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Glory

A few days ago in my seminar class, we watched a movie called "Glory". "Glory" depicts the story of the 54th Infantry Regiment in Massachusetts during the American Civil War. It shows the difficult and at times, uncomfortable story of the transition from slave to soldier. The men may have freed themselves from slavery, but they have yet to be free from the stigma that slavery created around them. 

This movie was packed with tons of significant moments but I think my favorite was when Robert Shaw (played by Matthew Broderick) decided to take matters into his own hands when acquiring supplies for his soldiers. The men were denied basic attire like socks, shoes, and military uniforms due to the racial discrimination that they were still facing. Shaw wouldn't stand for it anymore and went to talk to the man in charge of attire. I think this is a great representation of what white people need to be doing in America right now. They need to use their privilege to uplift and guide the voices of black people. I think a lot of people get confused when talking about white privilege, and some start to develop a "white savior" complex. Our job as non-black people is not to fight FOR black people, but to stand side-by-side and fight WITH black people. I think this movie does a good job of displaying both. 

When talking about race in America, and that's something America is talking about now more then ever, I think this movie is an important resource to utilize. It shows the good AND the bad parts of humanity during this period of time. We can connect this to something that we learned about in class TODAY- the marketplace of ideas- in order for the marketplace of ideas to work and flow freely, we must have the good and the bad. 


'Glory' returns to cinemas this July

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