Veteran actor Morgan Freeman criticised the ‘Black History Month’ for being just a month long.
During an interview with The Sunday Times, the Hollywood old hand spoke about his career and what helped him find his place as an actor.
Freeman mentioned that there were no Black characters that he could relate to,when he began his career and if there were any, they were only portrayed in a humorous way. However, when Sidney Poitier appeared on screen, it gave Freeman and others like him the inspiration that they could also pursue acting.
Freeman became a successful actor himself, winning an Oscar and starring in many movies, including Million Dollar Baby, Se7en, Driving Miss Daisy, and his latest film, A Good Person, alongside Florence Pugh.
During an interview in 2005 with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes, Freeman said he preferred to be referred to as just a man, rather than a Black man, and requested that Wallace stop calling him a Black man. Answering a question about that interview Freeman told The Sunday Times:
“Two things I can say publicly that I do not like. Black History Month is an insult. You’re going to relegate my history to a month?”
He added: “Also ‘African-American’ is an insult. I don’t subscribe to that title. Black people have had different titles all the way back to the n-word and I do not know how these things get such a grip, but everyone uses ‘African-American’. What does it really mean? Most Black people in this part of the world are mongrels. And you say Africa as if it’s a country when it’s a continent, like Europe.”
He proceeded to give an example that people would talk about Irish-Americans or Italian-Americans, but not Euro-Americans.
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