{"id":965,"date":"2020-05-14T16:26:38","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T16:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/?p=965"},"modified":"2020-05-14T16:28:28","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T16:28:28","slug":"965","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/","title":{"rendered":"“Green Book” and The Deep South"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Green Book<\/em> is an award-winning film, it was nominated for five awards, winning three for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor. The film was very well received and the success it had was not expected when it was under creation. The film is based on a true\u00a0story and it focuses on an odd friendship between Tony Vallelonga, an Italian-American, and Dr. Don Shirley, a famous black-American musician. The film reveals significant experiences African-American had lived previously throughout <\/span>times.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the film was well received and recognized among the general public and cinematic critics, there are some concerns regarding the film\u2019s accuracy on what was real or just fictional. For example, viewers and critics have referred to it as a \u201cwhite savior film\u201d because its focus relies too heavily on the relationship between the main characters – a Black<\/span>\u00a0man, Doctor Don Shirley, and his white driver and gives very little importance to the racism of that time. The name of the film stems from a book, <\/span>The Negro Motorist Green Book<\/em>, it was first published in 1936 to assist black motorists in finding safe areas for their passage during the violent period of Jim Crow, as Micheal Ra-Shon Hall puts it \u201cThe Green Book aided African-American travellers during the Jim Crow era in US cultural history, defined by a legal regime that fostered racial intimidation and physical violence towards African-Americans\u201d, The Negro traveller\u2019s guide to a Jim Crow South: negotiation racialized landscapes during a dark period in United States Cultural History, 1936-1967, Postcolonial Studies, 17, 307-319. It was an important document for black travelers and was a guide to where they could or could not travel. Up until 1966, it was published annually with more than 2 million copies sold over the years it was available. The content of this book would vary from beauty shops, sanatoriums, drug stores, haberdashers, liquor stores, night clubs, and gas stations where black people were welcomed. Such a document was vital for the two travelers, Shirley and Tony, but in the movie, only Tony manages the book to find places to rest, and some critics assert that there were many higher-end hotels they could have stayed in and would accommodate the refined taste of the musician. This brings us to an incident during th<\/span>eir journey. They got pulled over by the police during a rainy night and in a \u201csundown town\u201d in Mississippi. A sundown town is all-white municipalities or neighborhoods that practiced a form of segregation, by having a combination of discriminatory local laws, intimidation, or violence against non-whites. During this encounter, Tony trying not to create problems said, \u201cWe\u2019re not from around here\u201d and after some short sentences were exchanged the police officer, confused asked, \u201cNo you ain\u2019t. So I\u2019m gonna ask you again\u2026 what the hell you doin\u2019 out here? And why you driving him? He can\u2019t be out here at night. This is a sundown town.\u201d To give some context, the officer first asked Tony why they were in that area and why was a white man driving a black man, and Tony said he was his boss. The officer couldn\u2019t pronounce Tony\u2019s last name, Vallelonge so Tony explained it was Italian to which the officer simply responded \u201cOh I see. That\u2019s why you are driving him around. You\u2019re half a nigger yourself.\u201d. Such behavior is a good understanding of how white society viewed other ethnicities, an<\/span>d the word used has a very deep significance in black history and is most offensive. The criticism was that sundown towns were rare in Mississippi and more common in northern and western regions, \u201cFor example, Mississippi has no more than six. Most sundown towns are in western and eastern areas of the United States. Illinois has over 400 sundown towns.\u201d Book review <\/span>Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism<\/em> by James W. Loewen. One difference highlighted by the critics after contacting Shirley\u2019s family was that their trip only took around two months while on the film it took several months – in the end, the pair rushed to come home for Christmas Eve. Also, there are some uncertainties around the friendship between the two main characters. Don Shirley said during an interview both were close friends after the tour but according to his brother, Don never mentioned anything about their close relationship. He shared that it was all just an employee-employer relationship. Despite the nature of the relationship was to first guarantee the safety of Dr. Shirley, meaning the relationship was merely professional.<\/span><\/p>\n

