Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America

The combined impact of these scenes, augmented with Robinson’s lecture — which, while deeply informed and informative, is anything but dull or academic — makes for a powerful one-two punch.

Arriving at a time when conversations once reserved for academics have filtered into popular culture, “Who We Are” never plays like the product of some Hollywood bandwagon effort. Instead, its existence speaks to the power of cinema to reflect the times by sparking conversations and changing minds.

The simplest thing to say about Who We Are is that it should be part of the standard curriculum in every school in America.

Who We Are, a revelatory, albeit stiff documentary, anchored by Robinson’s personal anecdotes and footage of his 2018 lecture at New York City’s Town Hall Theater, uncovers startling research while surveying the country’s unimaginable racial crimes.

Robinson’s purpose here is to cut through the lies, propaganda and rhetoric and look at what all those folks so anxious to ban and even burn books are trying to cover up.

What this film does best is offer, sometimes playfully and sometimes not, new perspectives on the central problem of our shared history.

While Robinson’s lecture is thought-provoking and his living tour of that same history is illuminating, the Kunstlers don’t add much in terms of directorial vision. Robinson is an apt orator and tour guide, but the literal translation of his lecture to screen lacks life and suffers from the inherent banality that comes with watching a recording of someone – no matter how charismatic – speaking to a live audience we are not part of.

I am a successful, middle-aged, center-right-leaning-conservative white male. I found Jeff’s documentary to be compelling, educational and moving. At the time of this posting the professional critic reviews of Who We Are are very high at 89 (an incredible average score for Metacritic) while user reviews are very low at 3.8. I’ve never seen such a discrepancy on any review site, which unfortunately appears to be representative of the worsening divide in our country. With so many 0 user scores insinuating/alleging Jeff’s hate, racism and vitriol, it is clear, and sad, that so much hate, ignorance, divisiveness and racism exists - and from the very persons writing those reviews. Our country is definitely in a bad place right now. Our democracy is in jeopardy and it seems to be worsening, which is scary and potentially life-changing and life-threatening for all of us. God help us all!

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Not nearly as overtly racist as Everything's Gonna Be All White, but still in the same ballpark. The same tired leftist crap posing as anyi-racism, yet opting for the new racism. And much like the **** concept of anti-racism, it only serves to divide people rather than unite us. This is what media does these days. Under the guise of journalism or documentary filmmaking, this is another exercise in scapegoating.

A waste of time. Poor acting. A miserable and squeezed-out plot. It's a shame to shoot such a thing nowadays.

bigoted palavering victimosity of post-modernist treason This is not worth your time even if you are a simpleton like the producers