It's painful to think of "ethnic cleansing" when it comes to the history of the United States, even though there's no better term to describe the terrorization, forced removal and murder of countless indigenous Americans over the past three centuries. But while these depredations are common knowledge, most Americans remain blissfully ignorant of another series of banishments that occurred to a different population: former African-American slaves who were violently expelled from their hometowns in the decades following the Civil War. This crucially important documentary from filmmaker Marco Williams examines three cases in particular, and raises some difficult questions about what can be done in the present to make up for the crimes of the past.
These expulsions, which largely occurred from the 1860s clear through the 1920s, followed a suspiciously consistent pattern: An accusation of violent assault by a black man upon a white victim — often a woman — would quickly be followed first by an act of mob violence against the alleged perpetrator, then by a large-scale campaign of terror directed toward the town's black population, which would culminate in black families fleeing town in fear for their lives. There was rarely if ever time for any lawful exchange of property: Homesteads, farms and personal effects would be left behind, and when the owners proved too fearful to return, this "abandoned" property would then pass with dubious legality into the hands of new, white owners. Williams begins by meeting with the descendants of the Strickland family, whose ancestors were driven out of Forsythe County, Georgia, in 1912 during the single worst case of such ethnic cleansing in the U.S. (nearly 1,000 people were displaced). Aided by journalist Elliot Jaspin, the Stricklands trace the title holdings on what is now a very valuable piece of real estate back to its original owner — their ancestors A.J. and Mildred Black — and discover that their property was never legally sold but rather flat out stolen and resold to white owners. Williams next travels to Pierce City, Missouri, where the ancestors of two brothers, Charles and James Brown, were among the 30 black families expelled in 1901. Charles Brown returns to Pierce City to reclaim the body of his great-grandmother's husband, James Cobb, who had been buried in an unmarked grave before his family was forced out. Determined to move the body to the family plot in Springfield, Missouri, Brown manages to win over an initially reluctant coroner and the town's mayor to his cause, but once the work is finished, Brown refuses to pay the nominal fees for the exhumation, thus igniting a difficult discussion over reparations and whether the descendants of terrorists are responsible for the crimes of their great-grandparents. Finally, Williams visits Harrison, Arkansas, where, in 1905 and again in 1909, most of the black population fled in two separate terror attacks, and where today the Klan still feels perfectly at home. Confronted with their criminal past, some Harrison residents attempt to improve the town's racist image through public reconciliation events and university scholarships for the town's few black students. But in addition to riling a certain element who came to Harrison precisely because of its racist reputation, the initiatives raised questions among a number of liberal critics who question their real value.
The historical details will come as an ugly shock to most, and while the question of reparations remains a thorny issue on both sides, what's most troubling about Williams' investigation is the extent to which the same attitudes that led to the banishments in the first place continue to poison the soil of these bland, all-white towns. Few in Forsythe County, Pierce City or Harrison seem willing to look directly at the past, since as they see it, it has no bearing on the present or future. For far too long, silence and obscurity has shrouded this awful chapter in our history. Thankfully this remarkable documentary marks an important step in the right direction. leave a comment --Ken Fox