The movie although being criticized for putting the racism felt by Dr. Shirley in a politely and lightly manner the reality was many people experienced similarities to what the Doctor went through and those matters were not explained properly in the film, these vital concepts are only understood by someone that lived through something similar or has a notion of such situations, others may look at it and do not see any issues betrayed in the scenes. One good example was when Tony looked at a suit presented on a show window asked to try it on, the seller was more than welcome to give the suit, but as soon as he understood the suit was for Dr. Shirley to try he stopped him by saying he was not allowed to try on the suit but if he purchased it first they \u201cwould be happy to tailor it to your needs.\u201d Despite all of this, two scenes show how well this duo was unwelcomed and odd for people of the south the first was the moment when the car broke down in front of a field with black people working under the sun and Tony had to fix the engine problem, the workers were so perplexed to see another black dressed in a suit while a white person was fixing the car and opening the car door they just stopped working and stared. This represented how unlikely such an event was. It was as if the workers were only dream<\/span>ing or their eyes were fooling them. The second was during a performance at a plantation house. Dr. Shirley had to excuse himself for a moment to look for \u201cthe commode\u201d and was stopped by the house owner to not use the one inside but rather another one outside. This one was a rather small wooden toilet used by enslaved people owned by the homeowner, this \u201chelp\u201d was politely declined by Doctor Shirley and he threatened to use the facilities in the motel but it would take a long time to drive both ways. Surprisingly his response was \u201cwe don\u2019t mind waiting.\u201d Dr. Shirley experience thought the south was his own making, he could have stayed in New York receiving the usual payload for his work but he requested to do gigs in the South for a third of the value to send a message for the white south, at the time was common for a black artist to struggle compared to a white artist, as the book <\/span>Freedom on My Mind<\/em> describes on Chapter 11 \u201cAlthough future Hall of Famers such as Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige were revered for their skills in black America, where regional leagues were a major source of entertainment, bl<\/span>ack ballplayers wanted a chance to compete with white players and earn similar salaries.\u201d (page 460).<\/span><\/p>\n

Once again, in 1962 when the film takes place the dominant society still deeply believed in a difference between black-American and white-American, especially in the south, and those beliefs can easily be seen in the film Green Book<\/em> among others. Such beliefs were so rooted in the culture in these communities and this has its roots in black enslavement. The culture was to enslave black people and it stayed that way for more than 200 years. Change is difficult but we could see Dr. Don Shirley attempts to change something in the mindset of the white south by accepting gigs and insisting on being treated with dignity. The past affects the present and the future, so we need to understand the past to embrace the present and change the future for a better one. This is relevant to understand the history of black Americans.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bibliography<\/p>\n

https:\/\/time.com\/5527806\/green-book-movie-c<\/a>ontroversy\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.politifact.com\/article\/2019\/feb\/07\/green-book-oscars-fact-check-true\/<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/2018\/12\/truth-about-green-book-viggo-mortensen-mahershala-ali<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/sci-hub.tw\/10.1080\/13688790.2014.987898<\/a><\/p>\n

Hall, M. R.-S. (2014). The negro traveller\u2019s guide to a Jim Crow South: negotiating racialized landscapes during a dark period in United States cultural history, 1936\u20131967. Postcolonial Studies, 17(3), 307\u2013319.<\/em><\/p>\n

Freedom on My Mind, <\/em>Deborah Gray White; Mia Bay; Waldo E. Martin, Jr.<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/search.proquest.com\/openview\/4c0b1a9c5b1c46c13284a5851d7c28ea\/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=46710<\/em><\/a> – <\/u><\/em>Book review Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism<\/em> by James W. Loewen<\/p>\n

Green book, Peter Farrelly-Peter Farrelly-Peter Farrelly-Jim Burke-Charles Wessler-Brian Currie-Brian Currie-Nick Vallelonga-Nick Vallelonga – Universal Pictures – 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Green Book is an award-winning film, it was nominated for five awards, winning three for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor. The film was very well received and the success it had was not expected when it Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1054,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[130536,130538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-black-san-diegan-history","category-film-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\n"Green Book" and The Deep South - Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Green Book" and The Deep South - Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Green Book is an award-winning film, it was nominated for five awards, winning three for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor. The film was very well received and the success it had was not expected when it Continue reading →\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-14T16:26:38+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-14T16:28:28+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book-300x129.png\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"“Green Book” and The Deep South\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-14T16:26:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-14T16:28:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/\"},\"wordCount\":1497,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book-300x129.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Black San Diegan History\",\"Film Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Green Book\\\" and The Deep South - Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book-300x129.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-14T16:26:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-14T16:28:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book.png\",\"width\":780,\"height\":336},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Green Book” and The Deep South\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/\",\"name\":\"Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego\",\"description\":\"Remembrances, Discussion, and Analysis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Green Book\" and The Deep South - Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Green Book\" and The Deep South - Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego","og_description":"Green Book is an award-winning film, it was nominated for five awards, winning three for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor. The film was very well received and the success it had was not expected when it Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/","og_site_name":"Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego","article_published_time":"2020-05-14T16:26:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-14T16:28:28+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book-300x129.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"“Green Book” and The Deep South","datePublished":"2020-05-14T16:26:38+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-14T16:28:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/"},"wordCount":1497,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book-300x129.png","articleSection":["Black San Diegan History","Film Reviews"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/","name":"\"Green Book\" and The Deep South - Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book-300x129.png","datePublished":"2020-05-14T16:26:38+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-14T16:28:28+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/files\/2020\/05\/Green-Book.png","width":780,"height":336},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/2020\/05\/14\/965\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Green Book” and The Deep South"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/","name":"Studies of Black History at the University of San Diego","description":"Remembrances, Discussion, and Analysis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1054"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":972,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965\/revisions\/972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/blackhistoryatusd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}