Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
In 1967, intermarriage between African Americans and Caucasians was still illegal in 14 states. This was the political climate of the country in which “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” would be made.
“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” will be screened at 7pm on Saturday, February 27th in honor of Black History Month as part of the Manzanita Film Series.
The Manzanita Film Series at the Hoffman Center was created to highlight these moments in film history as well as support local and emerging filmmakers. “We hope people will want to stay and have a discussion after these films”, said David Dillon, Director of the Hoffman Center, speaking before the last screening in January.
Towards the end of production, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its decision in Loving v. Virginia. The Loving decision was made on June 12, 1967, two days after the death of star Spencer Tracy, who had played a “phony” white liberal who grudgingly accepts his daughter’s marriage to a black man. In Loving, the High Court unanimously ruled that anti-miscegenation marriage laws were unconstitutional. In his opinion, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote, “Marriage is one of the ‘basic civil rights of man,’ fundamental to our very existence and survival. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State’s citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”
Ekahni Books will be on hand offering books for sale written by or about prominent members of the African American community.
The Manzanita Film Series is a program of the Hoffman Center in Manzanita, Oregon. Films will be screened on the 4th weekend of the month throughout the year. Admission will be $6 and theater concessions will be available for purchase. For more information or to volunteer, contact Franz Hasslacher at franzhass@gmail.com.
