Behind The Scenes Racism In Hollywood 

Prelude: We are not interested in pointing fingers at any company or individual simply because we feel the industry as a whole needs to work on this issue as a community effort. We point out these types of articles to support our position that at least subconsciously, if not by happenstance, the 

The full article is featured at FADE IN ONLINE but here is just a taste of some of the hidden realities in Hollywood regarding racism. Of course, this article does not touch on Native Americans, but it shows a pattern of bigotry inside the industry against people of color.

Article Excerpt...

Screenwriter "Hollywood's not liberal. That is such an oxymoron; such a joke. There are so many things... I don't even know where to begin, because it's so pinned up, because you have to control it. One of the things that Hollywood, along with society, has successfully done is blame the victim. You're the victim of racism, but they blame you if you say anything. You will never be able to get behind a computer again in your life.

"Hollywood is anything but liberal. I call them liberal bigots. Hollywood is filled with liberal bigots, and they use the thing of being liberal as a reason for being bigoted, for if they'd listen to themselves talk, and listen to their friends talk, they would find that they tell way too many black jokes, ethnic jokes."

Producer "No female director has ever won an Academy Award. You know why? Because no female director has made a film worthy of it. I don't feel like it's a lack of opportunity. I feel like a female director hasn't proven herself. Directing is hard for anybody who wants to get into it. There aren't that many women pursuing it. In my film school, there was probably one woman for every ten guys. Catherine Hardwicke made Thirteen, then she made two bad movies, Lords of Dogtown and The Nativity Story. Then she did Twilight and knocked it out of the park and now she's considered an A-list director. She'll be able to work again because her movie made a ton of money. There are so few opportunities that it's hard for everyone. John Singleton was at the right place at the right time with the right script. Brett Ratner came from money, had the opportunity to finance his reel, and had the personality and the contacts to make a career for himself. Look at the two parallels. Singleton went to USC, was the only black kid in his class and became a success. The only other ones who went on to become a success around that same time were Bryan Singer and James Gray, but no one else in Singleton's class went on to be successful. He had the goods and the way to make it happen. Hollywood is a very tough industry to break into, period. It's hard to get movies made in the studio system. So you can complain and claim bigotry in any industry, but it's about being able to show them that you have a product that is going to make money. There're plenty of minorities that will get hired before I do. The fact that Hollywood touts itself as liberal is ridiculous because all they care about is the bottom line and making money. They don't care about making socially conscious movies. They don't care about hiring minorities or bringing work to communities unless there's a huge tax break and it fits their bottom line. That's all they care about. And if they can hire a black person or a woman for less money who is going to do just as good a job as a high-priced white director, they'll hire that black person or woman."

Manager “Studios are always trying to be politically correct. In baseball or football, there are laws now with those sports that before anyone hires a coach, they must interview at least two African Americans. You can’t hire anyone without meeting at least two black people. In Hollywood, it’s very similar. From a corporate point of view, they try to do that.

“A couple of years ago, I sold this movie. It was a horrible movie, but there was one black guy in the movie. And every time they’d cut to him, he said, ‘Take the camera off of me. I’m just the token black guy.’ It was funny. And it was funny because it’s like an inside joke off of a joke of a joke.”

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Fade In Magazine Talks Racism in Hollywood by Latoya Peterson

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