim]

Here's a little more; (though I imagine there's probably more to it than this.) Those remarks are from a 2005 interview with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes....:

[Gob]

Cliche and catchphrases are all well and good for inspiring dumbasses, but rarely stand up to scrutiny.

[loCAtek]

I don't think anyone would mistake Morgan Freeman for an "Uncle Tom"

I would never have suggested that. Nevertheless, his vantage point of racism is one that comes from being in a position of great power, wealth and privilege. Someone who has been denied a job, housing, credit, or who has been screwed over by the justice system because of racism, can't afford to "stop talking about it".

Mr. Freeman grew up in the Mississippi region before the civil rights movement; I think he has a good vantage point;

Early life

Morgan Freeman was born [June 1, 1937] in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Mayme Edna (née Revere), a teacher,[2] and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber who died April 27, 1961, from cirrhosis. He has three older siblings. Freeman was sent as an infant to his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi.[3][4][5] His family moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi; Gary, Indiana; and finally Chicago, Illinois.[5] Freeman made his acting debut at age 9, playing the lead role in a school play. He then attended Broad Street High School, later named Threadgill Elementary School, in Mississippi. At age 12, he won a statewide drama competition, and while still at Broad Street High School, he performed in a radio show based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1955, he graduated from Broad Street, but turned down a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University, opting instead to work as a mechanic in the United States Air Force.


...

In 2008, the TV series African American Lives 2 revealed that Freeman's great-great-grandparents were slaves who migrated from North Carolina to Mississippi. Freeman also discovered that his caucasian maternal great-great-grandfather had lived with, and was buried beside, Freeman's African-American great-great-grandmother (the two could not legally marry at the time, in the South).[2]

[Scooter]

He's also a multimillionaire who has the power to give a big "fuck you" to anyone who attempts to throw any racist shit his way. A luxury that tens of millions of African-Americans do not enjoy.

[Lord Jim]

He didn't start out a multi-millionaire:

Morgan Freeman was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the son of Mayme Edna (née Revere), a teacher,[2] and Morgan Porterfield Freeman, a barber who died April 27, 1961, from cirrhosis. He has three older siblings. Freeman was sent as an infant to his paternal grandmother in Charleston, Mississippi.[3][4][5] His family moved frequently during his childhood, living in Greenwood, Mississippi; Gary, Indiana; and finally Chicago, Illinois.[5] Freeman made his acting debut at age 9, playing the lead role in a school play. He then attended Broad Street High School, later named Threadgill Elementary School, in Mississippi. At age 12, he won a statewide drama competition, and while still at Broad Street High School, he performed in a radio show based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1955, he graduated from Broad Street, but turned down a partial drama scholarship from Jackson State University, opting instead to work as a mechanic in the United States Air Force.

Freeman moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s and worked as a transcript clerk at Los Angeles Community College. During this period, he also lived in New York City, working as a dancer at the 1964 World's Fair, and in San Francisco, where he was a member of the Opera Ring musical theater group. Freeman acted in a touring company version of The Royal Hunt of the Sun, and also appeared as an extra in the 1965 film The Pawnbroker. He made his off-Broadway debut in 1967, opposite Viveca Lindfors in The Nigger Lovers[6][7] (about the civil rights era "Freedom Riders"), before debuting on Broadway in 1968's all-black version of Hello, Dolly!, which also starred Pearl Bailey and Cab Calloway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Freeman

Here he expands somewhat on his perspective on racism, and the philosophy behind his views:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=1134151n

(I can't seem to imbed this video on the forum)

[loCAtek]

Mr. Freeman can speak his mind because he is respected, not because he is rich. He became rich, by first becoming respected.

People listened to MLK, not because of his income status*, but because they respected him.




*At that time, by those standards, he was pretty financially well off for a black man.

[Gob]

He can speak his mind because there is no restriction on people speaking their mind.

Whether you take what he says as worthy or not is up to you.

His musings are broadcast due to his status as an actor and celebrity.

Mr Freeman is not MLK, neither statesman nor symbol of change.

[Scooter]

Mr. Freeman can speak his mind, and anyone else who wishes to question whether his wealth has affected his perception of racism is also free to speak their mind.

[Lord Jim]

I think that he makes pretty clear that it was his ability to become wealthy that has influenced his view about folks who he sees as too ready to cite racism for their inability to get ahead.

[Scooter]

Because we all know that the acting profession, above all others, is the one where merit and effort count for everything, and plain dumb luck never enters into it.

[loCAtek]

No, I don't think Mr. Freeman, got to where he is today, by any kind of luck; dumb or otherwise.

He's earned his respect, with his talent, determination and class.






His very first Oscar, yet he doesn't gush, but keeps it succinct and professional;

[Scooter]

Way to miss the point.

[rubato]

Discussions of race are complex and there is a time-factor as well. We can both acknowledge that Affirmative Action in hiring for police and fire departments was necessary and that once some reasonable approximation of parity was achieved it became a hindrance.

In the case of black history month Morgan Freeman is making a point I have heard from many blacks (who are not especially wealthy) that black history deserves the respect of being treated equally as white or jewish history; that relegating it makes it seem less important. But it should be said that Mr. Freeman is speaking in the present after decades of "Black History Month" has been a useful tool in overcoming an unfair ignorance of the subject.

Mr Freeman is articulating what he believes ultimate success looks like; what a society looks like which has for the most part 'gotten over' racism. I think he is right. "Black History" then will be every month and not every conversation about or with a black person will have to be about racism.

yrs,
rubato