History Film / TheColorOfFriendship

** Mahree's father is a straighter example. He is a family man, but as a policeman, he helps enforce apartheid and the movie makes it very clear through his nasty racism (even by Apartheid standards) that he's ''not'' merely a PunchClockVillain. See KickTheDog.

* BittersweetEnding: Carrie, Mahree's inspiration, overcame her prejudice, but Piper Dellums claims to have never heard from her again, speculating that the South African government [[{{Unperson}} disappeared her]]. And Ron Dellums' apartheid bill was passed in Congress in 1986 over Ronald Reagan's veto, the ''only'' override of a veto of a foreign policy bill in the 20th century.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Mahree, early in the film, is very disgusted with the cruel treatment a black waiter receives from another patron while out on dinner with her family, in contrast to her father's nonchalant reactions. She's also somewhat offended when Ronald assumes she called Piper a kaffir (which is South Africa's equivalent of the n-word: even under apartheid it was illegal to say, albeit it's not exactly a well-enforced law, as shown in the previous scene with the waiter).

* NiceToTheWaiter: The aforementioned KickTheDog moment for both Mahree's father and the abusive Afrikaner is contrasted with a white American guy who instantly forgives a black waiter accidentally dumping a sundae on his shirt (and even asks for an order of it).

* NWordPrivileges: {{Averted}}. Congressman Dellums nearly kicks Mahree out of the house upon learning she used the Afrikaans slur kaffir, but calms down somewhat when Piper explains that she and Mahree were merely discussing the different words used for black people in Afrikaans; Mahree specifically mentioned that "kaffir" was a slur akin to the n-word, in contrast to the more neutral term "bantu" (more equivalent to "black" or "Negro"), and only after Piper specifically asked about it.[[note]]More specifically, Mahree had mentioned that black people were called "bantu" in her country, and Piper asked her if that was like the n-word, and Mahree basically said, "No, that would be 'kaffir', which is a word I'd never use, 'bantu' just means black."[[/note]] Notably, Mahree actually apologizes to Congressman Dellums for the misunderstanding, even though it's not really her fault (Piper didn't initially explain very well the context in which the term came up).

** Piper later gives Mahree a bigger one for refusing to acknowledge the injustice of apartheid. This comes after Steve Biko is killed by the South African police, and Mahree believes that he was a criminal who killed himself (as the official story went).

''The Color of Friendship'' is a 2000 Creator/DisneyChannel [[MadeForTVMovie Original Movie]] directed by Kevin Hooks and based off of ''Simunye'', a short autobiographical story by Piper Dellums.

* NWordPrivileges: {{Averted}}. Congressman Dellums nearly kicks Mahree out of the house upon learning she used the Afrikaans slur kaffir, but calms down somewhat when Piper explains that she and Mahree were merely discussing the different words used for black people in Afrikaans; Mahree specifically mentioned that "kaffir" was a slur akin to the n-word, in contrast to the more neutral term "bantu" (more equivalent to "black" or "Negro"), and only after Piper specifically asked about it.[[note]]More specifically, Mahree had mentioned that black people were called "bantu" in her country, and Piper asked her if that was like the n-word, and Mahree basically said, "No, 'bantu' just means black, the slur would be 'kaffir', and I'd never say that word."[[/note]] Notably, Mahree actually apologizes to Congressman Dellums for the misunderstanding, even though it's not really her fault (Piper didn't initially explain very well the context in which the term came up).

** Even at the start of the movie, as much as Mahree is oblivious to the struggles her maid Flora faces as a black person under Apartheid, she's shown to be pretty friendly with her overall. This becomes true in an even deeper way at the end, when Mahree secretly shows Flora the freedom flag she'd smuggled back as a way of telling her that she understands now and is on her side.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Mahree, having grown up under apartheid, makes many condescending remarks about black people, and doesn't notice the anger her family's maid has for apartheid. Spending time with a black family opens her eyes to the idea that they're NotSoDifferent after all, which leads her to reexamine her beliefs.

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Mahree, having grown up under apartheid, makes many condescending remarks about black people, and doesn't notice the anger her family's maid has for apartheid.

* NWordPrivileges: {{Averted}}. Congressman Dellums nearly kicks Mahree out of the house upon learning she used the Afrikaans slur kaffir, but calms down somewhat when Piper explains that she and Mahree were merely discussing the different words used for black people in Afrikaans; Mahree specifically mentioned that "kaffir" was a slur akin to the n-word, in contrast to the more neutral term "bantu" (more equivalent to "black" or "Negro"), and only after Piper specifically asked about it.[[note]]More specifically, Mahree had mentioned that a person like Piper might be called "bantu" in her country, and Piper asked her if that was like the n-word, and Mahree basically said, "No, that would be 'kaffir', and I'd never use that word."[[/note]] Notably, Mahree actually apologizes to Congressman Dellums for the misunderstanding, even though it's not really her fault.