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Well Director Antoine Fuqua Says Hollywood isn’t Racist? OK, I’m Confused.

April 10, 2013 by  
Filed under Ent., News, Opinion, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Director Antoine Fuqua is one of the most talented people in all of Hollywood.  His films, including “Training Day” and “Olympus Has Fallen” have done quite well at the box office, and he deserves tremendous credit for his accomplishments.

Of all the roles that Antoine might have played in his life, I never expected him to play that of a racial apologist.   The director was asked about well-documented Hollywood discrimination, and he seems to think that it’s all a figment of our imagination.

Speaking with The Voice, Antoine said the following:

I wouldn’t use the term racist, as much as I would say the playing field is not even in Hollywood,” he said. “But ultimately, you have to put in the work.

“It’s very easy to cry racism when you’re not qualified to do the work or your work isn’t transcending to where you want it to be. Hollywood is a business and you have to look at it that way.”

Antoine Fuqua’s comments should probably be refined and clarified just a bit, largely because that’s just the kind of remark that rich white people love toAntoineFuqua pay black men to make.   It’s the typical, “white guys have nearly all the opportunities because most black people aren’t qualified” comment, which serves as continuous validation of white supremacy.  Millions of black people hear similar remarks when corporations and universities swear that they can’t find qualified minorities, even as thousands of hard-working black people apply for the job.  It reminds me of when a well-trained colleague of mine applied for a faculty position at Syracuse University in an all-white department, and was rejected while being given no explanation for why she wasn’t “the right fit.”  Workplace racism almost never has to explain itself, since the reason for rejecting qualified black people typically comes down to the fact that we are not perfect, while no one takes the time to point out the obvious imperfections of all the white guys who got those same opportunities.

Statistically speaking, when you see so many black people being shut out of an institution, particularly one that has been proven to be undeniably racist, it’s largely because there are long-term systemic factors that continue to keep black people out.   Yes, Hollywood is a business (as Mr.  Antoine Fuqua notes), and as a professor of business myself,  I can say that African Americans have a difficult time competing with the shear economic power that white America has accumulated by keeping us from being able to build wealth for the last 400 years.  This leads to Hollywood studios controlling the landscape of black opportunity in ways that are nothing short of sad, sick and embarrassing.  No matter what we do, this disparity isn’t going to disappear overnight.

Antoine Fuqua, who is a smart man no doubt, continues to explain Hollywood Racism 101 by admitting that not every white guy in Hollywood has a firm grasp on black culture.

“I do see other things – like people who don’t understand or are ignorant to our culture. But I wouldn’t call them racist. If anything, it’s our job to expand their minds to our experience,” he said. 

Here it appears  that Mr. Fuqua is confusing racist intent with systematic racism.  You see, systematic racism doesn’t exist in America because every white man wakes up in the morning choosing to racist.  Instead, it exists because for hundreds of years, America was built with a set of norms, patterns and constructs that lead to white men controlling nearly everything in our society.  Therefore, these long-evolved power and wealth disparities allow whites to have a greater ability to promote their own values and expectations over those of black and brown people.

So, the fact is that systematic racism can exist even when you don’t have a single racist person in the building.   Mr. Fuqua’s friends probably do love him in spite of the color his skin.  I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to fund his next project.  But he has to realize that he lives in a world that has trained him to believe that as “the chosen negro,” it is now his job to align his values with those in power and to undermine the efforts of those who seek fairness and equality in our society.  He doesn’t have to lead the charge against racism, but I am hopeful that he won’t continue to blindly obstruct it.

Personally, I would prefer that Antoine Fuqua continue to make good movies, and judge talent fairly (I can’t wait to see his latest flick).  He’s done a great job of creating compelling roles for talented black actors and actresses.  The fact that he has access to a large microphone does not qualify him to become Hollywood’s version of Dr. Cornel West.  He’d be better off leaving this kind of analysis to the scholars.

Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins 

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition.  For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.

 


Comments

7 Responses to “Well Director Antoine Fuqua Says Hollywood isn’t Racist? OK, I’m Confused.”
  1. Christopher B. says:

    For the movies he has done he hasn’t got a single Oscar nomination when his movies have received Oscars and nomination for a ton of other categories. And the fact that Hollywood knows that he is not complaining, they will sit there and not worry about giving him an Oscar anytime soon. Antoine is naïve, talking about African Americans not having enough qualifications? My brother, Antoine, look at your own damn portfolio of movies wtf, do you mean? You have created great works of art just a good and just as consistent and they have not even giving you a damn Oscar nomination. Antoine is blind as fuck. Stupid ass philosophy and flawed theory. Hollywood is not racist? Just because they give a few rewards here and there to blacks it doesn’t vindicate their controlled outcome of who gets what. Antoine says no black man gave him his jobs. I wonder why? Because this damn companies and many like it has fuxkijg suppressed us for years. How the hell can blacks setup the next generation to come with great seats at any board of directors if all this damn time they been bullshitting the blacks and not letting them climb the corporate later? This dude has some huge flaws in is perception.

  2. Marque-Anthony says:

    Fuqua is a director but the executive director sets the salaries.
    Further, I think he fails to understand that Hollywood being motivated first by capitalism does not mean Racism is running a close second. How many Academy Award winners this year were AA? He is just as deceived as Tiger Woods.

  3. Fernand says:

    It is normal for everyone to have their point of view on a social issue like racism. When a Black does not get a movie role and it is given to a White, the Black can either decide its racism or accept they did not qualify. When other Whites do not get that same role, they accept its because they did not qualify because race does not apply in this case. Director Antoine has had the opportunity to cast Blacks like Denzel Washington in Training Day, did he get the role because he was Black? He got it because he is a great actor. He therefore looks at the problem from the point of view of the talent the actor does possess.

    Every Director wants the best cast so their movie will be a success and not filling every role with the first dude who shows up simply because they are White. When the movie flops the money lost belongs to the Studios and no businessman likes losing money simply because of someone’s colour. Will Smith, Samuel Jackson have starred in many movies which were successful. If Hollywood were that racist this would never have bothered about the money they would have dumped them and risked losing profits from the movies.

    Others would view you as a “chosen negro” since you work in a predominantly White Institution so its better to avoid such petty name calling which in my view is not respectable from a scholar.

  4. toomanygrandkids says:

    I meant…”why haven’t–

  5. toomanygrandkids says:

    Why hasn’t black people built their on movie studios? They could hire anyone they want. Hollywood can’t be all that racist since black people insist on being a part of it. Blacks have over-played the race card.

  6. I think the Brother Antoine understands what’s going on in holly weird, but he still needs to rely on them for his livelihood, which unfortunately is true for a lot of us, because we have been programmed to think we need holly weird or any other entity to give us permission and money, when in fact they need us. From Oscar Micheaux to Tyler Perry, we have proven we can write, produce, and distribute our films. Believe it or not, we used to own Black theaters all across the country. Why can’t we do this again? The slave mind is still in effect, but we can wakeup from this nightmare and start to support one another like we used to. For more information on how to do this, click on my name.

    Black Unity means financial independence and happiness

  7. Susan says:

    Excellent article!

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