Selma revives conversations on civil rights

By Sophie Newman, Arts and Entertainment Editor     1/14/15 4:10am

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At the time, the 60s seemed to mark the beginning of the end of America’s racist history. Ava Duvernay’s recent masterpiece, Selma, captures the turbulence of the era as told through the eyes of Martin Luther King Jr. and his political and social struggle to initiate the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It sheds light not only on the horrors of the time, but also the complex character of Dr. King, a feature that many previous films have failed to consider. 

While it begins familiarly, with a speech by Dr. King (David Oyelowo), the film creeps into uncharted territory when it begins to portray him as a human being rather than a saint, subject to political, social and even carnal temptations. Presenting Dr. King as an imperfect moral hero complements the rawness of the story. With superb acting, casting and directing, Selma is impossible to escape. The tragedy, tender moments and hard-earned victories stay with you long after leaving the theater. 

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 It’s been nearly 50 years since those horrific events, and it’s easy to feel a sense of relief considering how much has changed since then, not just in legislation, but also in our attitudes. It’s easy to find solace in the idea that we have overcome previous misconceptions and entered a new golden age of equality. What’s more troubling, however, is to consider that we haven’t. 

Despite its late birth (without sufficient funding, it took nearly seven years for the script to come to fruition), Selma could not have been released at a more appropriate, or at least relevant, time. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and Selma marches. Events in Ferguson, New York and Cleveland have sparked recent racial bias discourse worldwide. Last year the Supreme Court overturned part of the Voting Rights Act, and this decision paved the way for a new Texas voter I.D. law, which Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg likened to “an intentionally racist poll tax.” Though we no longer condone the noun “negro,” nor is it acceptable to racially discriminate (under the law or otherwise), civil rights are clearly still at the forefront of political and social conversations. 

Selma, though it does mark the success of important civil rights legislation, is by no means a feel-good movie, nor does it seek to fulfill such a purpose. Rather, it paints a picture, for better or for worse, of simultaneously one of the most terrible and awe-inspiring times in history — a time in which society had to rear its ugliest face in order to come to terms with its racist practices. Seeing the the bravery, commitment and sacrifice it took to achieve equality for one basic human right is both inspiring and absolutely heartbreaking. To think that somehow we could be rolling back any of the progress that was then achieved, as my friend aptly, if boldly, considered, is akin to practicing anti-Semitism in light of the Holocaust. 

I do not attempt to take a stance on recent cases of potential racial discrimination, nor do I accuse America of being racist, per se. Rather, I ask  only that we, as a country with such a troubling past, consider these issues as continually relevant. It’s easy to to deem progress achieved, but as Dr. King said himself, “human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable.” Selma captures Dr. King’s trials as an individual as well as society’s struggle to overcome what seems now like a ridiculous misconception. But just like the Alabama State Troopers could not understand how their thwarted ideology would seem to future generations, we cannot fathom the same for ours. Selma, unintentionally or not, is a stark reminder of this fact. It forces us to reconsider the labor and sacrifice it took to achieve a single civil rights victory and humbles us to remember our mistakes. With the wisdom of time on our side, the only way we should be moving us forward. We should not take this past victory for granted.

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