Diving into March Book Two
It was February 1961 in Nashville, Tn and the movie playing was Cecil B Demille’s, The Ten Commandments NTS. Tennessee was a southern state during the freedom riders act against segregation.
In this scene people of color were denied the right to movie tickets at a majority white theatre to see a christian movie about the Ten Commandments. As they were refused the right to tickets they would continuously get back in line for another chance. The tactic being used by the workers of the ticket booth was derived from students in Texas. The ticket booth workers would say that they started stand ins a segregated theatre’s. After, this interaction they would march back to the end of the line to try again. When doing do some bystanders would make fun of them for marching related to civil rights march.
This scene demonstrated some of what we have been seeing in Richmond with the movements for the monuments. Individuals are being mocked for doing what they want and standing up for what they believe in. It is unfair for individuals to be denied the right to attend or do something and then get made fun of for trying. Standing up for what you believe in and continuing to try is important because one day you will make a change and even be the leader of change that other people will look up too.
People of color were denied at the ticket booth for tickets for the Ten Commandments show and I hate that it was that way. They never gave up hope to be equal. After being denied they would get back and line over and over even different days. I think that people of color never giving up gave a big statement that showed a big picture. They just wanted to be treated fairly and attend the Ten Commandments. People were even making fun of them for not giving up. I think that since they never gave up after all the times of being denied is very strong for them. I wish everyone could see the motivation that was put into this. I really hate that people of color go through things like this, but it also amazes me how much effort they put in for each other. I am Christian, but this is ridiculous. Anyone that is Christian knows that in the bible it say to love everyone. The Christians that were in the line for the show were doing the opposite. They were making fun of people of color. I believe similar things that happened back then still happen today. It is disgusting that people still treat others this way. They had to protest to be able to have a voice and it is still like that today. The black lives matter protest is just like the protest that they had back in the day. I can see having to fight just to be treated equally to become very draining. I live close to Lynchburg VA and there have been multiple black lives matter protests. In today’s society, people see protest in a bad way. Which protest itself is a good thing. It is the fact that people have to have a protest for people to actually listen. People in Lynchburg even make fun of protests for standing up for themselves.
I find it very disheartening that issues like this occurred in the first place and am especially surprised that colored people were not allowed to attend the movies to view the Ten Commandments. A movie that is supposed to demonstrate Christian Morals did the complete opposite by not allowing certain groups of people because of the color of their skin. The actions of these people displayed very anti-christian values and something that their religion would not stand for. I do not believe you can call yourself a Christian and discriminate against a population of people that were born with a different skin color.
Issues like these are still occurring nowadays all throughout the United States. People are taught to stand up for themselves, but when they do they are discouraged and judged. Like Marley said, an event like this did recently occur in Richmond, Virginia. Many people took a stand against a famous statue because they believed that it still represented racist mindsets. It took large crowds and a lot of attention to make a difference. Many people disagreed with their beliefs; however, they did not stand down and fought until their change was made.
It took the stand-ins in history to teach people that they are able to make a positive difference in this world if they work together and hold their ground on the position they feel strongly about. If there were not colored people who were brave enough to put their lives on the line to fight the oppression, then equality would not be anywhere near as achievable as it is today. This movie stand in was only one of thousands but must be known. It explains how cruel people were that they did not even allow colored Americans to explore their faith and demonstrated not only inhumane morals, but most definitely unchristian.