Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "racial-issues"
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1. Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019)
TV-MA | 59 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Convicted of a decade-old crime of transporting drug money, ordinarily law-abiding Piper Chapman is sentenced to 18 months behind bars and quickly discovers the realities of life-changing prison time.
Stars: Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks, Taryn Manning, Emma Myles
Votes: 320,494
2. The Help (2011)
PG-13 | 146 min | Drama
An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
Director: Tate Taylor | Stars: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard
Votes: 493,537 | Gross: $169.71M
3. Life on Mars (2006–2007)
TV-14 | 959 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After a near-fatal car accident, smart, savvy, sharp-suited detective Sam is mysteriously transported back to 1973. Confused by his new surroundings, Sam tries to return to the present, but the police force of long ago needs his help.
Stars: John Simm, Philip Glenister, Liz White, Dean Andrews
Votes: 32,531
4. Gran Torino (2008)
R | 116 min | Drama
After a Hmong teenager tries to steal his prized 1972 Gran Torino, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran seeks to redeem both the boy and himself.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Bee Vang, Christopher Carley, Ahney Her
Votes: 815,758 | Gross: $148.10M
5. Insecure (2016–2021)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Follows the awkward experiences and racy tribulations of a modern-day African-American woman.
Stars: Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis, Natasha Rothwell
Votes: 22,434
6. O.J.: Made in America (2016)
TV-MA | 467 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A chronicle of the rise and fall of O.J. Simpson, whose high-profile murder trial exposed the extent of American racial tensions, revealing a fractured and divided nation.
Director: Ezra Edelman | Stars: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mike Albanese, Muhammad Ali, Marcus Allen
Votes: 22,044
7. Freeway (1996)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A twisted take on "Little Red Riding Hood", with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker travelling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer and pedophile.
Director: Matthew Bright | Stars: Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Bokeem Woodbine, Paul Perri
Votes: 31,819 | Gross: $0.30M
8. Ray (I) (2004)
PG-13 | 152 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell
Votes: 157,518 | Gross: $75.33M
9. Coonskin (1974)
R | 100 min | Animation, Action, Comedy
Rabbit, a country-born trickster, takes over the organized crime racket in Harlem, facing opposition from the institutionalized racism of the Mafia and corrupt police.
Director: Ralph Bakshi | Stars: Barry White, Charles Gordone, Scatman Crothers, Philip Michael Thomas
Votes: 3,756
10. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)
Approved | 108 min | Comedy, Drama
A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her African-American fiancé.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Houghton
Votes: 48,983 | Gross: $56.70M
11. Next Friday (2000)
R | 98 min | Comedy
A streetwise man flees South Central Los Angeles, heading to the suburbs and his lottery-winner uncle and cousin, to avoid a neighborhood thug with a grudge who has just escaped from prison.
Director: Steve Carr | Stars: Ice Cube, Mike Epps, Justin Pierce, John Witherspoon
Votes: 44,156 | Gross: $57.33M
12. The Wonder Years (2021–2023)
TV-PG | 21 min | Comedy, Drama, Family
A man recalls his experiences growing up in Montgomery, Alabama during the late 1960s.
Stars: Elisha Williams, Dulé Hill, Saycon Sengbloh, Laura Kariuki
Votes: 5,539
13. In Living Color (1990–1994)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy, Music
The Wayans siblings present an African-American focused sketch comedy show.
Stars: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Jim Carrey, Kelly Coffield Park, Terrence Brown
Votes: 12,781
14. Balls of Fury (2007)
PG-13 | 90 min | Comedy, Crime, Sport
Down-and-out former professional ping-pong phenom, Randy Daytona, is sucked into a maelstrom when FBI Agent Ernie Rodriguez recruits him for a secret mission. Randy is determined to bounce back and win, and to smoke out his father's killer -- arch-fiend Feng.
