Annie Remake: Everything Is Not About Race.

by Staff March 12, 2014 12 Comments Ent. News Opinion Relationships Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) It’s funny that so many people like to proclaim, “Everything is not about race,” when it comes to a Black person being blatantly disrespected and/or victimized by someone who is not Black…especially a child.

From Trayvon Martin to the recent trial and sentencing for the slain Jordan Davis, we have witnessed America ignorantly proclaim time and time again “Race isn’t a factor” when it comes to the degradation of little black boys and girls.

Last week was no different. The new trailer for a modern-day remake of “Annie” was released March 5, 2014, and the pending film features a couple significant distinctions from its original version—and these distinctions, as many have pointed out, certainly have to do with race.

Jamie Foxx is playing a sort of 2014 “Daddy” Warbucks while the red-headed child has been swapped for Quvenzhané Wallis, best known for her stellar role in Beasts of the Southern Wild.

You’d think people would be happy to see the American film industry take steps toward progression and include some color in a classic that, to be honest, completely lacked diversity. But, as with the politics of our great nation, you’d soon realize that every time you give society the benefit of the doubt, it fails you.

Twitter was flooded with nasty comments about modern-day “Annie”—and specifically the 10-year-old actress who snagged the role.

I will not promote these users by including their Twitter handles, but the following are just a few of the very real and very unfortunate things people had to say about our Black Annie:

March 6 A black Annie- really? should we now have a white Aunt Jemima?

Mar 6 The new “ANNIE” movie trailer. THEY’VE TURNED ANNIE INTO A BLACK NAPPY HAIRED NEGRO!!! Oh and DADDY WAR BUCKS TOO!!

Mar 7 Annie was a freckled face redhead, not a nappy head parasite infected #nigger sh—bag! #niggers ruin everything!!

Mar 8 no one wants to see a nappy head AIDS infected spook Annie! I bet it’s the only movie to accept EBT

Mar 8 it’s called “Little Orphan Annie” not “Little Abandon Aiesha”

This “black nappy haired negro,” as the imbecilic Twitter user poorly tweets, is actually the record holder for the youngest person to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

It’s really unfortunate because, most often, people don’t realize how their attempts to belittle others only very publicly reveal their own incompetence.

*Moving along…

People’s reactions to the “Annie” remake mirror those who were “disappointed” after seeing Amandla Stenberg as the character Rue in 2012’s “The Hunger Games” debut.

Remember those tweets?

Why does rue have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined the movie.
Sense when has Rue been a nigger (*writer’s tangent* “Since” when is being prejudiced and grammatically incorrect acceptable?)
How in the world are they going to make Rue a freakin Black b—ch in the movie?!?!?!?! Lolol not to be racist buuuut… I’m angry now ;o
I was pumped about the Hunger Games. Until I learned that a black girl was playing Rue.
Eww Rue is black?? I’m not watching
Kk call me racist but when I found out rue was black her death wasn’t as sad #ihatemyself

Amandla was 13 when she played Rue and Quvenzhané is only 10. These little girls and many more (both male and female) are just babies and have to deal with ignorant people degrading them and their talents solely because of the color of their skin, yet coward behind a “It’s not about race” defense.

News flash America: EVERYTHING is about race when you constantly make it so.

When someone says anything remotely offensive about someone from the LGBT community he or she is ostracized and condemned because his or her actions were about the characteristics and qualities that define that group of people. Yet, people can publicly say “this nigger,” “black,” “nappy headed” and it’s okay because those actions are not about race?

George Zimmerman shot and killed a BLACK 17-year-old, unarmed boy because he “looked like he was on drugs or something”…but it’s not about race.

Instead of driving away, Michael Dunn continuously shoots into a vehicle filled with teens and kills a BLACK 17-year-old kid…but it’s not about race.

Three BLACK film stars, Dayo Okeniyi (Thresh in “The Hunger Games”), Quvenzhané and Amandla, can all “ruin” moviegoers experiences after seeing their skin tones in Caucasian-dominated films…but it’s not about race.

