Into the Heat of the Night

Woah, you must watch this movie! I am not a big fan of old movies but Into the Heat of the Night literally was a heated movie. This movie was completely different from all of the other movies we have watched so far this year. The movie is about a murder of a rich white man in Mississippi. A “redneck” Sheriff that goes by Bill Gillespie works with Virgil Tibbs a “northerner”, to solve the mystery of this murder, and who caused the murder. This movie was so intriguing because of the mystery aspect. There were no crazy-loving dramatic scenes or slow romance parts. 

Throughout the movie, there were a few thrilling scenes that had me wondering, what is going to happen next?! My favorite character easily was Sidney Poiter playing Tibbs. It was extremely interesting how the lead role was actually played by a black male. Often especially during this era of time, blacks did not have options like this which would cause many issues with African Americans being portrayed as in “power”.

I personally liked this twist in the movie as well because in all of the other movies often African Americans were seen as slaves, less, or property. To be able to see a black man as in power was very exciting. Also, I found it entertaining how the film producers made the old white man actually take orders and learn from the black man. Often in society and especially during the filming of this movie black people were always seen as the inferior race and less. When I saw this change in roles and the relationship played between both characters put a smile on my face. 

During Into the Heat of the Night, I found it very hysterical how Virgil actually was the first person to be falsely accused and arrested for Philips Colbert's murder, the rich white man. I believe this was done by the film directors purposely because often during this time of the movie and also during modern times, African Americans are always stereotyped in situations like these. Black people are often seen as the assailant, and never the victim. So when Virgil was found as the murderer at first because he had an ample amount of money found in his wallet, I thought it was comedy because of course the film stereotyped African Americans. 

Although I found the movie to be a comedy, there were also many parts that could have been portrayed as negative. For example, just as I was talking about African Americans being stereotyped as assailants, this is still an issue today. Even though this may have been chosen as a joke throughout the film, even the jokes do not benefit blacks because people will still take things like this seriously, and this is an ongoing issue still in today's society. 

The twist in the movie of having Virgil actually being a wealthy paid detective was the best part. Having this black man play the role of a well-known homicide detective was such a great perspective for other African Americans, especially during this time period. This man was accused of being a murderer, but his reputation saved him and his “power” came into the picture. 

Overall this movie was put together very well. I really liked the different relationships portrayed alongside the humor. Into the Heat of the Night was a stepping stone for filmmaking during the late 1900s. Since this movie was made in 1967 in New York, it also had more technology and support for the overall creation which led to many other films along these concepts. Also producing a movie with this perspective in such an enormous popular city like New York, led to many positive stories being shared and positive views of blacks.

Brown v. Board Reax

Brown versus The Board of education was an extremely important stepping stone for America. This major case took place for nearly two years from December 9th, 1952, to May 17th, 1954. This was a huge part of society because this case revolved directly around education. Black students were being put in separate facilities from white students. This separation would have been a great solution if the facilities for both places were actually equal. African Americans then complained because their black children weren't receiving the same education quality as white kids. This led to a constant disadvantage for African American kids which always portrayed them as worthless.

As a result of these unequal facilities, blacks and whites were put into the same educational facilities once more. However white children and their parents would both complain that their children could not function with a different skin race in the same room as them. 

I found it absurd how even these children were falling into the same social norms as their parents. It was shocking to hear how even children were so disgusted to be in the same room as a black child. These kids were literally being raised in a negative environment against black people. So how is racism supported to end or how are blacks supposed to be seen even if the cycle keeps continuing? 

It was very interesting to hear many different perspectives and concepts from each of the speakers throughout the trial. One specific point of view I really liked was about economics. This case and economics directly correlate. A point made was how much money would be saved economically. If America has to continue to build separate schools, buildings, classrooms, etc, then we are going to go broke. This was an extremely well-made point, which led to the question of what about all the jobs then? The jobs would not change. The same amount of people will be employed, however, the overall concept will just divide kids up into equal amounts per school and facility. 

At the end of the day, this case was ruled unconstitutional even if segregated schools were separate but “equal”. It was crazy to think how at a time there were literally completely separate schools and buildings. This was a major issue in society especially at that time because African Americans no matter what could not be seen as equal. Since these kids never got the same equal education as the white kids this prevented them from growing. 

Another point made by a student presenting was how many black and white women created many important items we used to this day. For example, some things mentioned were traffic lights, frozen trucks, and cutting equipment. These African Americans created and improved all of these things with minimum education. What could these blacks do with the same level of education as whites? Do you think the whites were scared blacks would gain too much power? 

If this case never occurred things would be extremely different right now. Since the Browns won the case in a unanimous 9-0 decision this was huge. This signed the official end of legalized racial segregation in the schools of the United States. This overruled the “separate but equal” principle that was put forth in the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case. To further explain what occurred in this other case, my previous blogs cover all the material. Click this link to compare the Plessy v. Furgeson case to the Brown v. Board case. 

Reconstruction Era

The Reconstruction Act of 1867 cut the South into five military districts that were controlled by the army. During this time Andrew Johnson was president. The President granted many pardons to Confederate leaders. The Reconstruction Era expanded many franchises, evolved the relationship between states and the federal government, and underlined key differences between economic and political democracy. This time period allowed for the United States to be unified as a nation, and led to other states making constitutions, and evolving into the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. 

