Matewan - a Place in History

Matewan, a place in history that all union workers should reflect on and know that they have life easy. It was a time when unions were widely hated by most every business owner there was. The business owners knew that if a union formed in their business, which would mean more money out of their pocket. These days, unions are all people know. People today were born and raised under union safety. You have teachers, factory workers, and even Wal-Mart employees that are all a part of some union. But during this film, there were a few ethnic groups that were not exactly accepted completely into society yet, there were events depicted that showed honor through all union workers, and some of the characters had very important roles, characters such as Few Clothes and my favorite, Danny Radnor.

During the film Matewan, you are introduced to a few ethnic groups. You are first introduced to White people, then Black people, and finally the Italians. What I thought was interesting about the ethnic groups represented was that during this film, the Whites needed the ethnic minors to help them fight the mining company. If it were not for the Blacks and Italians doing the things they did, the Whites would not even have a union. Well, they would have a union but I would not matter because the union they form would not affect the owner one way or the other. Another interesting thing is how well all the different ethnic groups got along. I honestly did not expect the Whites to like the others as much as they did. And I am especially surprised at how the White woman towards the end of the film offered up her rabbit to one of the Italian families. Just the little rabbit sparked a great relationship. Another thing is the unity that was within the union, even during the time when they all wanted to kill Joe Kenehan. At that time, they all decided to let the Black man named Few Clothes do the killing which. A Black man with a gun was not heard of, ever. But, through all the hardships and struggles and even the good times, all the union works stayed united. That is what I really liked about different ethnicities in this film.

In Matewan, there were a few events that really caught my interest in the film. One of these events being with the different ethnic groups in the film and the other being the amazing ending. My favorite part is the one with the different ethnic groups. What the Blacks and Italians did was crazy and outstanding. And what the Whites did at that moment was even crazier. The scene I am talking about is the one when and the Blacks and Italians decide to throw down their mining equipment and walk off sing and joining the union. But what the Whites did is what caught my eye. They Showed up to the walk off with guns so that they could protect the Blacks and Italians from the Stone Mountain Mining Companies thugs. Just the fact that the Whites were willing to sacrifice their lives for these minorities was amazing. During this time period you would never hear of such things. Maybe it was because it benefitted the Whites but, I am giving them the benefit of the doubt and hoping it was because they were developing