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December 19, 2005
What if they had a racial holiday and no one gave a damn?
I was watching 60 Minutes the other night (a rare event, trust me), mainly because I had caught a commercial promoting an upcoming interview with one of my favorite actors, Morgan Freeman.
The interview featured this exchange.
MIKE WALLACE: Black History Month, you find...
MORGAN FREEMAN: Ridiculous.
WALLACE: Why?
FREEMAN: You're going to relegate my history to a month?
WALLACE: Oh, come on.
FREEMAN: What do you do with yours? Which month is White History Month? Come on. Tell me.
WALLACE: Well, I'm Jewish.
FREEMAN: OK. Which month is Jewish History Month?
WALLACE: There isn't one.
FREEMAN: Oh, oh. Why not?
WALLACE: Yes.
FREEMAN: You want one?
WALLACE: No, no.
FREEMAN: Right. I don't either. I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.
WALLACE: How are we going to get rid of racism...
FREEMAN: Stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man.
WALLACE: Yes.
FREEMAN: And I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. You don't say, "This white guy named Mike Wallace." You know what I'm saying?
WALLACE: Uh-huh.
I was almost as flabberghasted as Mike Wallace, although I'd be willing to bet that I enjoyed the interview a helluva lot more than the 87-year-old Roosevelt-era liberal journalist.
More than thirty years in Hollywood and Freeman's managed to hold on to some inner sense of right and wrong, rejecting the orthodoxy of the film industry left. Interesting how someone who holds true to the Rev. Martin Luther King's dream that someday men will be judged by the content of their character, rather than the color of their skin is seen as an apostate, a radical.
Sad, but thrilling and inspiring, too.
Posted by Mike Lief at December 19, 2005 10:38 PM
Comments
Brilliant! I am sorry I missed it. The only time I have watched 60 minutes in years is when I heard that Howard Stern was going to be on. Shows you my mentality.
Finally, a celebrity that said something intelligent.
Posted by: Thin Ice at December 20, 2005 10:57 AM
I had the same sentiment (and blogged about it here. Thanks for the post.
Posted by: emaw_kc at December 20, 2005 01:42 PM