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The Portland O bserver
Black History Month ______________ February 15, 2012
Have You Seen ‘Red Tails’ Yet?
Film brings
respect to black
Americans
W illiam R eed
H ave you gone to
see R ed T a ils y e t?
W hen the biopic about
the heroic T uskegee
A irm en fighter pilots
opened, Sean “P. D iddy” C om bs
set the tone for A frican A m eri
cans by tw eeting: “ It’s im por
tant that we all go support Red
T ails the m ovie and go see it this
w e e k e n d !”
T he m ovie Red T ails has b e
c o m e a b lack cau se célèb re.
T he m ost expensive film ever
m ade w ith a p redom inately A f
ric a n -A m e ric a n c a st h a s re
new ed debates about w hether
“b lack film s” can succeed at
m ovie box offices. B lack s’ es
teem and posture in the m arket
place seem s at stake based on
R ed T a ils’ financial successes,
by
or lack thereof.
Red T ails w as financed by
legendary Star W ars director and
producer G eorge L ucas, w ith a
little help from his friends
O prah W infrey and T yler
P erry .
T o prom ote the m ovie,
L ucas m ak es the case
that “the deck is stacked
against” m ovies based on
th e b la c k e x p e rie n c e .
L ucas has been p utting forth
that H o lly w o o d ’s lore is that
black history is a d o w n e r and no
one w ants to see it on the big
sc ree n .
M uch adm iration should go to
Lucas for the chutzpah he ’ s shown
in prom oting Red Tails. Principal
am ong L ucas’ ploys w as telling
how difficult it was getting the film
financed and m ade. Lucas says
he began developing Red Tails
around 1988. But, because o f the
prejudices of H ollyw ood, it took
him 23-years before he w ent on
his ow n and spent $58 m illion to
produce and $35 million todistrib-
ute the film.
across the country. Receptions
The crocodile-tear line Lucas, and screenings were held in W ash
w ho has an estim ated net-worth ington by President O bam a, by
o f $3.2 billion, is using is that he Snoop D ogg in Los A ngeles, and
spent $ 100 million to bring the film in a host o f cities by T uskegee
to the world, and the w orld should A irm en chapters. W ells Fargo
beat a path to the theaters to see B ank gave L ucas “red carpet
the film and help him recoup his treatm ent” as Red T ails’ “official
financial institution sponsor.”
investment.
R ed T ails has red eem in g fea
W ith Red Tails and his “civil
rights” storyline, Lucas gave black tures and d raw s on the exploits
A m ericans the kind o f “respect” o f the 3 32nd F ig h ter G roup. It
we seek; and we intend to pay him stars C u b a G o o d in g , Jr. (p rev i
back for the gesture.
ously in T he T u sk eg ee A irm en,
The billion dollar question is an H B O m ovie m ade for telev i
how can we replicate the sam e sion) and T erren ce H ow ard.
The T uskegee A irm en were
kind o f nationw ide enthusiasm for
film s that blacks produce? L ucas’ the first black aviators in the U.S.
claim that H ollyw ood executives m ilitary. They were trained as a
refused to fund film s with an all segregated unit at Tuskegee Insti
black cast has com pelled millions tute and becam e one o f W orld
o f b lack F aceb o o k users and W ar H's m ost respected fighter
tw eeters to focus chatter and at squadrons. D espite continuing
tention tow ard supporting the racism throughout their lives, many
m ovie. L ucas’ m arketing genius becam e affluent businessm en and
m ade Red Tails a “m ust see” for com m unity leaders.
L u cas’ investm ent has as shot
black Am ericans.
Special screeningsof R edT ails o f paying off. R ed T ails opened
were hosted by prom inent blacks in 2,500 theaters, and raked in
$ 19.1 m illion its o p en in g w e ek
end. T heaters in A frican -A m eri
can m arkets did esp ecially w ell
in top g rossing th eaters in N ew
Y ork, L os A ngeles and A tlanta.
M ales m ade up 51 p ercen t o f
a u d ie n c e s, w h ile 6 6 p e rc e n t
w ere o v er the age o f 25.
