Highest-Rated Movies about 'Racial Segregation'

The Help (2011), A Raisin in the Sun (1961), Mississippi Burning (1988), 4 Little Girls (1997), Malcolm X (1992), Selma (2014), 42 (2013), Coming Out Under Fire (1994) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Racial Segregation movies.

#1. The Help (2011)

Storyline: Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends' lives -- and a Mississippi town -- upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Davis), Skeeter's best friend's housekeeper, is the first to open up -- to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter's life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories -- and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly -- and unwillingly -- caught up in the changing times.

Plot Keywords: 1960s, maid, newspaper columnist, writer, racism, friend, racial issues ...

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#2. A Raisin in the Sun (1961)

Storyline: Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall...—Greg Bruno <burlynerd@usa.net>

Plot Keywords: african american, poverty, chicago illinois, based on play, dysfunctional family, segregation, gay slur ...

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#3. Mississippi Burning (1988)

Storyline: Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his former Sheriff partner.

Plot Keywords: 1960s, based on true story, southern u.s., deep south, ku klux klan, small town, investigation ...

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#4. 4 Little Girls (1997)

Storyline: This film recounts the people and events leading up to the one of the most despicable hate-crimes during the height of the civil-rights movement, the bombing of the 16th Street Church in Birmingham, Alabama. In that attack, four little African-American girls lost their lives and a nation was simultaneously revolted, angered and galvanized to push the fight for equality and justice on.—Kenneth Chisholm <kchishol@execulink.com>

Plot Keywords: despair, race relations, childhood memory, faith, racism, family relationships, racial tension ...

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#5. Malcolm X (1992)

Storyline: Biograpical epic of Malcolm X, the legendary African American leader. Born Malcolm Little, his father (a Garveyite Baptist minister) was killed by the Ku Klux Klan. Malcolm became a gangster, and while in jail discovered the Nation of Islam writings of Elijah Muhammad. He preaches the teachings when let out of jail, but later on goes on a pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, there he converts to the original Islamic religion and becomes a Sunni Muslim and changes his name to El-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz. He is assassinated on February 21, 1965 and dies a Muslim martyr.

Plot Keywords: islam, african american, cult film, blaxploitation, based on autobiography, assassination, racism ...

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#6. Selma (2014)

Storyline: The unforgettable true story chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement. Director Ava DuVernay's "Selma" tells the story of how the revered leader and visionary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and his brothers and sisters in the movement prompted change that forever altered history.

Plot Keywords: civil rights, bechdel test passed, revisionist history, courage, protest, black american, u.s. history ...

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#7. 42 (2013)

Storyline: In 1946, Jackie Robinson is a Negro League baseball player who never takes racism lying down. Branch Rickey is a Major League team executive with a bold idea. To that end, Rickey recruits Robinson to break the unspoken color line as the first modern African American Major League player. As both anticipate, this proves a major challenge for Robinson and his family as they endure unrelenting racist hostility on and off the field, from player and fan alike. As Jackie struggles against his nature to endure such abuse without complaint, he finds allies and hope where he least expects it.

Plot Keywords: reading a newspaper, reporter, car radio, chrysler building manhattan new york city, empire state building manhattan new york city, public address system, guilt ...

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#9. Babylon (1980)

Storyline: Babylon follows the story of David, a working class musician and black man in South West London. By day he works as a mechanic, at night David is a Mic controller at a local dance hall. The film centres around the racial divide of London in the 80s, the lack of opportunities available to black people and poverty. David loses his job, gets beaten up and charged by the police, forcing him to go on the run. Then breaking up with his girlfriend, all of his frustrations culminate in the stabbing of a racist neighbour.—John Mulholland

Plot Keywords: gay bashing, racial tension, racist comment, intolerance, metro, ignorance, jamaican ...

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#10. The Shape of Water (2017)

Storyline: From master storyteller Guillermo del Toro comes THE SHAPE OF WATER, an otherworldly fable set against the backdrop of Cold War era America circa 1962. In the hidden high-security government laboratory where she works, lonely Elisa (Sally Hawkins) is trapped in a life of isolation. Elisa's life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda (Octavia Spencer) discover a secret classified experiment. Rounding out the cast are Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Doug Jones.

Plot Keywords: underwater scene, creature, female masturbation, water, sign language, female protagonist, rescue ...

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#11. The Secret Life of Bees (2008)

Storyline: Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens, a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother. To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father T-Ray, Lily flees with Rosaleen, her caregiver and friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters, Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping.

Plot Keywords: insect in title, f rated, racism, loss of mother, gun, grave, funeral ...

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#12. Detroit (2017)

Storyline: A police raid in Detroit in 1967 results in one of the largest RACE riots in United States history. The story is centred around the Algiers Motel incident, which occurred in Detroit, Michigan on July 25, 1967, during the racially charged 12th Street Riot. It involves the death of three black men and the brutal beatings of nine other people: seven black men and two white women.

Plot Keywords: racism, police, riot, african american, fear, motel, singing ...

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#13. The Long Walk Home (1990)

Storyline: Dramatizes the events in 1955-1956 in Montgomery, Alabama, when blacks boycotted public transport because they were forced to sit at the back. Odessa works as a maid for the Thompsons, and as well as she is treated, she feels it is her duty to walk to work, even if it means she is exhausted, and gets to work late.—Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>

Plot Keywords: based on true story, 1950s, social activism, friendship, interracial friendship, race relations, racist ...

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#14. Men of Honor (2000)

Storyline: The story ultimately revolves around two "men of honor"; their relationship, their individual and joint failures and triumphs. Carl Brashear is determined to be the first African American Navy Diver in a time where racism is rife. Leslie Sunday is his embittered trainer, determined to see him fail. Fate, challenges and circumstances eventually draw these two men together in a tale of turbulence and ultimately triumph.

Plot Keywords: caucasian, racial discrimination, amputee, determination, racism, african american, navy ...

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#15. Marshall (2017)

Storyline: In 1940, Thurgood Marshall is a young lawyer for the NAACP who criss-crosses the country defending innocent African-Americans from unjust indictments in court. His latest case is in Bridgeport, Connecticut where an African-American chauffeur is accused of rape of a wealthy white society woman. To admit Marshall into the local Bar, insurance lawyer Sam Friedman is picked over his objections to do introductions in court. However, Friedman's commitment changes drastically when the racist judge forbids Marshall to speak in court, forcing Friedman to act as lead counsel. Now in an intolerable situation for the pair, Marshall must guide his new compatriot through this criminal trial even as Friedman endures not only this unfamiliar area of law, but also the bigoted pressure he now must share. However, the case proves more complex than either anticipates with unexpected twists and turns even as it becomes a vital one that would define two careers as well as the fight for justice in America.

Plot Keywords: recording, record player, listening to music, mother son relationship, car radio, handshake, innocence ...

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