In The Heat of the Night

 

A promotional poster for the film

    In 1896, a black man named Plessy attempted to buy a ticket for a train car that was meant for white passengers only. He took this to court and argued that by separating train cars by race, Louisiana was violating the 14th Amendment. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled in Ferguson's favor, the lawyer who defended the Separate Car act when Plessy first went to court. After this ruling, the Supreme Court declared that separating the races will bring peace among the country.

 

  In The Heat of the Night takes this "separate but equal" idea that the Supreme Court has created and challenges it. The film takes a firm stance that racial segregation will only make things worse and bring disharmony rather than peace. In The Heat of the Night is a movie about a black man named Virgil taking on an investigation of a murder. When the police first spotted Virgil, they arrested him and locked him in a jail cell while they researched his background where they then discovered that he was a detective. Virgil proves his skills as a detective by stating that a man they had suspected of and falsely arrested for committing the crime was innocent. Reluctantly, the police asked Virgil if he could lead the investigation of the crime to which he agrees. By the end of the movie, Virgil discovers the identity of the killer and even convinces him to confess his crime.

    Throughout the movie, Virgil is repeatedly discriminated against for his race. He was chased, denied service, threatened, and even jumped. The police did not want Virgil to cause any scenes, so they encouraged him to stay hidden. But if he agreed and hid during the investigation, they would not have discovered who killed the man. The conflicts surrounding Virgil would even slow down the investigation and made it much more difficult than it should have been.

    The film not only shows the negatives of racial segregation, but it also demonstrates the positives of racial integration. Before Virgil joined the investigation, a man was falsely accused and punished of a crime he did not commit while the real murderer walked freely, therefore justice was not served. Virgil fixed this problem and brought true justice to the man who was killed. Without the cooperation of Virgil and the policemen, the case would not have been solved. The white police officers brought Virgil to places that needed to be investigated and also protected him from anyone who intended to harm him while Virgil helped lead the investigation and narrowed down the suspects. Their teamwork proves that if all people were separated by race, we would not be able to use each other's talents for the better.