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Talkback
What did African American descendents lose as a result of banishment? Share your thoughts and your reaction to BANISHED.
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As the opening scenes of black women, children and men running for their lives with white men with pitchforks and torches behind them, I was filled with a variety of emotions form anger to sadness to shock and total disbelief. How could anyone have the power to kick another person off of their own property? Before seeing this film, I did not know anything about racial cleansing. I knew that there were towns where there were a few black people, but I never thought that maybe there are only a few or no black people there because of the results of racial cleansings. Throughout the whole documentary I still felt the emotions of anger and sadness and sometimes complete disgust because of how some of the white people in the towns did not even want to talk about it, even though I felt like they have nothing to be worried about because they still had their homes. I guess some felt ashamed of what happened and felt that they would be blamed for what happened, even though the majority of them didn’t have any part in the actions of the past inhabitants. One the other hand, I felt that the black families had the right to be upset about what happened but at the same time, some of them didn’t go through what happened first hand. Their family members felt the results of the racial cleansings and those family members have every right to fight for what they believe to be unethical and unfair. When the blacks families were shown and told their story as to how they wanted land or reparations or even a family member’s grave moved to another location I was sadden. I was saddened from all of these because honestly, there would be no way that land and reparations would be given to every black family who had ancestors banished from those towns. In another way, I was sadden by the man wanting to move his family member’s grave site, because it’s horrible that he had to feel like the grave was not safe where it was located.
In order to create something that enables black people to get closure and white people to feel relieved in a sense, I feel that a common movement of recognition should take place. I’m not saying that what happened is not important and I’m not saying that it should be forgotten, but I think that honest and complete recognition of what happened should first take place. For everyone, black and white, to look back and to understand what happened, who it affected and to realize how it has played out now in society, all of these things need to be examined. After that I think that everyone can get past what happened by being educated about it and then taking a stand to not let it happen again. Obviously, this is better said than done and for everyone to truly get past the issue is not guaranteed. But the simple notion that everyone knows what happened and can start to put the past in the past and create a society where racial cleansing will not occur again, is in my eyes is a worthy reparation and reconciliation.
The interviewer in this documentary was incredibly skilled, brave, and calm. He was able to gather a lot of important information and opinions without letting his personal opinions affect his tone of voice. It really struck me to watch the black interviewer interview the KKK man at the KKK headquarters. I feel proud of the interviewer for being brave enough to go into that building and talk to that man. I would have a hard time keeping my cool, and I'm white. I also thought it was good that the KKK man stayed calm and objective. He put his opinion out there bluntly, but not in a hostile manner.
It made me angry to hear what some of the white people from the towns in Arkansas had to say. It made me angry that they sometimes denied that the cleansing happened at all, or that they shoved it off as insignificant or acceptable. I was shocked to find that there are still people in our modern age who believe such things. It was a wake-up call for me and enlightened me about different lifestyles and beliefs.
But I have to wonder if it is really so bad that there are cities with no, or virtually no, black people. If the white people of those town live a unique lifestyle which is not inclusive of blacks, than isn't it best that the town remains all white? I don't think it's up to us to try to change these citizens' beliefs. In the spirit of acceptance, shouldn't we accept that these white people wish to remain by themselves? Certainly it was wrong to steal the land of black people and kick them out of the city. That's a crime. But is it wrong that most black people wish to not move back, and that most white people wish for them not to as well? Why not leave these people alone to live their lives instead of forcing them into an inclusive environment?
As far as reparations go, my gut instinct has and continues to be that it is not fair to make the descendants of criminals pay the price for their ancestors' mistakes. I really don't know what the answer is, because land was stolen and somebody has to pay. I don't know what is typically done when a stolen good has been purchased. But I don't think it's fair to make somebody else pay the price for someone's crimes.
I recently watched the documentary Banished and from it I gathered a lot of different feelings and emotions. I must first start by saying that the events that took place in the film are not a shock to me. These things have went on in a number of southern counties across the "Land of the Free." It is not shocking that African Americans were forced from their land in America because they were taken from their homes in Africa. For hundreds of years African Americans have been stripped of everything that they own and forced to start over again. What is a shock is that its taken so many years for all of these things to be brought to the light.