I’ve witnessed those outside of the Black community complain that Blacks are so quick to pull the race card, yet nine times out of 10 it’s those same non-Blacks who are the first to point out an individual’s racial identity. I cannot tell you how many times I read the most vicious comments about Trayvon Martin’s race and him deserving to die because he was black, but then those same people would become outraged if news outlets tried to claim race was a factor.

It’s laughable.

To everyone who desires to continue inaccurately spouting, “Everything isn’t about race” when it comes to cases like this, I think actor Jesse Williams has the perfect response for you. As he commented on the recent Michael Dunn trial, he said:

…people are tired of this criminalization of the Black body. It’s a tradition in this country and I think people are just feeling fatigued about constantly having to go through this all year, every year since the founding of this nation….this is not a Black problem; this is a White problem. This is an American problem. This is a societal problem where people should be outraged …

This idea of having to explain why it’s racial while we’re standing in our own blood is silly. It’s racial because it doesn’t happen to White people. There is no question that race is an issue when you look at the amount of boys being shot because you “feel” scared.

I think that’s the frustration that a lot of Americans are feeling…we have to keep fighting to be heard and to be treated as human beings…”

Staff Writer; Shala Marks

Connect with this talented sister via Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/shala.marks & Twitter; https://twitter.com/Shala_Marks.

Service is her passion, writing is her platform, women and the Black Community are her avenues. Shala Marks is a writer, editor and soon-to-be author. Through her work, Marks aspires to demonstrate “The Craft of Writing, and the Art of Efficacy.” She has a B.A. in journalism from Arizona State University. Connect with her over at http://www.ShalaMarks.com.

