Let’s Watch a Disney Channel Movie

Last semester I took “The Global Color Line,” a history class comparing race realities in South Africa and the United States and finding connections between the black freedom struggles in both nations. Our final paper had to tie together South Africa and the United States but otherwise was ours to create. As I am a big fan of media, I wanted to look at American films addressing apartheid, and a friend reminded me of the Disney channel movie “The Color of Friendship.” For those of you who missed this film, it’s set during apartheid and focuses on a South African exchange student who arrives in the United States, and drama ensues when the African-American host family realizes their guest is actually a White South African whose father is a police officer. While I ended up writing my paper on a different topic, I was so excited to remember that a film I watched years ago was coming back to be a part of my college experience. Last night I turned on my television only to discover that “The Color of Friendship” was playing. Reading assignments forgotten, I watched the end of the film and it was an incredible experience to suddenly understand so much more of the politics the film was trying to address. Even when I am not trying to, my academics are always finding ways into my everyday life, and I love it!