In 1923 in the state of Florida a black town, Rosewood, was burnt down to ashes. Rosewood was a place that the blacks owned and paid taxes on; it was a place that they called home. It was burnt down all because of a lie made by a white woman saying she was raped by a black man, or in her words a "nigger". Although that is the supposed reason that the white men started harassing and killing the blacks, we all can see that it was because of racism.
             Many forms of racism are shown throughout the movie through words and actions made by the whites and blacks against each other. The blacks were called "niggers" by the whites, and the whites were called "crackers" by the blacks.
             The father of the young white boy is a very racist man in this film. He wanted his son to be just like him and not play with the little black boy Arnett. The father stated, "I don't want you hanging around with that boy, he is a nigger". The second racist act that stood out was when Sylvester confronted Mr. Andrews about whistling at his cousin Scrappie, a young seventeen year old black girl. In the scene he went to the white side of town with a gun on his shoulder and said, "We don't mess with your people, so don't mess with mine".
             We are shown later on in the scene where the married white woman, Fanny Taylor, accused a black man of beating and raping her when really she was cheating on her husband with another white man, how racist the whites are. The mob sprung up quickly after she cried wolf. Now if it was the other way around then it wouldn't have been solved at all because the blacks aren't superior to the whites. The black woman probably would have been shot or hung for saying such a thing against a white person.
             Aunt Sarah, an elder black woman, that worked for Fanny saw and heard everything that had happened, but didn't say anything to protect her people....