Manns Medium

By Ron Manns It often times appears that we only acknowledge history when it is convenient for us otherwise we pay no attention to it even when it is happening directly in front of us.   With the recent revelations of top tier politicians being captured in blackface, America’s protectors of the innocent are all up in arms claiming to care, if it wasn’t so serious, it would be laughable.   I say this because there is a history and while it was occurring in prime time very few if any complained as loud as they protest now.   Lest we forget. There was something called minstrel shows which has its roots in guess where, you got it Virginia.   These shows were a popular form of entertainment beginning in the early 19th century and featured comic skits, variety acts, and music performances, among other things, that depicted white people wearing blackface  showcasing blacks often as uneducated, lazy, superstitious, someone to laugh at and not ever to be ...

I make no claim as a movie critic nor do I attempt to play one on television but I do know a good movie when I see it and a great movie when I feel it.  Kevin Costner’s Black or White is a great movie. For those who have yet had the blessing of seeing it, Black or White is basically a story about a grandfather played by Kevin Costner who losses his daughter at child birth and later his wife in a tragic car accident.  This leaves him alone to raise his biracial granddaughter in a posh, affluent neighborhood.  The issue becomes complicated when the child’s maternal grandmother played by Octavia Spencer begins to seek to have a bigger role in the life of this child and is lead into filing for full custody with the help of her brother played by Anthony Mackie.  Now enters the father of the child played by Andre Holland who is convinced by both his mother and his uncle to take the lead and increase their chances of success. Make no mistake even with drug use, alc...