Because I watched this film in a room with both blacks and whites, I spent much of the film looking at the expressions on the faces of those around me. I noticed that some of the faces in the room were of discuss while others were in awe. Many of us were discussed with the harsh treatment that these "Free" African Americans received. While others were in awe of the way in which the people of these towns still think . The treatment of these people lead me to a lot of questions.
*Why would someone want to drive out a group of people because of their race?
*How does one sleep at night knowing that they have exiled a group of people who have done nothing to them?
*Why do whites not want to talk about what was done? Are they too ashamed?
As an African American, I understand feeling ashamed and not wanting to discuss it but that is a barrier that we as African Americans must break free of. As I've mentioned before, these acts of discrimination are nothing new. These things have been going on for hundreds of years to the African American community and until we begin to open up and talk to one another, we will continue to be face these hardships. There is no amount of money or act of kindness that could reconcile what has been done, so as Americans we must move on and learn from our past.
I did not know how to feel after watching this film. I cant go around feeling sorry for the families because I would have to feel sorry for every African American who has ever experienced racial discrimination. I cant go around hating white people because their ancestors, and still some today,have ostracized African Americans from their communities. But what I can do is make every effort to know my families history-where we came from, where we have been, and whats rightfully ours in an effort to preserve what is ours for future generations.
I watched the documentary in a class recently. Honestly, I did not know what to think; I don’t know how to process what happened or what I saw. I am sad. I felt angry and frustrated. I felt ashamed. And I felt somewhat hopeless. There are no words and probably no action that could ever make this wholly right for those who were stolen from and treated as less than what they were.
I’m torn. I feel for the families, for what was not lost but stolen from them. But what can be done. What reparations can be made when so much has been stolen? We certainly do not seem to be a land of equal opportunity. These families were uprooted, how many descendants’ lives would be different today if that had not happened? I live the life that I live because my grandparents made sacrifices and provided certain things for their children. That tradition carried of providing a better life and being rooted thanks to the previous generation. This was not possible because the ‘lives’ they had made for themselves were stolen. For a people to have to go through being treated as property and then to be given some sort of freedom, that was stolen from them shortly after is incomprehensible.
Reparations are way past necessary. If nothing else, an acknowledgement of what really happened is necessary. I don’t understand the logistics that would go into giving them land back or making compensation for what was stolen and the land that was illegally possessed. Something does need to be done though. Someone needs to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the sins of their fathers. Sadly, those counties have gotten too comfortable with hiding the past in a file drawer of some county building. The “versions” of the stories need to be destroyed and they need to be honest with the world about what happened. Acknowledging our past is the ONLY way of moving on.
I watched the documentary in a class recently. Honestly, I did not know what to think; I don’t know how to process what happened or what I saw. I am sad. I felt angry and frustrated. I felt ashamed. And I felt somewhat hopeless. There are no words and probably no action that could ever make this wholly right for those who were stolen from and treated as less than what they were.
I’m torn. I feel for the families, for what was not lost but stolen from them. But what can be done. What reparations can be made when so much has been stolen? We certainly do not seem to be a land of equal opportunity. These families were uprooted, how many descendants’ lives would be different today if that had not happened? I live the life that I live because my grandparents made sacrifices and provided certain things for their children. That tradition carried of providing a better life and being rooted thanks to the previous generation. This was not possible because the ‘lives’ they had made for themselves were stolen. For a people to have to go through being treated as property and then to be given some sort of freedom, that was stolen from them shortly after is incomprehensible.
Reparations are way past necessary. If nothing else, an acknowledgement of what really happened is necessary. I don’t understand the logistics that would go into giving them land back or making compensation for what was stolen and the land that was illegally possessed. Something does need to be done though. Someone needs to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the sins of their fathers. Sadly, those counties have gotten too comfortable with hiding the past in a file drawer of some county building. The “versions” of the stories need to be destroyed and they need to be honest with the world about what happened. Acknowledging our past is the ONLY way of moving on.