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King says:
April 23, 2016 at 1:00 pm
You uncle tom niggers need to shut up, you guy’s
are just all talk. not only are you a fucking idiot, but you have no idea what you’re talking about niggers have been killing each other through out the centuries and that’s before the Caucasians Kemets, Arabics, European of any type discovered Niggers in Sub Saharan Africa, and since Negroids are to stupid to record anything about their history they wouldn’t know how many of their own kind have they killed. an don’t give me (” The Lost Civilization “) argument because first of all you would need to have a civilization in order for it to be lost and than considered to be a ” Lost Civilization ” which you guy’s don’t have. and you accuse white people for all the crimes they commit in the world, when the Negroid race commits most of the crimes in the world considering with all the statistics that shows they do, like the dumb ass you are I love how delusional you moronic monkey’s are, saying you were Egyptian (a.k.a. Kemets) an the original people of earth. you guys never do show proof, you never show links that is hard physical concrete crucial shred of evidence instead would just lead me or any other people to a Afro centric website. let alone proof that I can touch or taste and or smell and see, after all I’ve heard it all from you retarded simian beings.
claiming every other indigenous inhabitants an their culture and or heritage in this world as you’res when it isn’t!, you apes steal all the time and if you can’t steal items or products physically. you gorillas would try to re-write history an re-envisioned it because it is not to you’re liking and not to mention their are sick white guilt ridden liberals empathetic or sympathetic and that goes for yellow people as well they may not have white guilt but yellow guilt to you’re kind some of them would gladly help you’re retarded simian cause to put you ugly, fugly, douche bag, black dingle berry, trash, in every white and yellow history
an you niggers take things out of context and lie a lot more than Caucasian people, like that out of Africa theory.and you guys always say don’t believe what the white man is saying but you believe in the theory of out of Africa theory that was created by the white man you niggers are hypocrites. and the white man killing off Native Americans when their still plenty of them around. not to mention, you dirty filthy apes would even lie to protect you’re own kind when you know he or she is a criminal with so many crime records, Pierre Deangelo, Michael Brown, you guys always blame for everything on the white man for you’re failures.
I mean other races like Asians have failed, but they don’t pin their blame on white people except for a few exceptions on occasion unlike you niggers that just keep blaming white people non stop.
whether you like to hear it or not see it or not the feel of it or not or the taste of it or not, you simian beings do commit most of the crimes nationally and internationally an lets not forget you bonobo’s would be howling like those howling monkey’s in Asia calling everything racist this racist that, an you wonder why people think and or thought you have a mind of a child
and I love it that you fools think, you are as smart or can be just as intellectually more smarter then a white man let alone a yellow man since you’re the only race in existence that don’t have ancient civilization that are in ruins or lies in ruins and have modern day cities in Sub Saharan Africa, the only reason there are even major cities an small ones and or towns is because of the foreigners that are white called Boers and Afrikaners an not to mention some Asians like the Indian community in Nairobi Kenya an the Chinese and Japanese also Koreans.
You Niggers are so annoying, saying every time and or when ever you kill some one. white people kill, or every time an or when ever you steal, white people steal. well this dumb monkey forgot to mention you do most of the killing and stealing nationally and internationally
I love it when these simian trash acts like white people are equal with them when it comes to crime, and not just white people they think everyone does crime equally in their retarded under developed brain. these savages are just embarrassing themselves every time or when ever they open their mouths or type on the internet.
an not to mention the afro centric naive, menial, clueless, lying, ignorant, delusional, unbeknownst, uneducated nonsensical, drivel, dribble, frivolous, tripe. and of course accusing the white man stealing culture or technology for that matter
of course let’s not forget they’er the ones that first start rioting, fights, mobs, shootings, L.A. Riots, Detroit, Atlanta, Baltimore Riots, Philadelphia, Mall fights an or mobs, black school fights an or shootings, ghetto fights, project fights, gas station fights, theme park fights, carnival fights, Wal-mart fights, KFC fights, Mc Donald fights, Burger King fights, IHop fights, Taco Bell fights, Wendy’s fights, Black Lives Matter riots, restaurant fights.
niggers will always say ” well we’re not all like that!” please these guys would be like that if things didn’t go their way an not to mention my favorite statement is when those niggers get caught red handed it’s always (” I didn’t do nothing “)
and you savage simian dingle berry trash, still live in various methodological huts an bathe in cow urine and do tribal dances not to mention when you want to go urinate or take a dump your doing it where you stand or near the bushes an behind the trees using leaves. lets not forget mostly naked wearing grass skirts rubbing animal dung on babies. putting you’re lips on a cows private part, sucking and licking it vice versa an putting round plates in your jaw and using cow’s hide for a shield. eating mosquito burgers and mud cookies or shit. let us also remember killing black albino’s for magic ju ju an cannibalism and you’ve been doing this for centuries till today?. an do bestiality and do incest on one another, you monkey’s accuse white people doing incest when there’s plenty of stories of you shit faces doing that here in America or Sub Saharan Africa an or Papua new guinea and haiti.
