Black like who? [electronic resource] / directed by Debbie Reynolds ; produced by USC School of Cinema & Television.

Black like who? [electronic resource] / directed by Debbie Reynolds ; produced by USC School of Cinema & Television.

New York, NY : Filmakers Library, 1997.

English

This edition in English.

1 online resource (26 min.).

In this painfully honest documentary, filmmaker Debbie Reynolds explores themes of assimilation, internalized racism and self hatred. Debbie is a black student who grew up in a white neighborhood, went to white schools, had white friends, and did not think about being black. As she grew older and left home, her new friends at college noticed her inability to relate easily to other blacks. Debbie realized she had a troubling identity problem and she searched for its origins within her family. Interviewing her parents, she learns that her father's middle class aspirations led him to a tidy white suburb, safe from drugs and crime. Yet he recalls his amazement when six-year-old Debbie did not realize she was black. In retrospect, her mother mourns that they did not instill black pride in their children. Debbie questions her fellow black students about what it means to be black. "We are all searching," they say. Even those who grew up with a strong black identity are still not clear how they fit into the larger society. They each struggle to understand how their race and ethnicity shape their sense of self. This is a unique film to spark discussion on racial identity.

Title from resource description page (viewed May 24, 2011).

For High School; College; Adult audiences.

Previously released as DVD.

Black studies in video

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