i saw the documentary called louis & the nazis, louis theroux basically spent a number of months around self confessed racists in california and talked to them about their prejudices and so forth. basically they said that its the PC world that is wrong and they are right and know the truth about the world... anyone else a little scared? oh and im not sure if they mention it, but the woman refuses to send her kids to school and teaches them at home.. wonder why eh? heres a couple links to descriptions of the programme
yeah, it was interesting anyway, i think the guardian sums it up in saying about how louis reacted, normally he is pretty cool about most things, but he genuinely looked despairing towards the end... the woman came out said that she knows whats going on in the world and despite the rest of the world disagreeing she is right. he didnt exactly make an impact, but it was informative. an odd thing was though that they went to mexico and this "most dangerous racist" guy was really concerned about his own safety, yet actually noone seemed to give a shit what he was doing.. and then his own 'security guard' is chatting up his chicita and talking to the camera about how he is going to marry her... weird as hell these racists.
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Lamia1
I'm lost
October 2003
DEC 25, 2003 04:19 AM
it sounds like an interesting documentary - thanks for the heads up. i do research for a local organization educating about hate crime, and i'm sure they'll want to know about this film. from the descriptions in the links you gave, it sounds like the families and individuals louis interviewed are indicative of the more extreme end of contemporary racist movements -- the ones more apt to get a theme show on jerry springer, primarily because they are outspoken.
these people are not the ones to be scared of. since they are outspoken, it's easy to make a wide perimeter around them and keep your distance. they're apt to do that anyway, such as the woman who homeschools her kids to keep them away from public school. militant racist families tend to isolate themselves from the world so you don't have to deal with them much. i think the ones to be scared of are the 'upright citizens' who will never tell you (or even themselves) that they have versions of the same prejudices. being blind to one's own prejudices or silently condoning discrimination in one form or another can be more destructive in the long-term than the loud public displays of klan members marching down main street with pointy hoods on. i'd worry about landlords quietly discriminating against minorities applying for housing, or the disproportionate numbers of cops patrolling minority neighborhoods, or sales clerks who follow black girls around the store waiting for them to steal something. these are the scary racists, imho.
obijonk
United Kingdom
May 2003
DEC 24, 2003 03:31 PM