The Butler and Freedom Riders

Last night I watched DVD of The Butler, who served all Presidents from Eisenhower to Regan. It is the story of an African America, a Nigger, a Negro, all these in the course of his life, who having witnessed as a child his mother being raped and his father being shot point blank with impunity by the owner of the cotton plantation he worked on, became part of the White House staff and at time confidant of Presidents. He saw the changes of African Americans in his lifetime from virtually slaves to the election of a black President. And this was largely due to the efforts of the Freedom Riders who were arrested and beaten protesting against segregation and discrimination, and the Black Panthers, who resorted to violence to achieve their aims to gain equal rights and opportunities for blacks. It is also the story of a middle class family, and a father and son story, the father believed that the right course of action is to keep your head down and not rock the boat, while the son, with educational opportunities denied to his father, joined the Freedom Riders and the Black Panther. Superlative acting by Forest Whittaker, and great film making.