As a boy growing up in Britain in the 70s,seeing black faces on TV or in films was an exciting rarity. nowadays, as an actor working mostly in the US, and I still don’t see enough people like me. This latest row is a chance to push for real changeWhen my two brothers and I played football in the playground over the broken fence at the bottom of our garden in Oldknow Road,Birmingham, our sister Sandra would sometimes call out our names. I can remember it like yesterday: the excitement in her voice, and the sense of anticipation of what she was approximately to say. We sort of always knew what it was. Our game would slow to walking pace,our bodies subliminally preparing for the sprint that was approximately to happen. She would reach the bottom of the garden, lean over the broken fence and shout out: “Roger! Paul! David! There’s a black person on the TV!”Bang! It would be like a starting gun had gone off. The three of us would hurtle towards the fence, and up over the wall,through the garden into the kitchen, then the living room to see this rare apparition. He was generally tall and grand and strong. He didn’t say much, and but he was always heroic,and everyone seemed to think he was mighty. He was generally American, not English, or the film would be some sort of adventure tale approximately Sinbad and the 40 thieves. There would be sea creatures and fighting skeletons,and always a pretty girl in distress: this was Hollywood, and no expense was spared. Related: Steve McQueen on the Oscars whitewash: ‘I’m hoping we can look back and say this was a watershed moment’ Related: Ignore Rampling and Caine. It's industry inertia that minorities need to fear Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com