During the Reconstruction Era, African Americans thrived. Black people were finally able to be considered human, citizens, and “African Americans”. These newly freed slaves were becoming people once more. Black people felt as if they were released from a death collar around their necks. Dark-skinned people were able to grow, advance, and thrive more than they have ever before with their new “citizenship”. 

There were many factors, people, and other concepts that still tried to put African Americans back into their cages. However black people did not let these factors collide with their goals and progress as new citizens. It took extremely long for the idea of returning to the old south to fade away to a minimum. A huge part of blacks gaining citizenship was because of “scalawags”. Scalawags were known as white Southerners who joined the Republican Party and promoted Reconstruction. 

Since African Americans had much more privileges than before, this also led to many upcoming issues regarding congress. The number of black MEN(women had little say still) in congress amplified throughout the Reconstruction era. The first black male in congress was Hiram Rhodes Revels. He was elected in 1870 and won 81 to 15 in the Mississippi legislature. It was a shock finding this out because Mississippi is known to be very Southern. With more and more African Americans in more powerful positions, this was seen as a safeguard and shield for black people. Blacks seemed to be able to get their voice, ideas, and concepts heard more thoroughly with their own kind of representatives in congress. 

Although African Americans now had much more power, there were many factors that were against blacks still. Many people wanted blacks to crawl back into their holes and be sacred once more. As a result of blacks sticking up for themselves, this gave motive to the Ku Klux Klan(KKK). The KKK was designed by mainly southerners to repress all African Americans. The KKK as in result would haze, assault, murder, rape, blackmail, tar/feather, and public harassment. Often the klan would try to intimidate powerful black politicians, businessmen, etc so they could give up their power to racist whites.

Over a long period of time, the South eventually got what it wanted again. The South wanted to revert to their old ways, with more control and power. The South was able to subdue African Americans out of power like in congress and voting by threatening them at the polls so they could not vote for non-KKK members. 

Throughout this time African Americans took advantage of every opportunity given. Blacks did not wait for the KKK to attack them, they acted swiftly and accordingly. They were able to open churches, businesses, farms, stores, etc. A huge stepping stone for African Americans was the opening of colleges eventually. This rise led to many great advancements in the future. This led to the foundation of concepts like HBCUs, UNCF, and NAACP. These three organizations are covered earlier in my blogs as well for further information click this.

EOTO#3 NAACP/UNCF

Could you tell me what UNCF means? I could not tell you what it stood for until the other day. This is an issue. Could you tell me why this organization was created, who, why, when, and how? This company has been around for nearly a century, founded on April 25th, 1944, and is a mystery to the majority of the population. UNCF stands for United Negro College Fund.

UNCF was created for a reason. This organization gave opportunities to African Americans that are just as equal to white people. This company invests in better futures for African Americans students. This company invests in better futures for African American communities. This company invests in better futures for blacks nationwide. These are just some of the major focuses of this organization, not including all their other actions. 

This organization works with 37 members of historically black colleges/universities throughout the nation. These colleges are known as “HBCUs”. These historically black colleges/universities supply students with enough care to be stabilized in the 21st-century highly demanding economy. UNCF works directly along with HBCUs to provide black students with the college education needed to be just as successful as the “white man”.

HBCUs have been around longer than UNCF, dating way back to February 25th, 1837. The Cheyney University of Pennsylvania became the nation's first HBCUs. UNCF organization partnered directly with HBCUs because of their reputation, representation, and purpose. These two have collaborated to allow for the best outcome for African Americans. This allows blacks to be able to have the same opportunities as any other citizen. This has promoted the overall representation of African Americans in the world because blacks are not able to compete with any other race. They are provided the same resources, allowing for growth. 

Another organization that is known to be the oldest and biggest civil rights association is the NAACP. The NAACP is known as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. This organization was founded in 1909. It was created in New York City, by both white and black activists. The association is known to operate to destroy inequality, racism, discrimination, and prejudice concepts. The organization also works to boost health care, education, climate, lower criminal activity, apprehend a fair justice system, and overall level the economy so it does not crash.

This organization has proven to have one of the most

consistent results regarding social justice and civil rights. The company functions serving minority groups, allowing for political and educational equality for all minority citizens. During the company's time, they have prosperously patronized the movement of landmark legislation, which includes the Civil Rights Act of 1964(no racism based on color, religion, sex, etc). Also, this company played a huge role in the Voting Rights Act of 1965(allowing colors to vote with no discrimination). 

The NAACP has gone against many big cases throughout the group's time. The group worked against the 1910 ruling of the “grandfather clause”. The group went against the ruling and challenged the other side, leading to a victory 5 years later in 1915, in Guinn v. U.S. The NAACP has helped with many well-known cases like The March on Washington, Brown v. Board of Education, etc. The NAACP has grown from 60 members in 1909, to 100 thousand members in 1920, to nearly 300,000 currently. The organization's founding members include Walling, Mary White Ovington, and Henry Moskowitz. These famous individuals are known as the “nucleus” of the NAACP.

There are ample organizations in our world today, and these few are many of the major ones. These companies are not only designed for African Americans but for other goals as well. These groups have been around for longer than any of us have been alive. These organizations have grown enormously over time, and are still growing. If you are someone interested in supporting African Americans, BLM, and other justified causes this is a great place to start. Here are a few links to get you to start and get your mind thinking!

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