this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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I got a friend who's MAGA and I've been talking to her about her politics for a bit and she's willing to hear me out on my concerns. It's also black history month, and she knows nothing about black history.

I wanna watch a movie with her or a documentary that dives into modern-day racism without explicitly putting down MAGA/conservatives. My goal is not to insult her or make her feel bad, it's to educate her, hence why I'm asking.

(Please let me know if something I've said is problematic or offensive in some kinda way? Sometimes I word things badly or I will ask things that arent okay and I dont realize it until I hit post, lemme know so I can correct myself for the future thankyuuuu ;w;)

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[–] Naryaskant@lemmy.today 33 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Before you try to educate someone else, I suggest you educate yourself first (because this is a really hairy terrain to navigate).

https://youarenotsosmart.com/2022/06/27/yanss-236-how-minds-change/

https://www.streetepistemology.com/

https://www.cnvc.org/

Oooo yummy links

[–] devolution@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That one on Youtube about the dad. I can't think of the name. Racism will only if they have a personal connection with a minority (intimacy, blood relations, friends, community, etc.).

[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

The Brainwashing Of My Dad?

Yeah, that's a good one.

The problem is the recipient has to be receptive to their bias and intolerance. And most either aren't or actively revel in it.

[–] devolution@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago (2 children)

OP mentioned his friend is willing to be receptive so that's why I mentioned that one. And thanks for the name.

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Her, and im also black so im like, the perfect candidate for this 🥴

[–] devolution@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

LoL. Yes you are. Good luck. From an old black dude to a black youngin'.

[–] ThePowerOfGeek@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Good point. Hopefully it works for his friend.

I was talking in more general terms. Most of the time people don't want to open their mind to a different perspective. That's awesome that OP's friend is bucking that trend!

Oh yea she's super cool when not spewing stuff about the border. Ive got her to change her opinion on Book bannings and LGBT books being in schools.

She's very receptive to hearing me out and so is her family it seems. They're all conservative.

[–] SuperEars@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago (2 children)

"Jesus Camp" is just a dive into evangelical child indoctrination camps, in the George W Bush era. One scene has this prayer circle of children praying to a cardboard cutout of W.

It's arguably not constructive, but I'd say it's more a mirror to reflect towards a MAGA viewer "Look - this is you now."

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That looks like a good one too

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[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

The preacher in that doc, screaming about the gays? Got caught smoking meth in a cheap motel room with a couple of gay prostitutes.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

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[–] choui4@lemmy.zip 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Not trying to dissuade you, but have you considered talking to her about class politics and the economy?

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (6 children)

I believe I have and she's brought up some conspiracy theories to try and dissuade my points. Im gonna prolly educate her tonight on the psychology if Conspiracy theories and see what she thinks after that

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[–] Iamsqueegee@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 months ago

American History X might be a good movie.

[–] REDACTED@infosec.pub 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This is not the answer you're looking for, but I remember watching Green Mile as a child and that movie struck with me for life, and likely attributed early on to me being one of the few non-racist folks around here somewhere in East Europe

[–] SuperEars@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

The villain on that movie is particularly scary to me because of how many people would do the same thing.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 8 points 3 months ago

I cannot imagine having a maga friend at this point. I could not look at them without thinking how insane they are.

[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 months ago (6 children)

Make sure she is actually interested in watching or learning more. It can come off as very preachy and grandiose what you're doing.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 3 months ago

Like those MAGA priests? /s

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[–] atro_city@fedia.io 6 points 3 months ago

Not a movie but a youtube playlist: The Alt-Right Playbook

[–] Jela@lemmy.today 6 points 3 months ago

I would highly recommend Blue Bayou, it's about a Korean-American man in Louisiana raised by adoptive parents, but never got the proper paperwork to be considered a citizen. Amazing film, had me tearing up.

[–] SwingingTheLamp@piefed.zip 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Honestly, I don't have such a movie to suggest, I don't think such a movie can exist, due to the Backfire Effect. Changing people's minds takes time, and the impetus to change has to come from within. The handful of times that I've managed to do it involved sharing an idea or observation that doesn't immediately trigger their defenses, but metaphorically is like dropping a grain of sand in the gears of their mind, and then letting it do the work of grinding away at the teeth, until one day their old thought process breaks down. It can take months.

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[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

It would have to involve a lot of emotion. It would need to trigger empathy in them so should center around a person who they would identify with. For racism it's unlikely you'll find a documentary for that.