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King says:
April 23, 2016 at 12:55 pm
Not only are you a fucking idiot, but you have no idea what
you’re talking about Niggers have been killing each other through out the centuries and that’s before the Caucasians Kemets, Arabics, European of any type discovered Niggers in Sub Saharan Africa, and since Negroids are to stupid to record anything about their history, they wouldn’t know how many of their own kind have they killed. an you accuse white people for all the crimes they commit in the world, when the Negroid race commits most of the crimes in the world considering with all the statistics that shows they do
and I hate to break it to you moron but people like you and others that are like you think like you an follow you’re footsteps are the real ignorant ones here fool.
Ok wow you delusional people that think black people (A.K.A. Niggers) had it bad big fucking deal so did other races an or ethnicity’s and much worse even. you think what black people have had and or had it bad compared to other races an ethnicity’s like being hosed down and being chased an attacked by German Shepard’s, I can tell you whatever black people have been through Caucasians and Asians been through much worse. their just trying to monopolize how much worse their life was compared to Caucasians an Asians, but that didn’t stop the two races from succeeding. when Europeans went to North continental of America and Latin America that didn’t stop the Amerindians. from making casino’s that look like TP’s or Adobe an establish Mexico in their own way and not to mention they didn’t keep pulling the race card, the slavery card, the oppression card, like the savage negro’s do, Caucasians of every type (European, Arabic, Russian, Kemet) were doing these things to each other when they first met one another but that didn’t stop them to keep going and advancing. same thing with Asians (Philippines, Japan, Korea, Malaysia) an when the Europeans first clashed with the Asians well both sides didn’t stop from progressing forward.
and didn’t blame on one another why they can’t invent and or built or founded a nation let alone technology, and if black people (A.k.A. Niggers) are so great how come they still live the way they are an or do. not to mention their still naked mostly and wearing grass skirts well the ones that are and the majority still can’t even read or write while only remnants of them only can an are smart to certain degree but no where near as smart and or the same level as Caucasian and Asian people, but of course you moronic dimwits think just because you’ve seen an or met a black person (A.K.A. Nigger) that can read and write not to mention speak english let alone other languages clearly an wear proper clothing or look gangster that suddenly makes them you’re equal?. like wow how delusional is that! and they’er the only race that hasn’t built anything yet whether it be a car, plane, house, building, power plant, phone and cell phone, clothing, rocket, shuttle, satellite, part of the space station, infrastructure, theme parks, carnival, circus, corporation, school, authority system, hardware, army, navy, marines, air force, technician, engineer, farming, CPU manufacturers, GPU manufacturers, you blinded sighted idiots just don’t seem to realize those are called uncle toms the black people (A.K.A Niggers) that you may think are equal to you are just acting white and or pretending to be civilized an being you’re friend or friends will sooner or later show their true colors, L.A. Riots, Detroit, Atlanta, Baltimore Riots, Philadelphia, Mall fights an or mobs, black school fights an or shootings, ghetto fights, project fights, gas station fights, theme park fights, carnival fights, Wal-mart fights, KFC fights, Mc Donald fights, Burger King fights, IHop fights Taco Bell fights, Wendy’s fights Black Lives Matter riots, restaurant fights.
Liberal nigger lovers and niggers themselves keep chanting an bragging about the niggers ” Lack for capacity for evil and they are in tuned with nature” which of course that is complete bullshit considering they keep killing wild animals there more than poachers.
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wil says:
December 11, 2014 at 8:17 am
Almost everything you have said is BS. Trayvon was a thief who jumped out of a bush and attacked the nightwatchman. Too much BS to even compete..
Annie was written to be a readhead, not a black hair, black eyed, black skinned child who’s name I cannot speak.
You know, a movie with a black cast and a black orphan would never be made but call that kid Annie and the racists named Jay-Z and Will Smith have something..
I`m glad Sony was hacked and the movie released for free online, I watched 5 minutes and started projectile vomiting.
..have a nice day. 🙂
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Peerless Perception says:
June 1, 2014 at 12:20 am
As it relates to racism in America, it is critical to conduct a racial assessment of why Black people, specifically, need to invoke independent thought. We must remember that many years ago racism used to be overt. Then it became covert. Now it is more oblique or stealth. For obvious reasons, the progressive adaptation of this implied belief system is here to stay due its chameleon-like ability. There are a complex array of factors that play a role in why it still exists and why it is still accepted. The obvious reason for its longevity is the color issue. Other factors include financial to societal elements. The tiering by race, ethnicity, culture, caliber, and class of people also plays roles in the perpetuation of the on-going discrimination. It is my strong belief that the only way to combat the prejudicial forces of today is to educate yourself. Education, whether formal or informal, not only refines an individual, but expands your realm of possibilities.
