Talk to Me, Alex Schreiner
The movie shows the challenges imposed by the racial struggles of the period. Petey and Dewey were in very different positions in corporate America, but the movie shows how they were still not in positions of equality with white America. When Petey walks in and demands to see the boss, the station manager states that he is the only boss there. This emphasizes that even Dewey, who is playing the corporate game and is accused of being “just another white man with a tan,� cannot obtain the same level of power as his boss. Dewey realized that he was not selling out by gaining an education and working hard for himself, but he still understood the repercussions that could develop if he was to say the things that were not in keeping with the comfortable mainstream. This is why he needed Petey to say the things he was afraid to, because he was allowing someone to speak for the people regardless of the corporate consequences. Petey was not looking to be a businessman, only to convey the message of black equality and social injustices, regardless of whether he was getting paid in a radio booth or on a bullhorn in the streets.