Deschutes Public Library

American denial

eng

videorecording

American denial

928732277

Originally produced by Vital Pictures in 2015

54

In his 1944 study of the 'Negro Problem' in America, Gunnar Myrdal posed a simple, disturbing question: How can Americans espouse a belief in liberty, equality and equal opportunity while enabling openly racist Jim Crow practices against black citizens? American Denial uses 'the Myrdal questiońђة to probe and expose the power of denial and unconscious bias in what some have called á ђبpost-raciaĺђة America. The filḿђةs narrative cross-cuts between past and present, between Myrdaĺђةs investigatioń ђا-and his own personal struggle with deniaĺђو and 21st century stories of racial injustice that we overlook while insisting on the preeminence of the ideals of liberty, justice and equality. The filḿђةs original artwork and photo-montage reenactments brings viewers face-to-face with racist́ ђبstop and frisḱђة practices, our incarceration crisis, and racially patterned poverty. The film introduces psychological testing that reveals white implicit bias toward African Americans, as well as African Americańђةs negative attitudes toward themselves. Historians, psychologists, sociologists and Myrdaĺђةs family members offer expert insight, but also share their own personal, unsettling stories. The result is a film that challenges our assumptions about who we are and what we really believe, while illuminating a pattern of racial oppression that we have actively recreated throughout history to the present moment́ ђو while just as actively denying its consequences

live action