This Split-Screen Video Compares the Lives of a Black Man and a White Man

In a new video, “Racism Is Real,” Brave New Films uses a split screen to compare a day in the life of a black man to a day in the life of a white man in America. The two actors go about the same activities: applying for jobs, buying cars, driving, attempting to buy a house. Each storyline has a different result. The black man doesn’t get an interview while the white man does; he is charged more for his car and gets pulled over while the white man does not; and he is not shown a house that a realtor happily shows the white man.

To support the divergent scenarios, the video uses statistics from studies by the University of Chicago, the New York Times, the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations. Where viewers may be accustomed to hearing about issues of race in a piecemeal fashion — how race affects employment, housing opportunities or interactions with law enforcement — the video attempts to create a cohesive view of all the ways a person’s race might change the course of a single day.

According to its website, Brave New Films hopes to use media as a tool to inspire action on social issues: “From exposing the private prison crisis to helping middle class and poor workers to understanding where your tax dollars are going, our groundbreaking social media campaigns have revolutionized activism.”

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