Local Filmmaker Asks: Is Black-on-Black Hatin' in St. Louis Caused by a "Slave Mentality"?

Check out this trailer for "City of Haterz," a documentary by Horace Williams of Low Blow Video & Photography that's due out this summer:


Williams tells Daily RFT that he served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps as a videographer producing training videos. At Low Blow, he says, he mostly does music and promotional videos, but decided to do this documentary on an issue that's long been batted around in St. Louis' black community. That issue, as he describes it on YouTube, is this:

This documentary focuses on how possibly the slave trade and Missouri being one of the last states of the union to free slaves,the injustice of the Dred Scott decision, and/or racism in St. Louis has over the years lingered and perhaps generated a "slave mentality" amongst the people who reside here.

It has been a normal topic of discussion amongst black St. Louisians whom have referred to St. Louis as a "City of Haters," due to a what seems to be a complacent, jealous, and contentious attitude amongst blacks which seems to thrive here and is well recognized by outsiders and migrants from other major cities and regions of the United States. We also explore how the abundance of Black on Black Violence and the high murder rate ranked top 5 amongst all major cities for over the past decade in our city could in fact also be a trickled down effect of this "slave mentality."

This "Crabs in the bucket" mentality has been long discussed and recognized in general daily life and major local industrys including the music industry, the professional workplace and even in the church and religious community. Is it due to the strong racist society in which blacks here have endured over the years and has spilled into contention amongst ourselves?

Or does it even exist? It is our hope to dig deep into this topic and find some answers along with some possible directives for change for the advancement of our city...

Williams says he hasn't decided on where he'll screen the film when it comes out in late summer, but it'll definitely be out on DVD.