Eli Steele is following up his powerful 2018 documentary on America, its determination to race-define, and its growing multiracial citizenry, How Jack Became Black (which Victor Davis Hanson at the time praised in The Corner), with another film taking on a major controversy — the provocatively titled What Killed Michael Brown? The documentary considers Brown’s 2014 police shooting, death, and the aftermath — and the complex, underlying societal causes that define the film’s important first word, what. Eli is the producer, director, and editor, while his father, the acclaimed conservative author, Shelby Steele, is the film’s writer and narrator.
What Killed Michael Brown? is scheduled to premiere (likely on Amazon) on October 16th, but to be sure, sign up for alerts on the movie website link, above.
Here’s the trailer:
The film explores what Shelby Steele calls America’s true original sin: not slavery, but “the use of race as a means to power.” Questions asked — Was it really racism that caused the death of Michael Brown? Has the truth become the lie, and the lie truth? — and answered by the Steeles come against a backdrop of the “real victimization of black America.”
For more about the film, listen to this recent radio interview where Shelby Steele discusses its themes and America’s use and abuse of race victimization.