Who We Are (2021)

Who We Are (aka Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America) review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Racism in America is difficult to explain beyond a certain perception. For much of white America, there was always a simple iconography to identifying and stomping out racism. The Klu Klux Klan were easy targets. It’s not hard to look at these losers in white robes lynching black people on the basis of their race and realize “oh, yeah, that’s bad, actually.” We see this narrative repeated in safe movies about racism, often depicting the bigotry of the past with bold and often cartoonish depictions of evil to make the point blunt and clear. But how do you tackle institutional racism? After all, racism didn’t go away when slavery was abolished and the civil rights movement occurred in the mid-20th century. It’s why a new form of racism parades around today, working under the guise of “fair” capitalism, eventually bubbling up into violence where the oblivious ask “Why are people racist?”

Well, ACLU deputy legal director Jeffery Robinson is prepared to explain how with a unique presentation of lectures, interviews, animations, and, believe it or not, music and comedy. He covers a vast landscape of American racism that has taken more than one form. Everything from slavery abolition to redlining is covered and documented in exceptional detail. It’s presented matter-of-factly in a way that treats the audience with maturity while also holding attention firm. This is best illustrated by how Robinson constantly compares the black rights movement to the tale of Sysophis, showing how the rock always seems like it’s going to go over and racism will be fought back, only for another move by the government to push the rock right back down again.

The interviews within the presentation are really fascinating. Robinson speaks with a mother who lost her son to police brutality and there’s a very sobering discussion in struggling to make sense of it all. One of the sadder and more infuriating interviews is when Robinson confronts a protestor trying to argue that confederate monuments and the confederate flag should be preserved. Robinson remains as calm as he can be to explain how the Confederacy was inherently racist in their intentions and that preserving these public displays is not the history preservation the protestor thinks it is. The protestor will not hear it. He is blinded by pride of the past to ever move ahead of it, leading to Robinson admitting that he hopes something of what he has said will sink in.

For those already familiar with systemic racism in America, this presentation is mostly review. That being said, it was a strong reminder of the challenges that we face and makes for a solid refresher the next time your relatives at Thanksgiving want to make that argument about how “racism is over.” The people who want to pretend racism doesn’t exist anymore usually cite the most pathetic of examples. They use short answers like “Obama was president,” “Oprah is rich,” or the exceptionally tiresome “black people can vote now, you know.” Here, Robinson tries to provide the opposite of that emotionally simplistic response, giving the audience access to the data and the history he has unearthed. So the naysayers who will undoubtedly shriek about how racism is complicated and that you should do your own research, well, here is the research. Maybe if you want to refute it, you can do your own as well rather just spout the “do your own research” catchphrase anytime a conservative gets painted into a corner when facts contradict their feelings.

Who We Are is essential viewing on the topic of racism in America, whether you need a reminder or a crash course. It’s not a simple topic and even Robinson really only scrapes off the crucial details of this long-running issue in America. But this is a great start if you follow it up with some history and reading on the topic. What a great resource that will hopefully be used in classrooms for the subjects of American history and critical race theory.