Director: Robert Ben Garant | Stars: Dan Fogler, Christopher Walken, George Lopez, Maggie Q
Votes: 44,928 | Gross: $32.84M
15. The Painted Bird (2019)
Unrated | 169 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A young Jewish boy somewhere in Eastern Europe seeks refuge during World War II where he encounters many different characters.
Director: Václav Marhoul | Stars: Petr Kotlár, Nina Sunevic, Alla Sokolova, Stanislav Bilyi
Votes: 7,652
16. Selma (2014)
PG-13 | 128 min | Biography, Drama, History
A chronicle of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: David Oyelowo, Carmen Ejogo, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson
Votes: 95,551 | Gross: $52.08M
17. Ali (2001)
R | 157 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
A biography of sports legend Muhammad Ali, focusing on his triumphs and controversies between 1964 and 1974.
Director: Michael Mann | Stars: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles
Votes: 105,634 | Gross: $58.20M
18. The Secret Life of Bees (2008)
PG-13 | 114 min | Drama
In 1964, a teenage girl in search of the truth about her mother runs away to a small town in South Carolina and finds a family of independent women who can connect her to her past.
Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood | Stars: Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys
Votes: 27,978 | Gross: $37.77M
19. Barbershop (2002)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Drama
A day in the life of a South Side Chicago barbershop.
Director: Tim Story | Stars: Ice Cube, Cedric The Entertainer, Eve, Anthony Anderson
Votes: 33,571 | Gross: $75.78M
20. Love Thy Neighbour (1972–1976)
30 min | Comedy
A white working-class socialist has his world turned upside down when an educated black man moves in next door.
Stars: Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Nina Baden-Semper, Kate Williams
Votes: 787
21. Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker (2020)
TV-MA | 48 min | Biography, Drama, History
The inspiring story of trailblazing African American entrepreneur Madam C.J. Walker who built a haircare empire that made her America's first female self-made millionaire.
Stars: Octavia Spencer, Tiffany Haddish, Carmen Ejogo, Kevin Carroll
Votes: 13,636
22. Gomorrah (2008)
Not Rated | 137 min | Crime, Drama
Scampia Vele is the Corbusian architecture which has become a stronghold for Mafia of Naples, Italy.
Director: Matteo Garrone | Stars: Gianfelice Imparato, Salvatore Abbruzzese, Toni Servillo, Simone Sacchettino
Votes: 51,246 | Gross: $1.58M
23. Any Day Now (1998–2002)
60 min | Drama
Two friends, one black and one white, recall their friendship in the past when they reunite in the present.
Stars: Annie Potts, Lorraine Toussaint, Chris Mulkey, Olivia Friedman
Votes: 1,150
24. Two Distant Strangers (2020)
Not Rated | 32 min | Short, Drama, Sci-Fi
A man trying to get home to his dog gets stuck in a time loop that forces him to relive a deadly run-in with a cop.
Directors: Travon Free, Martin Desmond Roe | Stars: Joey Bada$$, Zaria, Vincent Mordente, Ana González
Votes: 20,308
25. Clockers (1995)
R | 128 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Young drug pushers in the projects of Brooklyn live hard dangerous lives, trapped between their drug bosses and the detectives out to stop them.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, Delroy Lindo, Mekhi Phifer
Votes: 23,551 | Gross: $13.04M
26. 13th (2016)
TV-MA | 100 min | Documentary, Crime, History
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: Melina Abdullah, Michelle Alexander, Cory Booker, Dolores Canales
Votes: 37,712
27. Crazy in Alabama (1999)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
An abused wife heads to California to become a movie star while her nephew back in Alabama has to deal with a racially-motivated murder involving a corrupt sheriff.
Director: Antonio Banderas | Stars: Melanie Griffith, David Morse, Lucas Black, Cathy Moriarty
Votes: 7,400 | Gross: $1.95M
28. All the Way (2016 TV Movie)
TV-14 | 132 min | Biography, Drama, History
Lyndon B. Johnson becomes the President of the United States in the chaotic aftermath of John F. Kennedy's assassination, and spends his first year in office fighting to pass the Civil Rights Act.
