Alan Parker's Mississippi Burning and the origins of racism

Mississippi Burning is an evocative movie that arouses horror over racial hatred. In fact, Director Alan Parker, in an interview, stated that the film's objective was precisely to "...cause them to react...because of the racism that's around them now..." (King, 1988, para.7). Parker does this by questioning the origins of the hatred through the characters in the film. Ward, the by the book FBI agent, expresses it eloquently when he wonders, "Where does it come from, all this hatred?" (Mississippi Burning)

One clear implication made by the film is that racism is perpetuated by the ignorant, as evidenced by its depiction of rednecks who, blindly adopting the racist attitude of their forefathers, resort to violence to keep the black community repressed: "These people crawled out of the sewers, Mr. Ward....' Gerolmo attempts a quick-fix enlightenment, blaming poverty and superstition....' (Kempley, 1988. para. 6,10.)

The film further traces the origins of prejudice in cowardice and insecurity: "Pell's wife...taken a lot...self-hating racist, who needs a gun on his belt...hood over his head...gather the courage.... We can see how sexy their hatred feels to the racists...compensates for their sense of worthlessness." (Ebert, 1988. para. 5,10.) While the movie focuses on the ignorant and cowardly, intimidating tactics of the masses, it by no means excuses the educated and the powerful who played their part in supporting the Klan. Take, for instance, the judge's ruling of suspended sentences for beating a black man on the grounds that the crime was provoked by outside influences.