The flim Banished was mindblowing and I fought it hard to wrap my mind around the whole notion of no BLACKS in white communities or towns. While watching the film I experienced I number of emotions and reactions, from hate and anger to empathy and compassion. I felt these different types of emotions because I felt as "one" with those individuals driven out of their homes and communities. I could sense their pain, hatred,and anger. I experienced anger and hate towards those white communities because in my opinion running Blacks from thier homes is unheard of and wrong. I expressed even more anger after learning that those white communities that ran out the Black people were acting as if it never happend. They would not admit that they did anything wrong and tried their damnest of look past it. There is a scene in the film that hit a nerve. I cannot remember what town it was in. This town awarded several blacksn students sholarships to attend their college, which is a good and everything. But I think the only reason why they did that was not because they cared about the black students and wanted to see them succeed. They did it to make themselves feel better while steadliy covering up the truth. In addition, they did it to say they gave something to the Blacks to show their gratitude and compassion for what happened. However, some whites would reframe from speaking of it. But others would plain out say, "they moved to those all white communities because there wasn't any Blacks." Upon hearing that my heart broke into pieces and I cried inside for those poor souls who were ran out for nothing. Whiling watching this film many questions entered my mind, such as "What did the whites have against the Blacks?" Or why did they have to run them out? The reoccuring question that kept entering my mind was: "How were the whites able to sell the Black people land, if they did agree to sell it?" There were several scenes that were meaningful. The scene that stayed in my mind the most was: when it talked about how whites burned down a Black family's side of their house to make them leave. I strongly believe that the family member of those individuals who were ran out and who had land should be paid something in regards to their family's members land. By the way, I trustly believe that whites do not want to talk about the subject because they do not want to face the facts. They do not want to stare the "truth" in its face. In their eyes if they admit to what they did it would be admitting that they were wrong and should be punished for their unjustice deeds. In my honest opinion, there is nothing we can do about reconciling two versions of history becuase no matter how much we try to make people aware it will not change things at all. Simply because "white" individuals are content with themselves and do not want change by any means. Personally no amount of money will change the past and wipe away the horrid events that take place in those times. The day when whites are willing to admit that they did wrong and wiling to change their "whites communities" to white and black communities only then will there be change.
The documentary Banished relates the event of racial cleansing in the South. While watching the film, I experienced many emotions, concerns, and questions. First, I will discuss the different emotions I felt while watching this film. I felt the emotions of sadness, guilt, and anger. Sadness comes from the racial cleansing itself. It is a shame, to me, that such violent acts happened in these cities. I also feel sadness for the families which were forced to leave their homes in the middle of the night. This is a country of freedom and these families were not given the same freedom as others. Second, I felt guilty. Although I did not participate in the racial cleansing, I feel a sense of guilt of being a Caucasian American. Last, I felt anger toward the inhabitants of these cities. These residents had no concern for anyone else’s well being. These are some of the emotions I felt while watching Banished.
Next, I will discuss some concerns I had during the documentary. First, I was concerned about the families themselves. They were chased from their homes with no hope of ever returning or reclaiming their land. Secondly, I was concerned for the ancestors of these families. The ancestors may never know where their family land sits. There is also a strong chance they will never recover or be compensated for the land which is rightfully theirs. Last, and most important, I am concerned with the cities themselves. I believe they are isolating themselves from this growing and expanding world. These are some concerns I experienced while watching the documentary.
Last, I have many questions concerning this film. First, I would like to know if these families will ever get compensated for their losses. Also, will these cities ever change their racist ways? One important question on my mind is, ca families put a price on what their ancestor’s lost? Lastly, after reading the articles on the internet, I wonder how I would respond to one of the people in the film. Would there be any way of comforting them?
There is one particular event in the film which I have mixed emotions. It is the event of exhuming the family grave. I understand the family’s wishes to bury him with other family member’s, but at the same time I wonder if it is necessary to disturb a grave. I also believe the whites did not want to discuss this issue of exhuming the body in fear of attention. These cities are excluded from the rest of the world and this would only cause more attention for them.