Director: Jay Roach | Stars: Bryan Cranston, Anthony Mackie, Melissa Leo, Frank Langella
Votes: 15,260
29. Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, History
A Mississippi district attorney and the widow of Medgar Evers struggle to finally bring a white racist to justice for the 1963 murder of the civil rights leader.
Director: Rob Reiner | Stars: Alec Baldwin, James Woods, Whoopi Goldberg, Virginia Madsen
Votes: 12,161 | Gross: $13.05M
30. Q&A (1990)
R | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Dirty cop, Mike Brennan thinks he got away with murder. But during a routine Q&A, the righteous assistant DA finds a clue that sets them both on a collision course.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Nick Nolte, Timothy Hutton, Armand Assante, Patrick O'Neal
Votes: 7,011 | Gross: $11.21M
31. Casa Grande (2014)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, Romance
Exploring issues of class privilege among Rio's decadent elite, Casa Grande depicts a teenage boy's struggle to escape his overprotective parents as they covertly spiral into bankruptcy.
Director: Fellipe Barbosa | Stars: Marcello Novaes, Suzana Pires, Thales Cavalcanti, Clarissa Pinheiro
Votes: 3,119
32. Hi, Mom! (1970)
R | 87 min | Comedy, Drama
A Vietnam vet moves into an apartment and peers through other people's windows across the street, meets one of the women, and discovers Black theater.
Director: Brian De Palma | Stars: Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Lara Parker, Charles Durning
Votes: 5,847
33. Meet the Patels (2014)
PG | 88 min | Documentary, Animation, Comedy
An Indian-American man who is about to turn 30 gets help from his parents and extended family to start looking for a wife in the traditional Indian way.
Directors: Geeta Vasant Patel, Ravi Patel | Stars: Ravi Patel, Geeta Vasant Patel, Champa V. Patel, Vasant K. Patel
Votes: 3,551 | Gross: $1.69M
34. Mystery Road (2013)
Not Rated | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
An indigenous detective returns to the Outback to investigate the murder of a young girl.
Director: Ivan Sen | Stars: Aaron Pedersen, Hugo Weaving, Ryan Kwanten, Jack Thompson
Votes: 8,553
35. Watermelon Man (1970)
R | 100 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Jeff Gerber, a racist white man, wakes up one morning to discover that he has become black.
Director: Melvin Van Peebles | Stars: Godfrey Cambridge, Estelle Parsons, Howard Caine, D'Urville Martin
Votes: 2,874 | Gross: $1.50M
36. Putney Swope (1969)
R | 84 min | Comedy
The board of directors at a Madison Avenue ad agency must elect a new chairman. In the maneuvering to make sure that enemies don't get votes, all the members accidentally cast their ballot for the board's token black man, Putney Swope.
Director: Robert Downey Sr. | Stars: Arnold Johnson, Stan Gottlieb, Allen Garfield, Archie Russell
Votes: 4,371 | Gross: $2.73M
37. Jasper Jones (2017)
Not Rated | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In the late '60s, two teenage boys join forces to solve a chilling mystery and navigate the prejudices and secrets of their small Australian town.
Director: Rachel Perkins | Stars: Levi Miller, Kevin Long, Toni Collette, Aaron L. McGrath
Votes: 3,718
38. A Family Thing (1996)
PG-13 | 109 min | Comedy, Drama
When an old woman dies, she leaves a note for her apparent son (Robert Duvall) which tells him that his biological mother died giving birth to him. She begs him to make peace with his half-brother (James Earl Jones) living in Chicago.
Director: Richard Pearce | Stars: Robert Duvall, James Earl Jones, Michael Beach, Irma P. Hall
Votes: 4,180 | Gross: $10.12M
39. The Secret Path (1999 TV Movie)
Unrated | 120 min | Biography, Drama
A drama about a young, neglected white girl in the rural South who, with the help of an unlikely couple, finds the solace and nurturing needed to transform her downtrodden life.
