The Least Among You

I watched The Least Among You, starring Cedric Sanders, Lauren Holly, Louis Gossett Jr., and William Devane and directed by Marc Young.

In this movie, a young man makes one simple mistake and is forced to change his life plans and enter a seminary. As hard as he tries, being the only African American man in the seminary is extremely difficult for him. Racism is rampant around the country and this young man must deal with it in a place devoted to the word of God. He must stay, in accordance with his probation, and recruit 30+ African American students to the seminary. Considering the racism around campus, the young man's attempts fail. He befriends the schools janitor and finally receives the fatherly figure he's craved since childhood. The young man continues to work on recruiting more students, but does he succeed?

Growing up in the late '80s, early '90s, I was not exposed to this kind of extreme racism. I find it unbelievable to see how this young man and millions of others were treated just because of the color of their skin. Throughout the movie, the young man expresses the same anger and confusion with God many of us deal with. Not even the one ally he believed has had his back stands by him when money is involved. This movie shows what a role racism had in this country, including the Church. I did not think I would like this movie but I really did. I think we all need to be reminded of the hatred many had for African Americans. Many people today still possess that hatred, not only for African Americans, but for many other groups in our society. Faith eventually intervened for this young man, but he had to fight for it.