Just as a tornado destroyed pierce city MO... a tornado needs to visit all those places where this atrocity has occured. Oh God, make it so! and thats all i have to say about that(in my forrest gump voice)
I must first begin with saying I have not yet seen the film, So i will not comment about it's content. But I am unhappy with what I have read in these comments. I am in my early 30's and am not a native of the Harrison area, but I have lived here since 1991. Being that I have lived here for my whole adult life and can count the stories I recall of racial injustices on one hand, that's not too bad. Probably couldn't say the same if I lived in Springfield MO or even Fayetteville AR.
As for the KKK, Robb only calls Harrison home because the small community of Zinc, where Klan is believed to call "headquarters", barely exists. And I may just out of their little circle of friends, but I have never heard of any rallies taking place in or around Harrison.
As for myself, I am not a racist person. I have falily members as well as a best friend that are mixed. But that does not mean that their aren't people in the area that share my views about respecting a person for who they are rather than the color of their skin. People resist change if it clashes with the beliefs that they were brought up with. If more minorities were to move to the Harrison area these negative attitudes toward other races could, and probaly would, be replaced with the ideas that we are all the same on a basic level.
It is hilarious how in 2008 a lot of Caucasians have redeemed their consciences by now co-mingling with African-Americans and other minorities. The only differences being they come from their large mansions and estates on the hills, driving their gas-guzzler; hummers and German-engineered automobiles and dressed in subtle colors from tailors in London and Paris. They hold well-paying jobs as a result of a lifetime of comfortable living and leisurely upbringing, attending ivy league schools, accumulating fancy interest-free loans and grants while breezing through party-filled educational experiences laced with ominous-sounding Greek letters establishing their worth. What goes unmentioned is how directly the sufferings of my ancestors goes to the respective luxurious existence they now enjoy. Why they cannot, for the life of me understand how and why they are just as responsible for the sins of their fathers is beyond me. How they cannot fathom that the very lap of serenity they and their family now enjoy is not only as a result of the cotton-picking of my great, great-grandfather and the millions of lives lost and wasted, but the opportunities denied generations of descendants as well while on the converse, the opposite has held true for the better part of the past three hundred years. When will we decide to face the truth about our present and acknowledge the grimy truths about our past, regardless of our differences and honestly attempt to rectify the unforgivable and incredulous arrogance of a percentage of a particular racial group who have figuratively raped, not only our ancestors but whole nations, for as long as our memories can recall. What happened to our ancestors on an individual and group level is just another example of what has been taking place to countries like Zaire (Copper), South Africa (Gold and Diamonds) and let's not forget the latest, Iraq (Oil). It still makes me sick to my stomach every time I pass by De Beers. I am just a humble individual who can see all this. Who do they think they are fooling? When will we wake up?
The whole film was based on half-truth, inuendo's, and sentiment; 500 people in the Klan? That's ridiculous, try maybe 25 local, 50 at best, the whole thing was a total fabrication, I think the Harrison Task Force is absurd, it doesn't speak for me.
I read some of the comments, especially from the ones around the Harrison area, first of all I know the Robb family, and there are not 500 active members in his group, that is totally, totally false. I've been to several rallies as a guest, there may be, and I'm stretching it, including wives and children, maybe 100, and of those, well over half aren't from around here. There are alot of myths that aren't true regarding the Klan, as well as Harrison Arkansas.
I can't speak for everybody, but one of the reasons people don't move to Harrison, is because of economics, it's not a white collar town, we got a few factories that keeps us barely above the poverty line, as far as 'closing the door to blacks', I don't buy that, while I admit, very few blacks live here, I believe the main reason they aren't here, is because the blacks are uncomfortable being around an overwhelmingly white area, that, and the fact that there is absolutely no night life, unless you consider Shoney's or the truckstop in Bellfonte.
Most people from Harrison, are somewhat scared of blacks, very, very, very few, would try acts of violence toward blacks, that is a myth both outside as well as within the city limits. I think many of the citizens would be leery of blacks moving here, but I can't see acts of violence.
