Lee Daniels Says Hollywood Should Discriminate Against White People
http://downtrend.com/71superb/lee-daniels-says-hollywood-should-discriminate-against-white-peopleMay 5, 2016| by Brian Anderson
I came across several headlines today and they all said pretty much the same thing: Lee Daniels speaks out against Hollywood racism. That particular headline is from Rolling Out, but they all read pretty much the same thing. Now here’s what odd about this: Lee Daniels is actually calling on Hollywood to discriminate against white people, so how is that him speaking out against racism? That was a rhetorical question; it’s because he is black.
Lee Daniels, if you don’t know, is a gay black film and TV writer/director/producer. He is the man behind The Butler and Empire. Pretty much everything he has done would qualify as a “black” film or show. He has no mainstream appeal and it can be argued that he only has a career because of the color of his skin. Instead of being thankful for making a handsome living off of his minority status, he has a huge problem with the industry that has made him rich, despite his lack of talent or vision.
In an Instagram post, Daniels went off on Hollywood and called for the movie industry to adopt a strict Affirmative Action policy:
“Hollywood has tendency to think that African-American directors and writers are lucky to just be working and that we should just take any scrap that’s given to us and make gold from it. No, we’re artists, just like the white artists. I’ll probably get a lot of flack from this. Change is a coming I hope,” said Daniels.
Don’t worry Lee, anything you say, no matter how racist, won’t matter because you are black and gay. That’s like having double protection against scrutiny.
“I don’t know what gives me more pleasure: watching my story unfold or going in and watching a room full of black people talking for me and writing words for black people,” he continued.
And now here is the thing that if it was said by anyone who wasn’t black, would be the most racist thing anyone every said:
“I hate white people writing for black people; it’s so offensive. So we go out and look specifically for African-American voices. Yes, it’s all about reverse racism,” said Daniels.
Try to imagine if a white Hollywood personality said he hates black people writing for white people. Actually, you don’t have to do that because it would never happen.
What Daniels has said here is that white people are not allowed to write for or even create black characters. I guess I’ll have to be the one to point out the flaw in Daniels’ premise. Hollywood is not going to suddenly transform into an all-black entertainment industry, mostly because “black” projects generally don’t make money. If Daniels is concerned that there are not enough roles for black people and forbids white people from creating black characters, he is essentially making it so there is much less work for black actors.
Despite the fact that he says whites can’t write for or direct blacks, Daniels has written for and directed white people. I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anything this guy has done, but after a little research I found out that shockingly Lee Daniels has written for and directed Kevin Bacon, Helen Mirren, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Holy crap! Those are three of the whitest people I can think of.
What Daniels is getting at here is the Hollywood equivalent of segregation. Blacks should have their own schools. Blacks should have their own bathrooms and water fountains. Blacks should have their own writers and directors. Equality isn’t achieved by separating the races and it isn’t realized by having different rules for different colored people.
