I just watched this for the first time last night and thought it was an amazing movie, but I was a little surprised when I heard Helen say,
"There are no musts in my life. I'm free, White and twenty-one."
She seemed so sweet but I guess her character was a little racist or just another sign of the those times.
Nevertheless, it is a great movie.
......."Free, white and twenty one" was a common expression during the twenties, thirties and much later when racism was not only socially acceptable but the law in many parts of the country. I don't think it was so much a racist statement as an acknowledgment of the obvious reality of the time that whites had far more options in their lives then nonwhites.
TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
I used to hear the phrase even into the 1970's. Enter: the Politically Correct Age, Exit: any expression or thought, even non-malignant ones, if even the slightest possibility exists that racist or non-modern concepts can be inferred from those sayings.
I tend to kinda doubt that most people who said F-W-21 were all that interested in activities like putting pillow cases over their heads and burning crosses on the front yards of people of color, conducting lynch mobs, etc.
Still, it's a good thing the phrase has fallen out of common usage. Even the most benign interpretation of it comes across as thoughtless and lacking in tactfulness.
I first read this phrase in the book, "Down These Mean Streets" -- the story of a Puerto Rican junkie and his tale of redemption. In the 1940s with his dark skin, his light-skinned girlfriend would frequently use this phrase. It helped me put things in perspective and understand just how tough it was for someone who wasn't white. For her it was just a declaration of independence and freedom. I agree with vinidici, "I tend to kinda doubt that most people who said F-W-21 were all that interested in activities like putting pillow cases over their heads and burning crosses on the front yards of people of color, conducting lynch mobs, etc.". It was just the way things were at that time.
It's good that we have access to these little pieces of history -- for if it is all wiped out, like all the politically-correct morons want to do, we will never understand why and how history has evolved.
I watched this yesterday and caught that line.
I first heard it on an episode of Fame, where a white woman teacher was accused of racism and Debbie Allen was defending her, and the woman said this line later on in the episode and now Debbie had doubts about her.
I agree that the phrase was picked up and used by people not intending any racist context. It lasted into the sixties and even seventies, well past the legal extermination of the Jim Crow laws that spawned it. I think it lasted because it includes six syllables,"(1) Free, (2) white, (3) and (4) twen (5) ty - (6) one." with the fifth syllable nearly subsumed into the fourth. Maybe I am over-analyzing it, but I think the phrase held on to its popularity because the rhythm of the syllables meets poetic convention, specifically iambic pentameter, the most popular. It is like a song or a jingle such as, "Things go better with Coke."
I didn't like the phrase when I first heard it and I still don't. I get what it means, but we live in America where we are all free and equal before the law. The phrase is archaic and obsolete. It is good to remember it as part of history, but I would be ashamed to be heard saying it except in a historical reference. We should remember our history, not continue to live it.