I think it would have been demeaning if Sheldrake had called the shoeshine man "boy." Sheldrake was pretty cocky and flip but he was to most people.
I think racism comes in when people are held down and not allowed to advance themselves. When the young man had no choice but to be a shoeshine man or received poor education in poor schools.
In Mad Men, an African-American man come to Roger's office to shine his shoes for years.
shareHmm, should I feel troubled to see a black man doing an honest job? I don't get where you're going with this.
shareI just watched this favorite film again. The shoeshine scene didn't register with me, but I did notice in the first scene where Baxter is shown at his desk that there was a black woman dressed professionally and passing folders and papers among the workers at desks. I had never noticed her before, but there she was among many other women working at this large company.
In a subsequent scene, a black man in a suit steps off an elevator. He's also a person in the background, but treated normally. I'm not sure if this represents progress in showing that not all people working in large New York businesses were white, and black people were not confined to shining shoes for small coins.
That's the way it was.
How I felt was that I was glad that times have changed and there are opportunities for minorities, now.
How did you feel about all the women workers being in clerical or other low paid jobs? (typists, secretaries, elevator woman, floozy)
It's problematic.
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