(By Kellie Carter-Jackson) – So I feel compelled to say a few things about these “Harriet”
naysayers...many of whom have not seen the film. First, there was the
controversy about Cynthia Erivo. She's black y'all! They didn't ask Scarlet
Johansen to play her! Second, her comments about black Americans...c’mon. Don't
act y'all don't hear the same ish from black Americans… ever have a meaningful
conversation with a black conservative? Same thing. Third, this whole thing
about a black slave catcher being the villain... Yes, historically, there were
black slave catchers. They were used to win fugitives trust and then betray
them for coin. There will ALWAYS be hired hands and mercenaries. Period. Fourth,
clearly the greatest villain is slavery. Harriet was combating SLAVERY!!!
Perhaps, the film assumes you know this.
If you're first impulse in a film
about Harriet is to complain about how black men are portrayed, that's a
problem. It’s like black women can’t shine without making sure that first no
harm was caused to a black man. Folks, complained the black bounty hunter was
too violent…really?? MORE VIOLENT than slavery????
No one has talked about
the white mistress who quickly decides to break up families by selling her
slaves. No one talked about how her character was SPOT ON. She gets blamed for
runaways, cries and then rallies the white men to track Harriet and do her
bidding. You want a villain, the mistress was the most dangerous person in this
film, particularly to Harriet’s family. Don’t sleep on that.
Finally, (cause I lost
count) I end with a story. One time my mom and dad went to Greece. They stopped
at a restaurant because my mom was hungry, but my dad was not. When it was time
to order, my mom ordered fish and my dad ordered nothing because he was not
hungry. When the food arrived, they had taken my mother’s fish, cut it in half
and handed one plate to my mom and one plate to my dad. My mom said, “That’s my
fish, he’s not hungry.” The waiter rebuffed her and said, “How dare you eat
while your husband just sits there?” All those hating with your #notmyharriet and #harrietdeservesbetter,
YOU ARE THE WAITER! You’ve taken this film and cut it in half. It’s as though
you’re saying, “How dare Harriet shine, while the black man has nothing.” Well,
in this case the black male actors were not starving for food. Your feeling of
wanting to preserve black manhood at the expense of black women’s heroism and
humanity is shameful.
You’ve internalized sexism in a way that won’t allow you
to see a black woman hero unless the black man is FED FIRST. It’s hotep and
ridiculous. I counted no less than 7 black men that play significant positive
roles: The black minister, who helps Harriet get to freedom, Harriet’s father
(who never snitches), the blackjacks or black sailors who help her along the
river, William Still, who helps Harriet become official in the movement, her
brothers who fall in line and submit to her authority and wisdom, even the
other black slave catcher who has a change of heart, and the hundreds of black
men that Harriet leads into battle! My goodness…but the whole movie, folks are
getting hung up over ONE black slave catcher who doesn’t even make a showing
until the latter half of the movie. And when he’s pursuing Harriet, he’s not
alone. He has a posse of white men! Are the white men not complicit??? Do you
think the white men wouldn’t have taken aim at her? Folks talked about how the
white master kills the bounty hunter and “rescues” Harriet. WHAT?…RESCUES!!???
He wanted to take her back to slavery! Ya’ll get your lives!
Encouraging folks not to
see a film about a historic and heroic black woman because one “black man looks
bad” is sexism and self-hate. Period. And this formula, NEVER works in the
reverse. If a black man wins, a black man wins, no questions asked about black
women. Get it together people! We are better than this petty sexist backlash.
If this is the case, Harriet really does deserve better.
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