Soul Man

C. Thomas Howell stars as Mark Watson, a white male law student who pretends to be black in order to qualify for a scholarship at Harvard University. He undergoes a full blackface makeover and learns what life is really like for blacks in America, encountering problems such as prejudice, racism, and harassment. Along the way, he falls in love with Sarah Walker, played by Rae Dawn Chong, but ultimately drops his charade and forfeits his scholarship after realizing the complexities of racial identity. Mark begins to appreciate the challenges faced by black people in American society when he could have easily changed back to being white at any time.