Race and culture are the main highlights of the documentary, Tongues united. It is a depiction of how black men were not only discriminated because of their skin color but also their sexual orientation. The issues raised in the film reveal how un-accommodative the society was when it came to a black gay, it was probably one of the intensive moments of such an individual as he tried to find his identity. Issues of skin and sexual orientation are beyond a person’s control, the fact that they are born and just realize the features they display are contrary to what the society prefers. This makes them to fight an emotional war of which victory lies only on expression. What they lacked was an avenue to express themselves as the society looks at their situation in a manner to suggest that they have the ability to control it (Smith, 16). The plight of a black gay in a society dominated by whites and heterosexual people reveals how selfish and self-centered people can be when it comes to culture and race. Nobody seems to empathize with the situation as pressure mounts on him or her to be like other people.
A black man in early history was considered a slave who was just there to be seen and serve and never to be heard. This is the attitude that continuously haunted the black generation even years after they were relived off their slave duties. On the other hand, being gay was something unheard of and anybody who possessed such features was to suppress them and never express himself. Having one of this features, gay and black, would have attracted some little sympathy from a section of people (Bullert, 52). However, having both of them was worse and such people were no better than prisoners were. Tongues united showcases on the challenges that a black gay had to face each day in their effort to find a place among people who considered them abnormal. Their skin color was enough to determine how they were treated by the whites, worse still, adding their sexual orientation invited resistance from even their fellow blacks.
The fact that the documentary was aired in film theaters was also considered against the norms of the society. This implied that the society needed to empathize with those who practiced the evil of homosexuality. The attitude that was displayed revealed that such people belonged to a different community that the United States will not and will never recognize (Rosenthal, 33). This left black gays with questions of where exactly they belonged. The American community was condemned of not accepting the reality of gay society more especially it was common among the blacks. The main thing that would have been negotiated was their skin color. They completely had to deny the fact that they were gay and more especially if they wanted the society to treat them as they were and accord them equal rights. This was viewed as a degradation of morals that the American society was fighting hard to maintain (Grant, 25). This intensified the discrimination that blacks were exposed to as they were branded gay.
The documentary was aimed at emphasizing on the fact that being black and gay did not make the people to be different from others (Ellis & McLane, 28). The differences they displayed did not hinder them from participating in development projects. All they required from the government was simply to recognize the fact that the American society was diversified and therefore had to be accommodative enough. What they required was protection and recognition, this would not hurt the American economy in any way or degrade the morals of the society and after all, they were all human beings who needed to express themselves freely. They were tired of living underground lives just because they could not alter their sexual orientations.
What the black gay community was advocating for was democracy which is a policy practiced in the country. It was however meaningless for the society to say they are living in democracy when a section of people has been denied the rights to express themselves (Morris, 32). The fact that they had their own challenges of having to face their different sexual feelings and finally accepting them was not an easy task. For the society to deny them their freedom and rights simply because of what they do not have control over was a tough feeling. The government had to be in the forefront to draft laws that would protect them especially after realizing that they were American citizens. This was just the beginning of a liberation war that had to be finally won. The courage that it took such men to come up in broad day light and confess their sexual orientation, a thing that was to remain underground, reveals how determined they were to find freedom. Just as the father of the black liberation movement encouraged them, this was a different course all together which they had to fight to the very end.
Works cited
Bullert, B. J. Public Television: Politics and the Battle Over Documentary Film. London: Rutgers University Press, 1997.
Ellis, Jack & McLane, Betsy. A New History of Documentary Film. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005.
Grant, Barry. Documenting the Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video. New York: Wayne State University Press, 1998.
Morris, Charles. Queering Public Address: Sexualities in American Historical Discourse. California: Univ of South Carolina Press, 2007.
Rosenthal, Alan & Corner, John. New Challenges For Documentary. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005.
Smith, Valerie. Not Just Race, Not Just Gender: Black Feminist Readings. London: Routledge, 1998.
