Morgan Freeman rails against Black History Month. “It’s an insult” – Corriere.it

An insult. This is how Morgan Freeman judges both the term “African American” and the “Black History Month” (that is, the “month of black history” which is celebrated in the USA in February and in the United Kingdom in October) and for this reason he would like these two expressions disappeared from the collective jargon, as well as all other words that have to do with race. «Publicly I can say that I don’t like two things: Black History Month is an insult. Do they really want to relegate my entire story to just one month a year?», explained the 85-year-old actor in an interview with the Sunday Times for the promotion of the new film «A Good Person», before also pointing the finger at the second definition.

«Even the term “African American” is an insult – he specified – . I don’t recognize myself in this appellation. Black people have had several names up until the N-word and I don’t know how these things have such a hold, but today everyone uses “African American.” What does it really mean? Most of the black people in this part of the world are mestiza and they consider Africa as a country, when in reality it is a continent, like Europe». Unwelcome racial expressions aside, however, the film industry has changed a lot in recent years.

“Generationally we are making great strides…LGBTQ, Asian, Black, White, Interracial marriage, Interracial relationships. All represented. Now you can all see them on the screen and this is a huge step forward», admitted the winner of the Oscar for «Million dollar baby», also revealing that, as a child, he had been inspired by the vision of Sidney Poitier, even if in reality he envies his friend Denzel Washington’s career a lot «because he’s doing what I would have liked to do».