"Kathryn Bigelow’s new movie, Detroit, dramatizes one of the bloodiest instances of civil violence in the 1960s. The film centers around what is known as the Algiers Motel incident--a horrific instance of police brutality and murder in the midst of the wider chaos that was the Detroit race riots. The film opens with an animated depiction of the Great Migration and then jumps to the police raid on an after-hours bar that sparked the five days of riots. Then it settles into the sickening scene at the Algiers Motel and Manor House, where police brutally interrogated a group of people who’d been taking shelter in the building about the possible presence of a sniper in their midst. After hours of torture, three young black men were killed. And the three policemen responsible for their deaths were later acquitted by an all white jury." Jake Blumgart wrote this in Why Detroit Erupted.
Now, I am a 21-year-old, white, Christian, heterosexual female. I have not and probably never will experience anything like the horror and discrimination that others in this country have. This movie evoked a wide array of emotions that I was not prepared to feel. My heart sank. I shed tears on multiple occasions. I felt lumps in my throat. I felt sick to my stomach. And I left the theater speechless. Not because of the blood or the violence or any of the normal things that make people sick to their stomach, but because the events that unfolded that night 50 years ago remind me of the events that are happening right now.
The timing of this movie could not be more important in my opinion. Considering the events that happened this past weekend in Charlottesville and honestly, pretty much everything that has happened since President Trump was elected, goes to show that even 50 years after these events took place, we are still having the same conversations and facing the same problems as a country.
Police Brutality. Racism. White Supremacy. The Failure of our Justice System. The Abuse of Power. The Bystander Effect. White Privilege. Affluenza.
All of these things are problems I see whenever I turn on the news. We are a country divided by hate. And the way things are going, I'm scared history is soon to repeat itself. After seeing this movie, I felt like I had to say something. I can't sit by and ignore the problems happening around me anymore. Our country is not okay.
If you see something, say something. Bystanders only give perpetrators more power. Even if you are opposed by your friends. Even if you are opposed by your family. Even if you are opposed by your government. Stand with equality. Stand with equal rights. Stand with justice. Stand with those who will stand for what is right. But more importantly, stand for those who can't stand for themselves.
