Oscar-Nominated Doc Explores Internalized Racism

How does a black kid survive in town where whiteness dominates and racism rules?

The Oscar-nominated documentary short Black Sheep shows how Nigerian-born Cornelius did everything he possibly could to be accepted in a community that only hated him for who he was. When he moved from London to the suburbs of Essex, U.K., he couldn't even walk to the store without torments of hate speech and threats of violence. Determined to be accepted by his tormentors, he changed his accent, clothes, and even went so far as to wear blue contacts and bleach his skin. Cornelius even notes it wasn't about him hating himself or his own race.

"It's not even that I wanted to be white. I just wanted to fit in." In the U.S., hate crimes are on the rise and there are more recognized hate groups than ever before. Black Sheep documents how far someone will go to survive in an environment that chooses hate over love. The emotionally raw retelling of Cornelius's youth draws in audiences of all backgrounds and at its core, tells a heart-wrenching universal story of a person wanting to be accepted.

Watch the Academy Award-nominated short documentary below.