This movie is appealing not only to a lot of racist whites but to whites in general, largely I think because the film alleviates the castigation whites have historically received for their racist treatment of blacks.
One thing I vividly remember about this movie was that shortly after its release in '84, I found myself embroiled in a debate with a white guy over racism in America. At some point during our argument while I was recounting instances of how whites had been racist to blacks, he countered by saying, "But blacks can be racist to each other." Obviously, he had just seen this movie, and because I had just seen it too, I had no choice but to agree with him and did so somewhat reluctantly.
But the message that this movie drives home--at least for me--is that racism, contrary to what many think, isn't spawned by evil, rather it is spawned by ignorance. And ignorance with respect to cultural and social issues pertaining to race, particularly the black race, is harbored not only by certain whites, but by certain blacks as well.
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