NPR critic thinks 'it's time for Tom Hanks to be antiracist' and do more to dismantle 'ideas of white American exceptionalism and heroism' in film

Tom Hanks is a well known Hollywood liberal, but he’s managed to remain pretty universally liked.

Clearly something must be done about that.

Who tf picks on good guy Tom Hanks?! JFC….

— Wes Moon (@WesMoon1980) June 14, 2021

NPR. NPR picks on him.

NPR picks on him because according to TV critic Eric Deggans, Tom Hanks as one man hasn’t done enough to educate Americans about racism in our country’s history, such as the 1921 Tulsa Massacre, which Hanks said he only learned about last year. According to Eric Deggans, it’s incumbent upon Tom Hanks to open our eyes to our racist past and atone for his own role in perpetuating ignorance about our racist past.

Tom Hanks recently wrote an essay in "The New York Times" urging more widespread teaching of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. TV critic Eric Deggans says it's wonderful that Hanks stepped forward to advocate for teaching about a race-based massacre, but he adds it's not enough.

— NPR (@NPR) June 14, 2021

The insults and bullying are already piling up in my Twitter timeline. But I'm proud of my column today on Tom Hanks' op-ed about teaching the Tulsa Race Massacre; I'm a fan, but what he said is not enough. It's time for Tom Hanks to be antiracist. https://t.co/xeHPu14WP6

— Eric Deggans at NPR (@Deggans) June 13, 2021

And what does being an antiracist entail for Tom Hanks? Deggans concludes:

If he really wants to make a difference, Hanks and other stars need to talk specifically about how their work has contributed to these problems and how they will change. They need to make specific commitments to changing the conversation in story subjects, casting and execution. That is the truly hard work of building change.

Rather than talk about what “historically based fiction entertainment” must do, why not talk about what Tom Hanks, longtime scripted and documentary executive producer, will do? As a star who can get a movie made just by agreeing to appear in it, what will Tom Hanks, movie star, actually do?

People often say columns such as the one by Hanks are published to start a conversation. Well, here is my suggestion: Let’s make part of that conversation how baby boomer filmmakers have made fortunes amplifying ideas of white American exceptionalism and heroism.

And how their responsibility now lies with helping dismantle and broaden the ideas they helped cement in the American mind.

https://t.co/cBNLtanM0D did a story about my column on Tom Hanks that also mentioned cancel culture. But my column was encouraging Hanks to use his power to make more movies and TV shows reflecting a broader history, so I'm not sure where the cancel part comes from. https://t.co/uSNU9DhO2R

— Eric Deggans at NPR (@Deggans) June 14, 2021

Pretty weak linkage in the column though. Hanks says he learned about Tulsa in a NYT article from a year ago, say black history should be taught more, you respond by impugning his career of playing so called “white savior” roles.

— EdAsante (@EdAsante77) June 14, 2021

I respond by saying I'm a huge fan and as a successful, creative force in Hollywood, he can do a lot to alleviate the problem he points out in his own essay. A problem Hanks himself said was part of his own projects, too. https://t.co/d1iwMyWteR

— Eric Deggans at NPR (@Deggans) June 14, 2021

Tom Hanks acknowledged that his work often hasn’t tackled some of the darkest moments of racial strife in our past, but he said he believes it’s important for films to tackle those moments head-on in order to come to terms with our history. Here’s Tom Hanks, saying loud and clear that he wants to do better.

And here’s Eric Deggans, saying that it’s still not good enough.

Because for some people, it will never be good enough.

No good deed goes unpunished

— Sloget (@sloget) June 14, 2021

Oh, it’s never enough.

— Applesauce McGee (@ApplesauceMcGee) June 14, 2021

Nothing is ever enough.

— 𝚓𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚑𝚗𝚎𝚛 (@jeremydehner) June 14, 2021

There is never enough. This was irresponsible NPR. Your story went into how he just had to do more, and didn’t cover nearly anything he has done. Now he is being blown up by both sides when he is truly one of the good guys. JFC guys. Shame on you.

— Matthew D. Miller (@awatarius) June 14, 2021

Shame on NPR.

And let this serve as a lesson to Tom Hanks and to anyone else who thinks social justice warriors’ bloodlust will ever be sated.