"How Jack Became Black" Documentary

Hey all,

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. My kids and I had a great time in Arizona with my parents.

As most of you know, we released “What Killed Michael Brown?” on YouTube several weeks ago. Now, I’m proud to say that we are doing the same for my earlier documentary, “How Jack Became Black.” There is no charge to watch it.

In many ways, I would not have the career I have today if I had not taken the gamble and made this documentary. In 2008, my sister and I had completed a well-received pilot for MTV Networks when the market crashed and the Writer’s Guild of America decided to strike. This double whammy resulted in layoffs for many folks in the business, including our contacts at MTV. As a result, our pilot was not picked up (I detail another crucial reason why in this documentary.)

With a baby at home and another on the way, I went back to graduate school at Pepperdine’s School of Public Policy. I planned to leave filmmaking and get a job in the public policy world. But while I was at Pepperdine and enjoying its amazing ocean views I kept noticing statistics that pointed to an exploding multiracial population. This fascinated me since I descend from blacks, Jews, whites, and Native Americans. The mother of my kids, Jack and June, was the first person in her family from Mexico to be born here. With all of that history in the blood of my kids I wondered what America would be like for them when they grew up. I explored my initial thoughts in this 2010 Los Angeles Times piece and the amount of letters I received in response convinced me that there was a documentary in this material.

However, I didn’t have a clue on how to make this or where to start. Unlike a crime or some other cinematic event, race is “in the air” and how do you show it? How do you convey to the world what it is like to be multiracial in a racially divided America where people think nothing of exploiting race for power?

When I graduated with a masters degree, I was fortunate to land a work-from-home job doing research for a human rights organization. This job gave me the ability to work on the documentary on the side and figure out a way to bring this story to life.

The key moment came when I tried to register my son for elementary school and found out I had to reduce his complex heritage down to one race or he would not be allowed to enroll. In an America that preaches diversity and inclusion to no end, why was the school forcing my son to lie on the application? And why would they deny him an education for an unchecked race box?

This led me on a long journey where I covered the famous Bill DeBlasio commercial where he revealed his black son, the fight over George Zimmerman’s white-hispanic heritage, the White Privilege Conference which was an eye opener, and several other unorthodox encounters, including a revealing conversation with a top Republican official. Most of all, what I’m truly proud of is the journey into my family’s history which led me to several unexpected revelations.

I premiered the film in 2016 and nearly all film festivals rejected it due to its controversial content — Black Lives Matter was on the rise and anything that did not conform to its ideology was on the outs. Still, I was able to use personal contacts to get the film into several festivals where it received great responses. Over 1,000 colleges brought the film and I still continue to receive emails from viewers. So I hope you can find time to enjoy this film:

On a last note, it occurred to me that one rarely hears “multiracial” these days. That is a sign of how much we have allowed ourselves to regress into the black, white, Asian, Hispanic, and Native American way of thinking. The reality is that interracial marriages are on the rise and America will only become more and more multiracial. I already see this in the lives of my kids, Jack and June, who are friends with people whose families come from all over the world. They know the truth that there is much more to life than the color of their skins. That is why the fight against today’s illiberal racial orthodoxies is of paramount importance today. It is my hope that they become the first Steeles that don’t have do deal with the absurdities of race as they pursue their American Dreams.

All my best,

Eli