As the film c o n tin u es to have
box office success am ong A fri
can -A m erican au d ien ces, it w ill
not m ean that H o lly w o o d stu
dios will sud d en ly see the light
and increase th eir investm ents
in black m o v em en ts and film s; if
anything, it w ill do m ore for
L ucas and his iconic stature than
if w ill fo r black cinem a.
Supporting black film s, art and
culture in gen eral, should be a
tenet o f the A frican -A m erican
com m unity. But, it surely w ould
be a better use o f o u r tim e and
talents to give up looking to H o l
lyw ood fo r o u r affirm ation, im
ages and definition.
William Reed is president
o f the Business Exchange
Network.
About That Education Reform J S S X
by S amuel D. H enry , E d .D.
W e w ere those cute seven
y e a r old black boys in the grainy
p h o to w h en w e m et at C ub
Scouts in the Baptist church base
m ent, and I rem em b er that both
o u r beautiful black m om s had
put V aseline on our hands so w e
w o u ld n ’t ash up.
W e d iscovered that o u r fa
thers had been teen friends: proud
young black m en w orking a d e
pression night jo b o f m opping
floors in the N avy departm ent.
W e grew up together in low er
m iddle class black W ashington
D .C., but then, in high school I
noticed a divide that led m e to a
lifelong passion for school re
form .
In high school, I w as d e sig
nated ‘g ifte d ’ in track 1; he w as
relegated to track 3; w e w ere
thrust into separate w orlds.
M y w orld had teachers w ho
w ere inspiring w ith an open-
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Patrick John Sweeney, P.C.
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd
Portland, Oregon
Portland:
Hillsoboro:
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(503) 244-2081
(503) 244-2084
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ended, creative and challenging
curriculu m that co m p elled criti
cal thinking and p articip atio n in
public life. His w as p opulated by
staid, rigid and dull teaching that
neith er cared about active learn
ing, nor invited com m unity.
E ven at 1 6 ,1 reco g n ized this
state.
T o o m any kids, especially too
m any kids o f color, are still rel
eg ated to the u nderclass o f ed u
cation, o ften tim es treated as if
w e are a d isease to be cured.
W hen you look at the d ata you
see that O regon has u nderserved
* Too many kids, especially too many
kids o f color, are still relegated to the
underclass o f education, oftentimes
treated as if we are a disease to be cured.
w as an education o f despair. It
w as w rong, it needed to change.
Fast forw ard 48-years: A fter
p a rtic ip a tin g in 11 d iffe re n t
projects o f school and hig h er
educatio n reform , m ost su ccess
ful, last fall I w en t before the
O regon L egislature, nom inated
for a seat on the O reg o n E d u ca
tion Investm ent B oard.
T he O E IB w as created b e
cause the inequities o f school
and life pro m ise that slam m ed
m y best frien d a h a lf century ago
are still ram p an t in o u r hom e
o u r students o f color, o u r poor
students, our hom eless, and those
y o u n g sters w h o learned another
language at hom e.
T he N o C h ild L eft B ehind
law p assed a d ecad e ago w as a
political and social hoax. It talked
about elim in atin g the ‘ach iev e
m ent g a p ’, but w e soon realized
that law w as ju s t a high stakes
testin g g am e w h ere o u r kids
co u ld not w in. It w as a one-w ay
test do w n a d ead end alley.
In 2012, w e still desperately
need school reform , w ith som e
honest looks at p ractices and
people that are failin g us, and
b etter u n d erstan d in g o f those
w ho are successful.
So I c a n ’t im agine a b etter
reason to sit on the O E IB , b e
cause this is not ju st the w o rk o f
the governor, although I ap p re
ciate his vision and leadership,
this is the w ork o f o u r c o m m u n i
ties and o u r com m on legacy.
Fifty years ago o u r fathers
and m others raised us to have a
sense o f duty and co n n ectio n to
o u r black co m m u n ities and to
act on b e h a lf o f o th ers in o u r
nation and beyond.
E ducation reform in O regon
is stirring and I have jo in e d o th
ers for p ositive actio n now . W e
do invite and need y o u r co n tin u
ing participation, your com m ents
and support.
Samuel Henry is a member of
the Oregon Education Invest
ment Board and the Oregon
Board o f Education, and former
chair o f the Oregon Commis
sion on Children and Families,
who works as a professor at
Portland State University.