Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Black-history month ripped as ridiculous (Morgan Freeman blasts label as divisive to all Americans)
WorldNetDaily ^ | 12/18/05 | WorldNetDaily

Posted on 12/18/2005 11:53:14 AM PST by wagglebee

Actor Morgan Freeman has a solution to the problem of racism – "Stop talking about it!"

In a CBS News' 60 Minutes profile of the Oscar-winning actor scheduled to air tonight, Freeman tells Mike Wallace labels like "white" and "black" are an obstacle to defeating racism.

"I am going to stop calling you a white man and I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man," he says. "I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You wouldn't say, 'Well, I know this white guy named Mike Wallace.' You know what I'm saying?"

The actor also criticizes Black History Month, saying setting aside a special month actually segregates black history from American history. Calling the idea "ridiculous," Freeman notes there's no "white history month."

"You're going to relegate my history to a month?" Freeman asks Wallace. "I don't want a black history month. Black history is American history," he says.

Freeman, who won his first Oscar for his role in "Million Dollar Baby" last year, has starred in numerous films, including "The Shawshank Redemption," "Unforgiven," "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," "The Bonfire of the Vanities," "Glory" and "Driving Miss Daisy."


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: blackhistorymonth; morganfreeman; racism
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-76 last
To: Mamzelle

(I can never understand why King never gets slapped for his racist depictions.)

...

I can never understand why he never gets slapped period. The man is warped. Most of his movies have a recurring theme of portraying children as dark, mysterious or evil. So the impression King leaves is he was picked on in his youth(?) Put him in the Michael Moore, Me Against the World Club


61 posted on 12/18/2005 2:31:54 PM PST by SunnySide (Ephes2:8 ByGraceYou'veBeenSavedThruFaithAGiftOfGodSoNoOneCanBoast)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: infidel29

"Get rid of the 'I am hurt', and you remove the hurt."

Epectitus or Cicero, can't remember which.


62 posted on 12/18/2005 2:41:11 PM PST by The Black Knight
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: shooter223
Calypso Louie could sell bow ties

That or rides on the mother ship.
63 posted on 12/18/2005 2:45:37 PM PST by festus (The constitution may be flawed but its a whole lot better than what we have now.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Doctor Raoul

Roger that ~ Bump!


64 posted on 12/18/2005 3:23:17 PM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

IMO, one of the finest actors living.

What he has stated is right. By emphasizing color you call attention to color above the nature of the person. Priorties are 180 degrees turned around from where they should be.

It heightens tensions among those whom race actually matters, and it actually serves the purpose of separately races from each other. If we're going to be separate let it be based on Character...beliefs...ideals....race should play no more of a role than eye color.


65 posted on 12/18/2005 3:36:10 PM PST by Soul Seeker (Mr. President: It is now time to turn over the money changers' tables.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Well, there is only history, to be sure, but cultures that do not innovate do not contribute significantly to history. This is not necessarily racial, as some Semitic and Asian cultures seem to belong outside the stream of invention. At one time Islam was revolutionary, for example, and then at some point turned its back on the flow of time. The West cavorted in the idea that nature could be harnessed to its wishes, and suffered many upheavals in consequence of the desire to recast itself in religious, biological, psychic and digital terms. One may say that we were pursuing a fools dream, but we did make history.


66 posted on 12/18/2005 3:52:20 PM PST by ashtanga
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tired of Taxes
Shawshank was taken from a Stephen King story in his book "Different Seasons", and that one story was a great read, too.

Wow, a Stephen King story that was turned into a good movie! I guess that raises the total to two. =) (The Shining, of course, being the other one.)

67 posted on 12/18/2005 4:44:09 PM PST by WileyC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Outstanding common sense

Outstanding Actor as well

Always knew Freeman had more sense about him than 90% of his Hollywierd counterparts.


68 posted on 12/18/2005 6:12:10 PM PST by Leatherneck_MT
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

"Different Seasons" is the only Stephen King book I've ever read, too. One of the other stories in the book was made into the movie, Stand By Me. Then there was that other story about the perfect little boy who turns into a homicidal maniac... disturbing! Whenever I hear reports of people who "just went off the deep end... he was such a good guy... then he just snapped," I remember that story. I think King got it right on the mark.


69 posted on 12/18/2005 7:47:55 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee
Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington are two of my favorite actors and are class acts in their personal lives as well. When Mr. Washington visited a base here in Texas he donated the money to have two houses built on base.

I have always considered Mr. Freeman an intellectual giant and his goodness shines from within him like a beacon calling all to a higher standard just by his presence. Too bad neither has taken the road to politics, I think they both have much to offer in bettering the nation.
70 posted on 11/08/2006 4:53:27 AM PST by MissAmericanPie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MissAmericanPie

I think Morgan Freeman is an incredible actor, "Shawshank Redemption" is one of my all-time favorite movies even though it has Tim Robbins in it. I don't necessarily think that Denzel Washington is a "great" actor, but I've enjoyed every one of his movies.

I'd like to see both of them (and James Earl Jones too) start telling Blacks the truth the way Bill Cosby has been doing the past few years.


71 posted on 11/08/2006 4:59:01 AM PST by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee
He makes perfect sense.

Indeed. One other celeb who's handled it properly is Tiger Woods. Calling him black or african American would insult his mother ... and maybe annoy his blond wife.

72 posted on 11/08/2006 5:02:00 AM PST by aculeus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

While we're on the topic, the term "African-American" has always bothered me. With everything blacks have given to this country, why do they only rate a "hyphen?" Aren't they as American as anybody else?


73 posted on 11/08/2006 5:03:10 AM PST by Uncle Vlad (You cannot protect the peoples' civil liberties if you refuse to protect the people.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wagglebee

Freeman's expressed exactly how I feel about it. I remember years ago asking my daughter's school when they were going to have "White Male European History Month". Strangely enough, they didn't take that as a constructive suggestion, or maybe there weren't enough months left in the school year after "Women's History Month," "Gay History Month," "Muslim History Month," and "Rain Forest Appreciation Month."


74 posted on 11/08/2006 5:03:45 AM PST by Pravious
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aculeus

Tiger Woods has handled fame and success with more class than anyone in recent memory. I though it was very telling earlier this year when he went through his "slump" while his father was dying, he never once tried to blame anyone for his playing or make any excuses, then he got refocused and came back roaring.


75 posted on 11/08/2006 5:05:01 AM PST by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: Uncle Vlad
While we're on the topic, the term "African-American" has always bothered me.

My ancestry is almost entirely Irish and they came to the US in the late 19th Century and it has never crossed my mind to identify myself as an "Irish-American." The ancestors of many (probably most) Blacks were in America before the Revolution, that gives them a "longer" history in the US than nearly all Americans who have never considered a hyphen.

76 posted on 11/08/2006 5:14:27 AM PST by wagglebee ("We are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom." -- President Bush, 1/20/05)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-76 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson