Rosewood

The movie "Rosewood" begins in Rosewood, Florida, on December 31, 1922. The town of Rosewood is a rural area where the population comprises mostly blacks. Rosewood was a quiet, picturesque small town. Most of the homes were small but several had two stories with glass-paned windows. The citizens of Rosewood grew flourishing vegetable gardens and had livestock and horses. The most luxuriant homes had electricity and pianos. Blacks own land and businesses, except for Mr. Wright's shop. There is a marshland that allows blacks to hide. In Sumner, three miles down the road from Rosewood, life hadn't been as desirable. This was where the majority of the white people lived.

Rosewood is a gripping story of loss and heroism based on historical fact. During the first week of January, 1923, Rosewood was burned to the ground by whites from the neighboring, less prosperous, town of Sumner. Fueled by a white woman's falsified story that she was assaulted and beaten by a black stranger, a mob of men from the town of Sumner declared war on their unsuspecting neighbors. Many of Rosewood's inhabitants were murdered in cold blood and a lot more were driven from their beds into the surrounding marshlands, never to return to their homes, or their secure way of life, again. Now everybody in Sumner knew Fanny Taylor had been seeing other men- white men- behind her husband's back. Fanny Taylor ran out of her house screaming, bruised and battered, claiming that a black man had assaulted her. In actual fact, the beating had been at the hands of one of her other lovers, and Fanny had lied so that her husband would not find out about her adultery. Fanny's accusations and the locals' long-simmering resentment of the more prosperous Rosewood were catalyst enough for the whites to form a mob. Her allegation provides a reason to destroy Rosewood. Led by the county Sheriff, the whites marched to the town of Rosewood in search of their convict. A mob of angry, brutal Sumner men declared war on their unsuspecting neighbors. Many of Rosewood's inhabitants were murdered in cold blood and a lot more were driven from their homes into the marshlands, never to return to their homes, or their secure way of life, again.

Yet not everyone gave in to either savagery or panic during that horrifying week. A strange and unexpected alliance between two men, one black and one white, brought about a daring rescue that carried dozens of terrified women and children out of the dark Florida swamps to safety. A shopkeeper, Mr. Wright, joined forces with an African American World War I veteran passing through town to help rescue many of the terrified women and children who were forced to run for their lives. The willingness of those two men to put their vast differences aside to save human lives forms the core of bravery and hope around which a unique chapter in American history can be illuminated. The hatred was about the ambition of Rosewood; it was about the dignity of this town.

The characters are wonderful. There are many great characters in the story. It does not just rest on any one person's shoulders; it has to be an entirety.

Mr. Mann is a World War I veteran who is passing through Rosewood when he becomes caught up in the events that unfold there. Mann is a drifter who rides into town; first he is the stranger and then he becomes the hero. He changes because of what happens and in some ways he changes for the better. He makes a commitment to the people of Rosewood and saves their lives in the process. He comes upon Rosewood and sees that colored people are living much better than anything he has seen before. He happens to meet a young woman and begins to fall in love with her. Then, when things start happening in Rosewood, his first impulse is to leave, because he is a stranger and he does not want to be accused of Fanny Taylor's alleged rape. Something draws him back and he does what he has to do as a man, as a soldier, and as a human being, to help save the town. Unexpectedly, Mann joins forces with the lone white shopkeeper in Rosewood to help the women and children of Rosewood make a daring escape from the marshlands where they were hiding.

Mr. Wright is a property owner and merchant in Rosewood. He is not there on a mission of mercy; he is there because it's good business for him. By living and working with the residents of Rosewood day after day, he begins to know them by more than the color of their skins. When he is caught in the events of Rosewood's destruction, his beliefs crystallize into courageous action. Jon Voight, who plays Mr. Wright, quotes "Racism is a disease; the natural order of human nature is love and brotherhood. God created all people, of all creeds and colors. The love and harmony between all the actors in 'Rosewood' proved my beliefs."

Sylvester was a central figure in Rosewood, a prosperous and educated man who owned a piano and loved his family. Although he was polite and well spoken to everyone, he refused to shuffle and mumble deferentially to white people. When the rumors of a black rapist exploded in Sumner, white men who had long resented Sylvester Carrier and his comfortable life decided to avenge themselves on him, whether he was involved or not. Sylvester, with his nice house and clothes and piano, was like a symbol of the difference between Rosewood and Sumner. Sumner came over to kill Sylvester and anyone else they could find. These people were not killing strangers. They were killing people that they saw daily and knew very well.

Sylvester's mother, Sarah, the queen of her family, is one of only two witnesses to the event Fanny Taylor is dishonestly blaming on a black man. A hard-nosed realist² , she has little faith in white people. She believes that black people have survived by staying out of the way of whites, not by gaining their acceptance. Sarah's son, Sylvester, was a music teacher and he had a piano in his house. Sarah knew Sylvester was a spirited man. Out of her love and concern for him she did something unlike herself. When the mob came to her house, she said 'let me see if I can talk to them. Maybe I can tame the beast.'

Duke, a deeply racist Sumner resident and the father of a young boy, went to the depths of his spirit to play this detestable guy with some type of respect. He is vicious and ill-tempered, but at the same time you come to understand why Duke makes the decisions he does; he believes that the world requires it of him. Here is a man who teaches his son how to hunt, how to fish and how to make a noose to hang a black man. As terrible as that is, he believes he is preparing his son to become a man.

Miss Scrappy Buella is a young schoolteacher who becomes involved with Mr. Mann when he rides into town. She has a different role from many of the others. Scrappy has a moment of being loved and courted and protected by a strong black man. She is young and very innocent. She kind of represents whatever hope there is for the future of the survivors of Rosewood. It's important to know that there were black people, even in 1923, who were trying to make their own town and their own life and make it something they were proud of. Also that people of other races were afraid and trying to strip them of that. I think it's important to see that it is a struggle; it started a long time ago and it's still going on.

Everybody knew Fanny Taylor was the town tramp. Sarah worked for her and saw her get beaten by her husband; in fact, she helped wash Fanny up from her wounds. But Fanny knew that Sarah wouldn't say anything. So all of these nobodies in Sumner got together to protect a tramp of a woman.

Fanny Taylor's naive husband James, is swept away by the aftermath of his wife's accusations, even as he slowly begins to doubt her story and everything else about his life in Sumner. What's tragic about the character is that he just sort of goes along with the crowd. He's humiliated and he's pushed over the edge because he feels like a fool, married to the town tramp. He's disturbed about what's happening early on, but then is so angered by his own hurt and humiliation that he just goes along with everything. That is his weakness.

Personally, I thought Rosewood was a very good and informative film. John Singleton has shown the drama of a real life event without stretching the truth. I think more films like this should be made. They educate us by showing us what has happened in history. Some parts were hard to watch, but it was necessary. Everyone, not just people of African decent, should see this movie and discuss it with their peers. Many people I know were angered by the way the whites slaughtered the blacks. Much of the hurt the whites caused was because the blacks were more successful, spiritually guided, and unified than the whites. The best way that we can honor those slain in Rosewood and many towns like Rosewood is to be the most successful, unified, and spiritfilled people we can.