has anyone seen american history x?

Question

has anyone seen this movie?

did it effect anyone's thinking?

it effected mine. it showed me that yes, not all black people are bad, but then in the end, the boy still was shot and killed. all for what, because he blew smoke in some dumb kids face? its never okay to murder, but why do black people murder for such stupid reasons? i know its just a movie, but its real. black people want respect, but do they deserve it? when 1 in 3 black men are in a form of the legal system? some black people are wonderful people, but the movie has changed my opinion. its right. white people came here and flourished. blacks and mexicans came here to exploit everything to their ability. it pisses me off. why should we respect people who clearly dont respect us or our country?

im not a racist, but i am observant enough to see the difference in the way black people act as opposed to white people.

throw out your opinions on this movie. anyone agree with me?

Answer 1

You obviously didn't get the REAL point of the movie. You got all caught up inthe propaganda thrown around by the characters that DOES sound very convincing. However, you can't put a label that only black people murder for stupid reasons. What about Sharon Smith, who murdered her children because they were getting in the way of a relationship? How about Charles Manson, who convinced his followers to kill for him based on his drug induced delusions about the world?

In the poor parts of every city, the "streets", which are predominantly black, its a dog eat dog world. Everyone looks out for themselves, and up and coming young black men feel the need to prove themselves to survive. Also, its these poorer areas have poorer education systems ... and many of the black students aren't encouraged to pursue higher education so they provide for themselves through selling drugs, etc ... which leads to the unfortunate deaths and incarceration of many people. Visit a school in the "ghetto" and compare it to a predominantly white school in the same state where all the kids' parents are country club members. Its not racial, its social.

White Europeans came to this country with an advantage. People of color -- including the indigenous Native Americans who inhabited this country before we did, have always been at a disadvantage. Europeans TOOK this country from them, physically killing Native Americans as well as exposing them to diseases. With those kind of people in our background, do we deserve respect as WHITE people? Based on this information, did our ancestors have respect for this country?

Black people were repressed under the LAWS of this country for a long time. Technically, black individuals were only rewarded full rights under the LAWS last century.

You should base your opinions on everyone individually, instead of stereotyping a race through generalizations. There are good and bad people of every color. For example, in the movie -- yes, the black kid murdered Danny at the end. However, Derek's black friend in prison stepped up and helped him from getting jumped. The white guys, along with Stacy, turned on Derek and wanted to see him dead just because his behavior didn't please them. Color shouldn't even be an issue. You should decide how you feel about a person based on their actions and personality ALONE.

Answer 2

I really liked American History X, as well. It showed how racism is a set of doctrines inbred into people's minds in black and white terms (notice the use of black and white film). And yet, race problems still exist even when a better understanding is achieved.

I'm not sure you really got it though. And it sounds like you're contradicting yourself about not being racist. You write that not all black people are bad, and then you question whether or not black people deserve any respect. You write that some black people are wonderful, then you write that "blacks and Mexicans came here to exploit everything to their ability." You keep contradicting yourself in a very confused way that makes me think that you really do still have a racist attitude.

Did you miss the whole point of what Norton's character learned in jail? The kind of stuff you're saying about minorities "all exploiting things" and not deserving respect was exactly what Norton's character rejects after he actually learns something about the way the world really is. The ambiguity at the end does not mean that his former racist propaganda was actually right, it means that even with a better understanding of things race relations are not easy to fix.

Answer 3

I agree with parts of what you are saying, however you are making the mistake of grouping all people of a particular race into one class. Someone made the point that the Columbine killings and other school shootings were all done by whites and she is correct. As a matter of fact the majority of serial killers are white males. Italians brought the mafia to America and organized crime is one of the Country's biggest problms. Italians are caucasian people Do black people deserve respect yes as much as any other race does. Do they as a race desrve respect as a whole entity?No and neither do whites. There is a criminal element in every race that has ever exsisted.
As far as blacks coming here to "exploit" every thing to their ability; they didn't come here they were brought here and sold as slaves. Granted their own ancestors sold them to the white slave traders but they came not by choice. Now, in saying that do I think that in this day and time that they should be getting welfare, mdicaid and govt. hand outs at 19 on 20 years old because they don't want to work anything but the system? No I do not. Am I stupid enough to believe that only blacks do this? No, I am not. I am a nurse and managed a rural hospital in south MS. I promise you there were just as many white babies born to welfare moms as their were black or mexican.
As for your statement that you are not a rascist you need to check again because you most definitely are. We are all rascist to some extent, the problem is most of us are too worried about being politically correct to be honest. Go watch the movie again and rethink some things then come back and see if you have changed any of your opinions.

Answer 4

I loved the movie. I disagree with your logic though. You really can't say that whites flourished, blacks didn't, end of story. We'd like to think that they have had an equal chance to succeed since the end of the civil war, but it's really only been since the MLK movement that they have had a real chance as a race. That's only like 40 yrs.

But I do agree withthe fact that ghetto life is horrible and a lot of people in the ghetto never really try to improve and so it just ends up looking bad for blacks as a whole, since that is who makes up most of the ghetto in America.

Don't kid yourself, you did make racist comments in your question regardless of whether you say you did or didn't. If you don't want to have respect for people like that... you can't say "blacks" say "certain blacks" or "people from every race who act that way." If you want to act PC then be PC.

Answer 5

I love that movie for the realism that it presents. Some people have critisized it for delivering so much of the message that it's condemning (and delivering it quite convincingly, at that), but it really was necessary from the standpoint of the story. And yes, there are some valid points made in the movie about the motives of many minorities, but if you'll notice, those points usually had a subtle bias to them. They never made mention of the hoards of white folks who live to exploit the system, who commit horrible crimes at the slightest provocation, and who spend their lives in perpetual states of anger and violence. Simply because that type of behaviour is more prevalent in black or hispanic ghettos, it gets more attention, and thus, people assume that that's the way it is. And, yes, it is quite often. But that's not the whole story. It's important to remember that.

Answer 6

That is the Media doing that, white people kill at the same rate as blacks, the only difference is the news media will report it top story, front page, but when it is a non black it will not be headline news, WHO are the serial killers?
They are not Black people!! Let's keep it real! All the School mass shootings like Columbine were White!

Answer 7

God is a just and fair thats why black people are where they are and white people are where they are.
Thats why the allied forces won the second world war.If japan ,Italy and germany had won the second world war there would be more human rights violations than now So much so that we would be used to it and not talk about it.

Answer 8

American History X (which I own a copy of) was a tremendous piece of education. I was deeply moved by the portrayals there, followed now by my appreciation of your respondants, who likewise are attempting to educate you.
Good luck, keep looking into the issues, something might click one day.

Answer 9

well i think we are all as bad as each other, the Americans wiped whole Indian tribes out at one point and what they did to them was horrific. yes people kill for petty reasons all the time and yes it's disgusting. give respect to people who respect you as a person in return.

Answer 10

no, i don't agree. i think all people are capable of being cruel just as they are capable of being good. and you know what? they deserve respect because they're human. color has nothing to do with their humanity.

and white people can be just as bad. violence isn't limited by color.