The New Black (FILM REVIEW)
The New Black
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Gay Celebrated as “The New Black” in Out-of-the-Closet Documentary
The African-American community has
been slow to get on the gay rights bandwagon, at least according to exit polls
conducted on election days in states like California where the narrow defeat of
same-sex marriage in 2008 was blamed on black folks. What’s up with that? After
all, one would expect blacks, as the long-suffering victims of segregation and discrimination,
including miscegenation laws forbidding race-mixing, to be quick to support
LBGT equality.
But that hasn’t
been the case according to The New Black, an eye-opening documentary directed
by Yoruba Richen. The film follows the recent effort of African-American
activists to rally support for Proposition 6, a Maryland same-sex referendum. This was to be
no mean feat, given the way that the Black
Church has dragged its
feet in terms of LGBT issues.
The gay
rights movement was apparently up against walking around money greasing the
palms of black pastors coming courtesy of Mormons and white Evangelicals eager
to sway the African-American vote. The Born Again crowd pressed for a literal
interpretation of scriptures that leave no doubt about God’s will. Still,
Bible-thumping bigots are ostensibly at odds with the open-minded attitude
advocated by George Gershwin’s heretical hymn, “It Ain't Necessarily So” which
warns that “The things that you’re liable to read in the Bible ain’t
necessarily so.”
As far as
conservative black ministers, some have called homosexuality “a white man’s
disease,” and shunned members of their congregation who have come out of the
closet. This even happened to Tonex, a Grammy-nominated Gospel singer who found
his homosexual “perversions” criticized by colleague Reverend Donnie McClurkin,
a convert to heterosexuality who has come to reject what he refers to as the
gay lifestyle.
Nevertheless,
most brothers seem to be coming around to a more tolerant attitude, despite the
homophobia previously permeating black culture. For example, as a presidential
candidate, Barack Obama narrowly defined marriage “as a union between a man and
a woman,” only to arrive last year at a belief that “our journey is not
complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under
the law.”
The
African-American community collectively jumps the broom over its last big
taboo!
Excellent
(4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 75 minutes
Distributor: Film
Forum
To see a trailer for The
New Black, visit:
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