is Night of the living dead (1968) an overlooked civil rights classic?

For Black audiences, George A. Romero’s horror classic Night of the Living Dead (1968), is regarded as a cinematic landmark due to the casting of Duane Jones, an African American, as the story’s hero, Ben.  Before his death in 2017, Romero stated that his casting choice had not been intended as a statement about race or racism within the story.  Romero’s carefully chosen words, “I just chose the best actor for the part” however, echo those of racism apologists who promote the fallacy that the casting of a white performer in a role that could—and in some cases, should—have been filled by an actor of color, wasn’t a biased choice but in fact, a fair and “color-blind” decision.  Repeatedly, when speaking to fans who questioned the casting, Romero stood behind his “choosing the best actor”.  Whether his sentiments were true or not, his response to this matter achieved two things:  one, he freed those who would be inconvenienced by racial issues rearing up in their entertainment from the responsibility of having to fence with the film’s greater social meaning and two, he protected and preserved the message for those who welcome it.  Night of the Living Dead is an undeniable Civil Rights think-piece where we see rise the fittest to the top in a test that recognizes no race but the human one.  Meanwhile, the established order of White Supremacy crumbles like a matchstick house in the very first moments of the zombie apocalypse.  The film’s final moment is a heart-breaking commentary about the inherent value of Black life from an era when Black Lives Matter was phrased as “Black is Beautiful” and “Power to the People”.  I highly recommend this film, even for those not inclined towards horror, as an important example of film as political statement.