Racism movies

We all know movies which have racism as a big theme. 'American History X', 'The Great Debaters' or 'Django Unchained'.

But which movies with racism as a theme have actually changed America (or the world) in your guys opinion?
How did they do that?

Thanks for your help!

guess who's coming to dinner is supposed to be an influential one.

one of my favorite movies of all time, giant, also deals with race as a central theme. and of course chris rocks bigger and blacker if you count standup. that was hilarious

Chris Rock

Mississippi Burning is a decent film based on a true story. FBI vs KKK...

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A Time to Kill

To Kill a Mockingbird

American History X

Three great movies with racism as a major theme.

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Fear and Loathing in MoFo... The Gunslinger 45's Top 50 Favorite Films

In the 10 Ring: Gunslinger45's reviews

In the Heat of the Night

To Kill a Mockingbird

Pleasantville

Glory

Malcolm X

Do the Right Thing

Crash (2004)

The Searchers

12 Angry Men

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Thanks guys!

And are there great speeching parts in those movies that had influence? (Maybe some movie-clips?)

Clips?

Warning, Contains Strong Language and Gene Hackman with a Razor Blade.

Judgment at Nuremberg

No Way Out

The Defiant Ones

Pressure Point covers much of the same ground as The History of American X

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Samuel Fuller's White Dog is one of cinemas greatest critiques and observations into racism and what prompts it (i.e., are we born with it or is it merely a social construct)? The film uses a white dog who is trained to attack and kill black people as a platform to dissect these compelling issues. It's a masterpiece.

Crash is the only one I can think of that I've seen.

I've seen some of the movies listed by you guys and they range from good to great. Crash is not one of them. It tries too hard to push the message, with the characters seeming painted with one of two brushes, the good decent person and the bad racist person and all of a sudden the problems are resolved. I really didn't like the soliloquys one of the african american characters delivers just before he steals a car. None of the story arcs seems convincing and the whole cast seems forced into these 1 dimensional characters. Nope, Crash is the perfect example of what can go wrong when Hollywood tries to deliver a message.

I really liked it. I found the characters to be very complex, with some great performances and the message was delivered very eloquently.

Even though you already listed it... I still think Django Unchained is the most recent movie that delivers its point flawlessly.

Corrina Corrina tackled it a lil with Whoopi Goldberg but where Whoopi really tackled it well was "The Long Walk Home" not many folks remember it but I remember being shocked by it when I was younger. It's on youtube and I keep meaning to watch it again. Also stars Sissy Spacek

This really all depends on what you mean by racism. Are you talking just African-American? Do you want to throw in Latino? Native American? Asian? How about gender? Or sexual orientation? I'm guessing you're meaning African-American, so I'll go there.

One of the first well known films to deal with racism was actually horribly racist; Birth of a Nation. From a film perspective, it changed how movies were made: Panning shots, the iris, night photography. Pretty much any film technique used today owes it's look to this film. As Roger Ebert stated, it's painful and sickening to re-watch the film, but it did so much for how films are presented today, it has to be included in the pantheon of great films.

The Plot: After reconstruction, black soldiers ride into the south and stuff ballot boxes, forcing white men into submission, and demanding mixed marriages. This leads to a black man trying to force a white woman to marry him which leads to her suicide. The Ku Klux Klan forms to get revenge, blacks are lynched, and white power triumphantly returns to the south.

But racially, it changed America in the worst way: While there was overwhelming backlash against the film from most audiences, the film revitalized the Klan. Before the film, the Klan had mostly disappeared from the South. Some federal laws (which were later found unconstitutional) banned the Klan outright. Others found no need for the Klan because black suppression in the South through Jim Crow had already been established.

But the mythology that the movie created gave new vigor and interest in the Klan. Old members began to organize again, refining their methods. The white sheets that we know today were taken directly from the film. Birth of a Nation became a rallying cry for hatred, a reminder to the South about how much the North tried (and were still trying) to take over their way of life. The Klan would have disappeared if it wasn't for Birth of the Nation's glorification of it.

So there's your first racial film that actually changed the world. Would you like more?

I liked Crash. People say its not good.

Other mentioned here are all good. To Kill a Mockingbird and Missippi Burning would be my favs of all time. 12 Angry Men, is also movie on racism. But somehow i feel it just skims the topic rather than dealing with in detail. So i wont put it up there on the racism movies list. But if you are asking about lawyer/legal movies, it would up there.

Another movie, not a racist movie, but a movie based on prejudice, which i like very much is the Inherit the Wind.

Curious to know the Asian and Latino racism movies. Haven't seem much of it. When you say a "racism movie" made in Hollywood, it would almost always African American.

Django Unchained is a good one, Jamie Foxx did good!

Romper Stomper
Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood

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Mandingo does it better than Django Unchained.