After the success of "boyz N The Hood," John Singleton went into sort of a creative slump with duds like "Poetic Justice" and "Higher Learning." He certainly broke out of it with this one! This is a powerful and tragic true-life story of the destruction of a black township in Florida in 1923. It started when white woman, after beng beat up by a white man she was having an adulterous affair with, falsely accuses a black man of assaulting her. The white townspeople use the alleged attack as an excuse to kill off the people of Rosewood and to burn the town down. Two ficticious characters, one of them white (Jon Voight) and the other black (Ving Rhames), team up to rescue as many women and children (keep in mind that the alleged perpetrator was ONE GROWN black MALE) they can from the raging mob.

It is easy for people to condemn the atrocities of the Nazi Holocaust and the massacre in Rwanda because they happened overseas but when dealing with similar incidents right here on American soil, people tend to get squeamish and downright defensive. While the incident is not nearly the same magnitude as WWII or Rwanda, it is an example of how the most unspeakable evils can be committed as a result of irrational racial hatred. It's somethng that I still can't understand for the life of me. It greatly disappoints me that more of my fellow black Americans went to see "Booty Call" than this very relevant historical drama. If you haven't seen "Schindler's List" or "Hotel Rwanda," rent or buy this one and get at least a glimpse of the horrible results of racial hatred.

Based on actual events, Rosewood relates the events that led to as many as 150 African Americans being murdered and burned out of their homes in Rosewood, Florida in 1923, by whites from a neighboring town. All this happens because a white woman falsely accused a black man of raping her.

Truly a horrific tale, all the more so because it happened, although an accurate death count has never been determined. This sad account went unknown for many years due to a cover up as well as resident's refusal to talk abou the events. Director John Singleton probably takes a worst case scenario view of the body count and pure horror with burning bodies being hung by the neck and other such gruesome crimes.

Caught up in this chaotic story is Ving Rhames playing Mann, a former soldier who was merely passing through town and ends up having to fight for his life as well as heroically saving a number of children from the marauding racists. Don Cheadle gives an outstanding performance as a Rosewood resident who proves smarter than the rednecks.

Jon Voight plays a local business owner who is sympathetic to the blacks and for that is labeld a "_____" lover by the other whites. But Voight doesn't care and actually provides a safe harbor to several blacks after the attack begins.

Michael Rooker, who also played in Mississippi Burning gives a fine performance as sheriff Walker who while racist himself, finally realizes that the accusations were false but by then is unable to stop the mayhem. Bruce McGill is the typical, fat, white redneck as Duke Purdy.

The film is beautifully shot and John Jenson deserves a big tip of the hat for his cinematography as he captured the small-town, ramshackle look of 1920's Florida that greatly lent to the film's look of authenticity. Very powerful film. So sad yet an important film for people to watch, especially our young people as incidents like this should never be forgotten.

A very scary potrayal when ignorant people are given even a little bit of power. A white woman accuses a black man of raping her an all hell breaks loose. Sane minds are hard to find and a race war breaks out in the rural southlands of Florida.

Whereas many innocent people most African Americans are killed, the touching drama of the story is how a black man and a white man lead a group of displaced black women and children to safety. The scenes to capture the spirit on how African Americans have overcome some much prejudice and hardship.

Its good to see taht our prsent generation has preached toelrace for one's fellow man. Lets hope that this continues an that movies like Rosewood can hopefully continue to educate people into the evils of prejudice.

I watched "Rosewood" in Texas when it came out in 1997. Unfortunately, it was not well received at the time - in fact, I found it really difficult to find a theatre that featured the film. Much like "Roots", this is a pivital movie, giving the viewers a snapshot of true events that occurred in Florida in 1922. Of course some artistic license is taken. At times, Vingh Raimes seems more like a super hero character....but the racist attitudes of the period seem to be accurately represented. One other note, I just read the rant about republicans verses democrats and I have this to say. It's funny how in modern times the republican party seems to celebrate the "retro" sensibilities of the 1950's when blacks just happened to be forced to ride on the back of the bus and received separate and unequal schooling. And when blacks also provided cheap labor as 2nd class citizens for whites who wanted to maintain their status as 1st class citizens of these United States....funny, no one really ever talks about how that power structure provided a world for middle class whites to flourish in before the modern civil rights movement took hold....a lopsided world missed by the likes of Rush Limbaugh and G. Gordon Liddy, but I digress....Anyway, the author of that rant fails to mention that during the 1960's, racist "Dixiecrats" like Strom Thurmond left the democratic party to join with the republicans who accepted him with open arms. And recently before his death, Strom was celebrated by fellow republican Trent Lott who wished aloud that Strom had been president. - When I lived in Texas, the people I knew who regularly used racial slurs, and drove around with confederate flag license plates always (and I mean always) claimed to be republican when the subject of politics came up. The democratic party is no perfect party, but trying to make the republican party seem like a refuge and oasis for blacks just because Abe Lincoln once was a member is just plain ignorant!!!!

This film reminds us of the horrors that the Southern Democrats inflicted upon African Americans. As Wayne Perryman reminds us in his book, "Unfounded Loyalties",

"One party and their abolitionist supporters believed the Bible instructed them to lay down their lives for the slaves, the other party and their supporters believed the Bible gave them the right to take the lives of blacks if they rebelled against being slaves.

...

"One party was heavily influenced by the Abolitionists and the radical wing of their party ... and the other party was influenced by the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist groups.

"One party and its supporters started the Freedman's Bureau and other programs to help build communities for blacks, the other party and their supporters engaged in practices to hinder those efforts and to destroy those communities (Wilmington, North Carolina).

"One party and its supporters established quality schools and colleges for blacks, the other party and their supporters engaged in practices that attempted to close some of those schools or diminish their quality.

"One party passed laws and Constitutional Amendments (13th , 14th , 15th) to include blacks as part of mainstream society, the other party passed laws to exclude them from the mainstream (Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes). ..."

Sadly, many do not know that that "one party" was the Republican Party, while the "other party" was the Democratic Party. I myself didn't know at the time I watched this stirring film. I suppose burning crosses make us assume the bad guys are aligned with the religious right. Unfortunately, the "other party" used a nonsensical interpretation of the "curse of Ham" to justify slavery; fortunately, "one party" saw through it.

This film is also a great example of how history is being rewritten or dumbed down. While many films have shown lynchings and other abuse of African Americans, they usually leave you with the impression that the bigots were "Bible bashers" ... as you can see, this is only half the truth. Very rarely are we reminded that it was Republicans who laid their lives on the line to defend blacks, based on their Christian faith.

We are all sinners. Perhaps the shameful past that the Democrats are trying to forget - indeed, most youngsters today do not need to forget, they haven't even been taught - will spur them onto greater deeds that may even outshine the "one party".