[–] Cock_Inspecting_Asexual@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They have empathy, its just misguided. They arent a racist but believe in being "Colorblind" (which is another conversation ima have to have with her lmao)

Her and her family just seem like the Misguided type of brainwashed where the only reason they became MAGA is out of some kind of fear or desperation for wanting to better their country. Innocent reasons that lead them into a horrible pipeline. They arent too far gone yet cus they enjoy talking to me and hearing out what I have to say. Even admitting when they are wrong in some aspects

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Racism and a lot of the things conservatives believe out of fear are emotional reactions. They don't reason themselves into positions so you cannot reason them out of them.

But I can and I did. I've already gotten her to back down on her ideas of Book bannings and Trans people and got her to admit being wrong in somethings.

[–] man_wtfhappenedtoyou@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

The first thing that comes to mind is that documentary that I think was on Netflix about the 13th amendment. It's just called "13th".

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I'll ask my wife, because she's been consuming a lot of racism lately. (Lots of civil war era books, with a strong focus on the injustices against black people.)

Off the top of my head there's of course, Roots.

We also watched the Free State of Jones. It's based on a true story that puts you in the shoes of a Rebel soldier who goes AWOL, and befriends a group of runaway slaves.

Since you know your friend better than any of us, you might want to watch any suggestions alone, and possibly even search online for an in depth analysis of it before presenting it to your friend. That way you can be prepared to intelligently discuss any topics that might come up.

EDIT: My wife reminded me of American History X, which is more anti KKK than pro-black, but it's also much more modern and VERY graphic.

Good luck!

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 2 points 3 months ago

If you're going there, then 12 Years A Slave is the best take on pre-Civil War slavery. It's a true story, and the book is great, too.

[–] freshcow@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago

The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix had me in tears. About a black mother who was killed in Florida by someone trying to claim Stand Your Ground laws

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

unlikely if you cant target the root of the problems, they would just call things woke. your basically saying changing thier mind without offending them, they are easily offended.

Nahh she isnt the type to yell "WOKE" at stuff. Thank god. She's just SEVERELY in the dark about shit.

She knows nothing about black history month, celebrities like Beyonce, Dolly Parton or Kanye; I thought she was fucking with me when she said "Isnt West a direction?" when I mentioned his name.

The only things she knows about are Politics and Roleplay (We roleplay gay shit on discord and that's how we met lmfao)

So "woke stuff" doesnt phase her cus we roleplay "woke" stuff all the time with Monster boys on discord 🤣🤣 Her family is also aware and is super chill about it.

[–] disregardable@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I think you should start with Nixon. Start with the war on the drugs. Some people like to believe that racism "stopped" after the civil rights movement, but we just changed the way we described the targeting.

[–] pomegranatefern@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 months ago

It's not quite the movie/documentary you are looking for, but I have seen https://leavingmaga.org/ spread around.

[–] Superdooper@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I feel like this is the perfect video for this as the guy himself used to be alt right : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OygHnodf0XM&t=1

Maybe not one as direct as that one if ya catch my drift. She gets defensive and dismissive if im too direct about it. but ima keep that vid in mind

[–] SlurpingPus@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago

Don't have any particular titles (mostly due to not living in the US), but I've noticed black people call the genre ‘civil rights movies’: e.g. Roy Wood Jr. here and in other clips. So perhaps googling that would yield some recommendations.

[–] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Peter Watkins

The War Game, Punishment Park, (the longuets) La commune (Paris, 1871)

They are each a documentary with a but.

The War Game talk about atomic bomb and use real citations but nothing in the movie is real. Punishment Parc take a hypothetical ~~facist~~ situation where the US government build a open prison into the Mojave desert and let loose convict in a kind of capture the flag run against police trainees, the fun part is that he take left leaning actor to play right wing voice and vice versa. In La Commune he take a theatre troupe and made them play the event of the Commune de Paris but there’s a « TV Crew » that are citing journal headline of the time.

[–] theywilleatthestars@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Oooo that looks good

[–] Hello_there@fedia.io 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)
  • Redlining is something that is clear to understand and clear to understand how that affects people today. Less about putting people down today than showing that racism is a thing that affects people.
  • there was a special on PBS about 10 yrs ago called Latino Americans - and went into the history of whites squatting on and stealing the land of indigenous or Mexican landowners.
  • El Norte is a movie about a Latino family that is trying to make their way into the US. Good for empathizing with that person's situation.
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[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago

If Beale Street Could Talk

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