Case in point, as of late, the attacks leveled against President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have been racially charged and unwarranted. Some of the comments extend well beyond professionalism and civilized behavior. The singular focus is obviously pointing toward race and the rhetoric has the undertone of cultural indifference. However, both the President and First Lady have exhibited stellar temperance in the face of adversity. This incredible restraint shown by these two individuals is the by-product of education. Even when faced with what appears to be insurmountable odds, this modern age “power couple” exudes class and sage beyond their years
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Tom S says:
May 8, 2014 at 2:41 am
I really like actors Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Jamie Fox and enjoy them in all their movies however I wouldn’t like to see any of them play the character from a classic movie that starred John Wayne, Bogart, Cagney etc. Would black people like to see roots redone with an all white cast? Doesn’t make sense does it, nor replacing Sidney Poitier with a white guy. I hated seeing Tom Cruise play the character Jack Reacher, the character was suppose to be 6’4 and 250lbs and intimidating. Tom Cruise is 5’2 and 150lbs and a munchkin. James Bond is described from the color of his hair to his dark tan to his build, as much as I like Jamie Fox, I do not want to see him play that role. Find something original, and not just a black role, find a NEW Character to play and we all will enjoy it.
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nate says:
May 4, 2014 at 9:07 pm
i think alot of the time that most blacks are just downright jealous of white triumphs especially in the movies. its ok to be black, asian, hispanic etc…but when you are proud to be white…you are a racist!! blacks need to wake the hell up or fuck off back to where they feel comfortable..ie africa, haiti ec.
blacks like jews live in the past to much! get over it! todays white people aren’t to blame for whipping cotton fields or the holohoax!
so as for bastardizing classic stories like annie, well this is just a complete joke. idiots like will smith and jay-zed are just doing this to make trouble. annie is not a negress, never was and never is. charles strouse the original composer of the annie songs was quoted saying about the new hipity hop version…”this disgusts me!”
wake up black america, you have gone completely stale! you rap is pathetic. all your women are now dying their hair blonde! lol
if there were no ball sports or dancing, what would you have?
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J says:
April 22, 2014 at 6:42 pm
Well said except I would, in the future, not try to frame your arguments using another minority group to make the point.
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angel says:
April 8, 2014 at 10:06 pm
Yes, it’s difficult living Black everyday; that double consciousness thing. However, as a Black filmmaker, we have so many untold family oriented stories about our own experiences, we don’t necessarily need to redo others’ stories, particularly when the filmmaker(s) have vast resources available to them. Respect from others usually comes when one first respects themselves. No one declared that the legacy would end; only the blatant practice. For those who can hear, let them hear.
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Josh says:
March 17, 2014 at 6:21 pm
I love this, and you’re so completely right, but you’re inaccurate in your point on the LGBT community! I’ve heard the same thing said in reverse of that statement, and I think both are inaccurate. You might be thinking of celebrities for one and the public for another. When Phil Robertson made those statements about the LGBT community, he was criticized for it, and these people on twitter are probably not being attacked as much, that’s all true. BUT Justine Sacco was attacked for her tweet about AIDS in Africa and the LGBT community get’s just as much hate on social media from the ignorant masses.
All minorities share the common bond of being minorities. Oppression puts us all down and we should be on the same side. I firmly believe that any advancement in public thought pertaining to people of color is advancement- in principle AND practice- for every other minority that is looking for the same change for themselves.
Your post is amazing, you don’t need to write off your allies to make a point.
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Jazzie Dixson says:
March 17, 2014 at 10:15 am
Well said Shala. The anonymity of the internet offers everyone–both Black and White–the opportunity to say, vent, complain, and attack with indefensible and ugly comments. “Annie” is a classic that deserves what it has received–continued talent to bring the story to life. Sadly, race should not matter; but it always does, doesn’t it?! While so many stop to point the finger of ridicule at either their own race or another, it is most interesting to note that NONE OF US HAD A CHOICE! Being born Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, or other…none of us made this choice. God made it for us. And for that, I am eternally grateful and in celebration with every shade of humanity. Let’s all be willing to learn. There are “some” Whites who are the scourge of humanity; and “some” Blacks who are as well. Not All. Never All. While none of us had a choice in our race, we each have a choice of the example we set. And…we will each be accountable for that example.
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Fernand says:
March 16, 2014 at 5:56 pm
African Americans tend to blame White America for everything and ignore their own shortcomings.
Your man is cheating- blame Whites
You dropped out of high school- blame Whites
You are addicted to drugs- blame Whites
You got 3 baby mamas- blame the Whites
You got pregnant as a teen- blame the Whites
You got no job- blame the Whites
You bleach your skin to look attractive- blame the Whites
You steal a car and go to jail- blame the Whites
Get real people
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Ian says:
March 16, 2014 at 3:55 pm
What do you make of this site is it racist? or no? !!!
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