Director: Bruce Pittman | Stars: Della Reese, Crystal Bernard, Madeline Zima, Yvonne Zima
Votes: 715
40. Marighella (2019)
155 min | Action, Drama, History
Facing a violent military dictatorship and an intimidated opposition, writer-turned-politician Carlos Marighella articulates a resistance all the while ousting heinous crimes of torture and the infamous censorship instituted by the regime.
Director: Wagner Moura | Stars: Seu Jorge, Bruno Gagliasso, Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos, Humberto Carrão
Votes: 56,064
41. Paris Blues (1961)
Approved | 98 min | Drama, Music, Romance
During the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong
Votes: 3,965 | Gross: $1.30M
42. Frankie & Alice (2010)
R | 101 min | Biography, Drama
A drama centered on a go-go dancer with multiple personality disorder who struggles to remain her true self and begins working with a psychotherapist to uncover the mystery of the inner ghosts that haunt her.
Director: Geoffrey Sax | Stars: Halle Berry, Stellan Skarsgård, Phylicia Rashad, Chandra Wilson
Votes: 5,853 | Gross: $0.69M
43. Multi-Facial (1995)
Not Rated | 20 min | Short, Drama
A short film about the problems that accompany an actor as he auditions, due to his multi-ethnic appearance.
Director: Vin Diesel | Stars: Vin Diesel, Lewis Steidl, Cara Gaffen, Phillip Jones
Votes: 1,703
44. The Breaks (1999)
R | 86 min | Comedy
Adopted by a black family in L.A., Derrick grows up an Irish white boy who thinks he's black! When his mother catches him romantically entangled with a woman on her couch, he's thrown out with an ultimatum. In HD.
Director: Eric Meza | Stars: Anthony Anderson, Isaiah Barnes, Max Becker, Paula Bel
Votes: 1,397
45. Girls from Ipanema (2019–2020)
TV-MA | 45 min | Drama, Romance
After her husband's disappearance, Maria Luiza opens a Bossa Nova club in defiance of her normally conservative demeanor.
Stars: Maria Casadevall, Pathy Dejesus, Mel Lisboa, Leandro Lima
Votes: 3,885
46. Pinky (1949)
Approved | 102 min | Drama
A light-skinned black woman falls in love with a white doctor, though he is unaware of her true race.
Directors: Elia Kazan, John Ford | Stars: Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters, William Lundigan
Votes: 3,417 | Gross: $4.20M
47. Perfect Harmony (1991 TV Movie)
93 min | Drama, Family, Music
In a private school in the U.S. South, Mr. Sanders, a new choirmaster tries to reduce some of the prejudice and hostility of some of the students in his choir. Paul, a bully who feels he ... See full summary »
Director: Will Mackenzie | Stars: Peter Scolari, Darren McGavin, Catherine Mary Stewart, Moses Gunn
Votes: 518
48. The White Slave (2016– )
TV-MA | 60 min | History
In Colombia in 1821, a Spanish plantation gets burned down, and only the planters' baby is spared. She gets sent to Spain, but concocts a plan to return home and become an abolitionist.
Stars: Cristina García, Paola Moreno, Nerea Camacho, Federico Nieto-El' Gazi
Votes: 649
49. Show Boat (1936)
Approved | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Despite her mother's objections, the naive young daughter of a show boat captain is thrust into the limelight as the company's new leading lady.
Director: James Whale | Stars: Irene Dunne, Allan Jones, Charles Winninger, Paul Robeson
Votes: 3,697
50. All the Young Men (1960)
Approved | 87 min | Action, Drama, War
During the Korean War, a platoon leader dies, leaving his inexperienced black Sergeant in charge of his squad of belligerent and racist white men.
Director: Hall Bartlett | Stars: Alan Ladd, Sidney Poitier, James Darren, Glenn Corbett
Votes: 655