Private Ryan Accused of Racism

Black American World War II veterans have criticised Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan for having an all-white cast. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has received a number of irate phone calls from black veterans who say the picture ignores the contributions of black soldiers during the war. An NAACP spokesperson told the New York Daily News, "The most frequent comment about the film is that it's the most realistic depiction ever done of the war, and yet there are no black people anywhere, not even among the extras." However, a spokesman for Spielberg responded by saying that the film focuses on a small group of soldiers, and that the U.S. army wasn't completely integrated at the time. "Saying, 'We need an African-American here' would not have been faithful to what was going on," said the spokesman.