I admit that I had tears today after revisiting this episode. It is a late entry in the fifth season, for a long time sort of buried in obscurity, rarely shown or discussed. But "I Am the Night - Color Me Black", I think, could be a testament to Serling's empathy, his ability to see so much that concerned him. He could see the hate, the inability to consider your fellow human. When you scan the IMDb user comments, you'll notice plenty of remarks about "preaching from a pulpit". I did that. I regret that now. I have since removed a piece I wrote (and an additional piece I added to the old review as an addendum, a renewed look at the material and what Serling had to say) for my IMDb account and will include it here. I truly feel if Serling could be revived and see what it is like today, he would feel that nothing has changed. If anything, it's gotten so much worse. If that darkness truly did exist, I feel practically the entire world would be overwhelmed by it. There is this incredible scene where the reverend (Ivan Dixon, who was just a wonderful, gifted actor) addresses Jagger up on the hanging platform about the killing, regarding whether or not he liked it. Jagger freely, and passionately, admits he did, even though he had contempt for such a racist piece of shit. Dixon's reverend doesn't pretend to be some high and mighty saint...he sees that they are all unfortunately in trouble because so much has been lost due to a lack of empathy, of seeing what is right and what is wrong. When Jagger looks at the reverend as he looks into the crowd declaring Jagger quite guilty, asking him if he likes being among the majority, I realize those who aren't Christian might consider the Jesus line (veiled by Serling's script with "he who died on the cross 2000 years ago) a bit much, but I think the point was that none are without some guilt. Jagger defended black and brown people being unjustly prejudiced against, but that feeling of enjoyment after shooting the racist, not bothered by the victim's demise, the reverend realized that despite how vile and disgusting the trial was (the sheriff wanted to be reelected and didn't pursue the case further, his deputy perjured himself because he was racist, and the editor badly needed his newspaper to obtain a paying customer base so he printed what he needed to so those readers would buy his product), not even the man set to be hanged was without fault.
"You were right you know. I saw the victim. He did have powder burns. But when a committee of townspeople came to me and said their be no autopsy I just bent my head and nodded. We all got axes to grind, don't we? I want to be re-elected sheriff. You want to keep selling newspapers. And deputy Pierce here..he likes to feel important. He likes to be popular. He likes to stay on the good side of people. Here we are gentlemen..treading water in a sewer."
Serling is preaching to the congregation(the healthy Twilight Zone audience provided a fine audience to speak to from his pulpit)about hate, prejudice, and the obstruction of justice, not to mention, the exploitation of an execution at the hands of those so self-righteous(as Serling's script so sounds in the dialogue)they can not even see, their blind because of the darkness in their souls. In the case of I AM THE NIGHT--COLOR ME BLACK, Serling's screenplay hasn't a hint of subtlety, and he goes for broke pontificating just how he feels about those who love to point their fingers at someone, while at the same time yearning to watch their execution with relish. The man to be executed is Jagger(the intense and fierce Terry Becker, his performance all urine and vinegar, going out spitting venom), and it's because he killed a popular "cross burner", a racist pig who took a gunshot wound to the head out of an act of self-defense. He was quite a figure in town and so the locals are excited about seeing his murderer hung by the rope. Self-loathing Sheriff Charlie Koch(Michael Constantine)knows that the evidence attained at the crime scene pointed towards Jagger's innocence, Deputy Pierce(THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW'S happy-go-lucky George Lindsey in a very different kind of part than you are used to seeing him)having actually perjured himself so that Jagger would be found guilty(if he wouldn't have been already thanks to an impartial jury who couldn't see the evidence on its own), and newspaper man Colbey(Paul Fix)who took the easy way out and presented only part of the story, without printing the whole truth, afraid to indict an unjust trial. This sets the stage for the supernatural mystery of the absence of light in the small town, a purveying darkness which doesn't cease and later spreads. Oh and to nail his moral lesson home, Serling has a black priest standing over the maddening crowd informing them of why the darkness continues when its after 9:30 in the morning. ------
This is what I wrote a few years ago. But perhaps with age comes perspective. Perhaps when eyes are wide open, and there is a willingness to see what Serling did, we can awaken with a different understanding of the episode. Because with hate and darkness just as evident this present day as way back in '64, Serling might have been pontificating and preaching from a pulpit but the message had and continues to have relevance. But, sigh, will we listen or ever consider the point he was trying to make? (Jan 1st, 2019)
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