Many Americans, even those who didn’t support Sen. Barack Obama’s policies, welcomed the sight of a black president in 2008 as a sign of racial progress.
The director of Lee Daniels’ The Butler insists that election showed the country’s “true colors”–we’re still a racist nation. And it’s gotten worse since Obama first took office.
Daniels, speaking with the low-rated Piers Morgan on CNN Monday night, gave this answer when asked if the country had become more or less racist since Obama’s 2008 election victory.
I think that people are angry that he’s president, and I think that they’re showing their true colors. And I think that – I think that, you know, when Danny Strong wrote those words, “Any black man can be killed by any white man and get away with it,” Trayvon Martin had not happened. I end the movie with hope, you know. He’s walking down and Obama’s giving that famous speech, you know? And then I come out of my edit room and Trayvon Martin has happened. So yeah, I think so – sadly I think so.
The Butler co-star, singer/actor Lenny Kravitz, echoed some of his director’s sentiments on the matter.
… there are people – when you move forward, there are always going to be people that don’t want to go that way, they don’t want to buy into that. They want to hold onto their traditions and their beliefs and the way they were raised. And therefore you have a lot of people that are fighting back and showing their true colors, as Lee said.
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