Though Spike Lee’s “Blackkklansman” is set in the 1970s, the true story still resonates with people today.
The movie, nominated for six Academy Awards, was shown Wednesday at Richard E. Peeler Center for the Arts. It was followed by a panel discussion led by Karin Wimbley, Director of the CDI and Assistant Professor of English, and Emmitt Riley, professor of political science, as well as Association for African American Students President Kaleb Anderson.
“It’s a beautiful film, but the topics, the nuances, of our country, of our culture, of our collective culture comes out,” Wimbley said. “And I think we all connect to it.”
“Blackkklansman,” according to IMDB, follows “Ron Stallworth, an African-American police officer from Colorado Springs, CO, as he successfully manages to infiltrate the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish surrogate who eventually becomes its leader.”
Both Anderson and Wimbley admitted that they were unable to finish watching the film the first time they tried. The parallels between the film and today’s culture were continuously drawn upon. Almost every question posed during the panel was responded to with an anecdote of one of the panelists’ personal experiences of what it means to be Black in today’s society.
“What this movie doesn’t show is how white supremacy is in this room, on this campus, and in this town,” Wimbley said.
Conversations revolving around institutions like the police and government were a recurring topic throughout the panel.
“None of my friends or family members are under the illusion that the police are there to protect and serve us,” Wimbley said. “To this day, when I see a cop car behind me I get anxious. I don’t speed in Greencastle, and I have been known before to have a bit of a leadfoot. But I always hit my stop signs. I always travel at the right pace. Like, I am a perfect citizen. Not because of any ideal of citizenship, but as a way to avoid having any engagement with the police.”
The panel discussed how the film reveals that racist, white supremacists are people, whose ideologies exist with or without a Klan mask. In addition to the white supremacist characters, the panelists also discussed the derogatory racial slurs and microaggressions that were depicted in the movie.
“A lot of the microaggressions that were happening, people in this room were laughing at,” Anderson said. “The privilege to be able to consume a microaggression and be able to laugh at it, is racism.”
But Riley said, “It’s okay that folks found it funny. Spike Lee meant for it to be funny.”
However, both went on to remind the audience that when they go home at night, some will be able to leave what they saw and how they felt in Peeler. This is a privilege not afforded to all people.
“With whiteness, one is afforded innocence that is not given to a black or brown body,” Wimbley said. “All lives don’t matter if we need to say that Black lives matter.”
During the closing remarks, Riley told audience members that Carol Anderson’s “White Rage” is a book that he cannot recommend enough. Following this, Wimbley made an appeal for moviegoers to think about the media that they consume and its implications. “I would encourage you always to keep your thinking cap on,” Wimbley said. “Watch actively. Don’t be a passive viewer.”