Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Jordan Peele’s New Movie: How A Black Detective and A Jewish Cop Infiltrated The KKK

Once, when I was a kid, my parents took me to Disneyland on my birthday and I was given a button that said “Today’s my birthday,” and park employees and characters wished me “Happy Birthday,” all day. Even my favorite, Alice in Wonderland.

That feeling is the closest I can get to describing the super-sensory feeling of watching the trailer for Spike Lee and Jordan Peele’s new film, “BlacKkKlansman.”

“BlacKkKlansman,” which is premiering now at Cannes and in theaters on August 10, is about the true story of Ron Stallworth, a black detective who posed as a KKK member in Colorado Springs in the 1980’s, eventually being elected head of his KKK chapter. The movie is based off Stallworth’s book, which details how Stallworth, the first ever black detective in Colorado Springs teamed up with a white, Jewish undercover officer to jointly infiltrate the KKK under a single, shared identity. It’s the first new entry for producer Jordan Peele and his team since his smash hit “Get Out,” and it’s already being heralded as a comeback for director and co-writer Spike Lee.

Here’s the trailer:

As if a black man and a Jewish man doing an anti-white supremacy-style Cyrano de Byrgerac wasn’t enough, the actor playing David Duke — Topher Grace — has Jewish heritage. That’s right — Christopher John Grace, who will portray white nationalist David Duke in Lee’s movie — has a Jewish grandmother, and is technically Jewish.

Duke is literally getting played by Jews.

Jenny Singer is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.