And while those parts in the movie were partially fictional, it made honest, historically valid points. In fact Matthew Broderick played the role of Col. Robert Gould Shaw, and this was a true representation of an actual Union Army officer who led the 54th. Another message this movie conveyed was that racism was almost always present in society in the 19th century; that is, white soldiers in many cases were racist against the black troops even though they were fighting on the same side. The black and white soldiers were both fighting to rid the nation of slavery and yet there was reluctance on the part of some white soldiers to accept black men as equals in battle. Seeing the film this week after having seen "42," the story of Jackie Robinson getting into Major League Baseball, I see strong parallels. Even though Jackie was a great player, some white ballplayers on his team resented him and didn't want him in their locker room. Similar attitudes of racism were seen in "Glory" as some white troops resented...
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