Selma Movie Analysis

The American creed reads “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America”. The creed emphasizes the importance of equality and freedom as its central theme which goes hand in hand with equality of voting rights, which is the central theme of the movie, Selma. The lead protagonist, David Oyelowo, plays Martin Luther King Jr, a late civil rights activist who had a dream that one day this nation of America would rise and live out the true meaning of its creed.

Dr. King received a Nobel Peace prize in 1964 for his exceptional leadership skills in the principles of peace, nonviolence, and direct action. The movie highlights these attributes in numerous ways. He is portrayed in the film on numerous occasions as being vocal, standing up for the things he believed in, and demonstrating against prejudice in whatever way or form it manifested itself.

His numerous persuasive speeches in Selma and the nonviolent marches he led including the famous Selma-Montgomery march are some examples of King’s demonstrations. An obvious strategist, risk-taker, and negotiator, Dr. King a follower of Jesus Christ emulated Him by loving his neighbor as himself. He reflected this by becoming the voice for the voiceless and refused to accept that a people’s destiny should be determined by someone other than God or the people themselves never a fellow man. He also firmly believed in nonviolence as opposed to violence, negotiations as opposed to war, and resistance as opposed to submission. Dr. King believed as I do that all men are created equal, and racism must come to an end.

Although being a black American citizen, I have not had many racist experiences. This maybe because I lived most of my life abroad, 17 years to be exact. I spent 17 years in a country with a predominantly black population and a year in a country with people of diverse ethnicities, so the concept of racism is somewhat new to me. I have always known racism exists, I have read about, listened to talks about, and watched movies about racism, but I now know that racism is more than words (though words certainly play a part). According to Tinyiko Maluleke, racism is what people do to fellow human beings of different races to diminish their humanity to facilitate either their exploitation or their extermination. As the famous metaphor goes, “seeing is believing” though, in matters concerning discrimination and prejudice, I would say the saying “feeling is believing” is more accurate.

I wonder if more people knew what it felt like to experience the struggles of others and if more people walked a mile in others’ shoes would there be less evil today? In my opinion, it is quite different when one’s conception about racism is shaped from naivety (the absence of experience) as opposed to one from personal experience; Consider if one’s socioeconomic status transits from a majority to a minority race and things like microaggressions, prejudice, segregation, and privilege becomes experiential as opposed to fictional. I am convinced that it is a different feeling altogether when one becomes the subject of oppression.

The movie Selma is in my opinion is a historical drama that tells the story of the struggles of the black people living in an era where voting was outlawed for black people. The movie emphasizes the importance of democracy, the basic human rights of equality, freedom from slavery, freedom from discrimination, and the correct use of power by contrasting it with what it means to be voiceless, oppressed, and when the color of law is violated. (The color of law code refers to the misuse of authority by a person given to them by a local, state, or federal government. For example, a police officer can arrest an individual. This is an authority given to the police. However, arrests need to have a valid cause. If the officer arrests or detains an individual willfully, without an appropriate cause, the color of law code would be violated).

Selma focuses on the gruesome acts of oppression, hostility, and hatred perpetrated against the black citizens of Selma, Alabama. It is also highly symbolic of the country-wide racism, discrimination, and injustices carried out against black people everywhere in the 60s even with the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition to the numerous tragedies in the movie, it also highlights the strength, resilience, and bravery of the black citizens of Selma who although faced severe trials, challenges, and oppositions remained true to their morals, beliefs, and faith. They selflessly chose to march for freedom for themselves, their families, their lost ones, and future generations to come even when faced with death as an immediate reality.  They marched because they believed in the God-given value of each life.

The black citizens of Selma show through their actions that same selfless love for our neighbors Christ calls us to have. As someone who believes the message of the gospel, that was inspiring to me. In Jesus’s words, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends”. (John 15:13).  Dr. King, who was also a pastor, believed this as well. A famous quote of his reads “our lives are not fully lived if we are not willing to die for those we love and for what we believe”.

Watching Selma intrigued me. I became curious and so decided to learn more about racism and racial justice. I happened upon an article on racism by a female psychologist, Dr. Melissa Burkley. She claims that we see racism in others but not in ourselves. She believes that people have a mental blind spot that prevents them from seeing their racism. That statement aroused some questions within me; Are we as individuals unwilling or unable to admit our racism to ourselves? Are we all racist or do we each have racist tendencies? Do we hold ourselves accountable? Do we actively seek to dismantle the systems of oppression? Or do we subconsciously uphold and contribute to them? Does raising consciousness present a feasible solution? Do we keep treading the moral ground of nonviolence as opposed to violence and retaliation? What is equality in the black psyche? What is equality in the white psyche? And finally, how might we achieve unity amid diversity?

Sitting in a jail cell after protesting the treatment of blacks in Selma, Dr. King poses a question to fellow SCLC member Ralph Abernathy. “What happens when a man stands up and says enough is enough?”.  I agree. When will the cup of prejudice, harassment, and discrimination be filled enough that it will have to be discarded? It is unfortunate that in todays’ society racism rather than be eliminated has evolved. Racism is no longer staring one in the face (at least in most places). The issue of racism is now kept in a container under lock and key until the next controversial issue arises then it is unlocked for a season only to go back in again when a false sense of peace becomes the new order of the day.

Dr. King’s strategy was to raise public consciousness on racism to end racial discrimination and segregation. However much I agree with Dr. King it is evident that his line of attack on this war is not sufficient. Raise awareness, then what? I think it is naive to assume providing information to people will change their behavior. If it were that elementary, racism should not still be an issue. Truthfully, the quest for freedom is one I am not sure will ever truly end. The war against inhumanity and hatred is still very much present in todays’ society. As long as there are people who see others as inferior, as long as blind spots still exist, as long as excuses and assumptions keep being made, as long as minds and hearts are hardened and unwilling to learn from and reconcile the past, and as long as hatred still exists racism will remain an issue for many more decades.

But we must triumph. In the words of female activist and National Youth Poet Laureate for the year 2017, Amanda Gorman, in her poem, the hill we climb, Gorman says “Democracy can be periodically delayed, but it can never be permanently defeated. If we are to live up to our own time, then victory will not lie in the blade but in all the bridges we have made. That is the promise we glade, the hill we climb if only we dare it. Because being American is more than a pride we inherit it’s the past we step into and how we repair it”.