Race in America
'Cold Mountain' freezes out black history in Civil War

By Erik Todd Dellums
Sunday, January 4, 2004
©2004 San Francisco Chronicle

URL:
sfgate.com/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/04/EDGJG4124K1.DTL

I am an African American, professional actor, semiotician and film lover. I am, therefore,
underemployed, underappreciated and an afterthought in Hollywood. I am also a man who rarely sees
an accurate depiction of black people and American history in film and on television. It's something I've
grown used to, but now I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore!

All people who truly care about honest representations of American history in Hollywood should
boycott the heavily promoted "Cold Mountain." At a cost of $80-plus million and sporting a stellar cast
and crew, this film adaptation of Charles Frazier's acclaimed best-seller opened Christmas Day and is
being touted as the film to beat at the Academy Awards. It has generated glowing reviews for Disney,
Miramax and all involved.

It is also a sham, a slap in the face of African Americans whose ancestors gave their lives in the Civil
War, fighting for true freedom (take that, President Bush) from the most heinous form of slavery known
to modern man: the American slavery system. How could a three-hour film depicting life in the heart of
Virginia and North Carolina during the Civil War use only momentary shots of black people picking
cotton and a few black actors portraying runaway slaves as its total picture of slavery during this period?

In an article in the Washington Post, the film-makers have said that slavery and racism were simply "too
raw" an emotional issue to present in their film. In other words, who would want to see a love story with
the beautiful Jude Law and Nicole Kidman set in the reality of the Southern monstrosity of slavery?

The film opens with a depiction of one of the more important battles of the Civil War, one in which the
Union-trained black soldiers tunnel under Confederate lines -- a battle in which blacks suffered their
highest rate of casualties of any Union division in the fight. Yet, it is almost impossible to spot any black
actors fighting in this film (as three University of Virginia history professors recently noted in another Post
article). It plays like "Saving Private Ryan," another Hollywood epic in which black contributions to
history -- namely the Battle of Normandy -- are left out. Shame on you, Hollywood.

The Weinstein brothers (owners of Miramax, the distributors of "Cold Mountain") are smart, astute
businessmen with keen cinematic sensibilities. They should know better. Could you imagine "The Pianist"
or "Schindler's List" ever being made with but a few seconds of the reality of the Holocaust? Of course
not. A film with such a gross misrepresentation would never make it past page one of a screenplay! And
in reality, isn't the Holocaust, which occurred a mere two generations or so ago, emotionally "rawer"
than slavery?

Year after year, an Academy Award goes to a documentary about the Holocaust, and every year
Hollywood releases sumptuous, hauntingly beautiful films about this horrifying chapter of the 20th
century. And every year I go. Why? Because I love film. And I love the truth. But there must be some
reciprocity somewhere. I have attempted to sell stories to Hollywood -- true stories -- from our history
as black people during the years of slavery. The response from Hollywood is generally along the lines of
"I saw something like that already in 'Roots'." What an insult!

Why are we as a people always an afterthought? We must let Hollywood know that we deserve
respect. How do we? By not giving them the pleasure of our dollars. Let a boycott of "Cold Mountain"
begin our response to Hollywood: Tell our stories, tell the truth, and we will come.

Erik Todd Dellums is a Brown University graduate and actor who has appeared on TV shows such as
"Homicide," "NYPD Blue" and "The Wire" and in the films "Boycott" and "Dr. Dolittle." He is the son of
former Rep. Ronald V. Dellums, D-Oakland, and attorney Roscoe Dellums.


Herbert A. Sample
Sacramento Bee
SF Bay Area Bureau