In an interview with the Daily Beast, Ken Burns was talking about the SundanceNow Doc Club. The film will spotlight re-known documentaries, with films hand-picked by film icons and experts. The conversation touched on the realities of race in America, with Burns deciding to talk about Donald Trump and how he aligned himself with a racism, even before running for president.
Burns is the mastermind behind The Central Park Five film. This movie expanded on the infamous Central Park jogger case of 1989.
This case involved false allegations of assault, rape, and sodomy committed by four black men and a Hispanic man. The group was convicted, receiving sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years.
In 2002, a Hispanic male stepped up and confessed to raping the jogger, with the DNA evidence backing his claims. In 2014, the five men were awarded $41 million.
The Media Also Contributes To The Dehumanization
Burns spotlighted the correlation between the incident and Trump’s apparent inability of being a coherent leader. During the time that the Central Park jogger case rocked the nation, Trump commissioned double, full-page ads in New York newspapers asking for the return of the death penalty for the five then-juveniles.
Trump showed his lack of judgment and his strange rush to execute these five young men before the facts were even let out. Trump even criticized the $41 million payment issued to these men who were wrongly jailed.
Burns then called Trump a super predator, citing his thirst to not only attack the men who were wrongly accused, but also his consistent attack on whole groups of people.
Burns blamed the influence of media and the internet of spreading misinformation, with people being too busy speculating and not relying on facts. It is what has allowed people like Donald Trump to come to fruition and flourish.
Republicans Keep Voting against Their Own Self-Interests
Burns also touched upon the irony of evangelicals voting for someone like Trump. Burns remarked, asking what part of Trump was Christian like. Donald Trump has made awkward comments about his daughter’s body, with comments towards Megyn Kelly being deemed as misogynistic.
Featured image by University of Mount Union on Flickr available under an Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