Let's cut through the chase, I want people to move here, because they like it here, not because of Banished, or our Task Force trying to make us feel guilty over things we had no control over. I want people to move here because they want to, to raise their kids, if they are good people, the color of their skin makes no difference, it isn't blacks most Harrison people have trouble with moving here, but there is a certain amount of fear to potential gangs springing up like they have in Little Rock, in case you don't know Little Rock isn't a sleepy southern town, it's mean, per capita, there's as much violent
crime as New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles.
The Task Force doesn't speak for me, nor does the Klan or other supremist outfits, my views are my views, I believe in treating people fair, reparations are not fair, you are not responsible for what your ancestors did, besides, even if it was clear cut the whites in Harrison mistreated the blacks, which I'm not totally sure of, but assuming they did, who was it? It certainly isn't anybody now, people that were born in 1903 would be 105 today in 2008, I'd venture to say, their all dead. I believe in treating people right, but don't put me on a guilt trip for something I had no control over,
I try to be realistic, as well as fair to all people involved. First of all, my home is 15 miles from Harrison Arkansas, from a personal standpoint, Banished does not speak for the way most people around here feel and believe. I believe in treating people decent and fair, but I disagree with reparation money, for anybody, I'm part Cherokee, I had people on the trail of tears, all the money in the world isn't going to change what happened, it's done, besides, there is a Bible verse that states children are not to be responsible for the sins of their fathers, I hate all this talk, besides not everybody in Harrison is responsible for things over 100 years ago.
Another thing is, not everybody in Boone County is involved in the Klan, and the ones that are, aren't going around doing the things Hollywood loves to show. Banished in my opinion, sensationilized what our area was and is like, thanks to the Task Force that by far doesn't speak for our area.
Hey, I believe in the American dream, I believe any man, woman, or child, should get the same opportunity, chance, to be all they can be, if they are hard-working, honest, and has a good heart, I pray nothing but the best. But stop putting my people on a guilt trip. Quit asking me to make special accomadations for some, while restricting others, which is exactly what many radical minorities and left-wing whites that side with them are doing.
In all honesty, if blacks moved here, as long as they were good citizens, I have no problem with that, but quit asking me to lay prostrate, apologize, and offer reparations. I'll not lie, I don't want us like Little Rock, that's one of the fears my people have. As far as race-mixing, I don't agree with it, anymore than I agree with homosexuality, but that's their business. That's another unfair stereotype Arkansas and the south has, that the good ole boys look for black boys to hang that's been seen with the white women. It doesn't please me, but you don't see that in Harrison, which I'm sure Marco Williams and several Task Force people from Harrison want you to believe. You see race-mixers in Wal Mart all the time, but again, that's their business, I know many blacks who don't agree with this anymore than whites. Bottomline? I think all people want to be treated with common respect, and they should, I've never had a problem with that. But Banished is a racist film, they should apologize to Harrison and other towns they attacked
Finally, instead of looking at the injustices of small towns over 100 years ago, why not look at present day St. Louis, Miami, Detroit, Harlem, or Watts? Why were these places ignored?
As a resident of southwest Missouri, I have been thinking about Banished ever since I saw it on PBS over a month ago. In fact, it motivated me to research Springfield Missouri's very similar history to that of Pierce City's. In 1906 three African American men were lynched by a mob of 6000 people. The African American population was at 20% before the lynching, and it is still only at about 3.3% today. I am very thankful for all the people that spoke out and brought this topic to attention. It has inspired me.
As I was surfing cable today I stumbled upon "Banished", which rendered such heart-wrenching effects and memories of my upbringing from the 1930's in Jackson, Mississippi. Thanks for this information. I am an activist for causes such as these, and will be following this story. One of the main issues here is "strict" education (in general), especially about matters such as these. Certainly there may never be reparations, so we must become educated enough to see that this ugly demon does not rear it's ugly head again in America, in our time. Keep up the good work young man!
I'm watching this excellent, eye-opening program as I type. Nothing has changed where I live in the Pierce City and surrounding areas. I am as sure as I can be that if you planted a black family in the Greenfield, Miller, Mt. Vernon, etc. area to do another story, heaven help them escape from the injustices that will befall them unless sufficient protect was provided. Less than 4 years ago, a black man was told in a restaurant in Miller, MO that 'we don't serve colored people here'.
To Whom It May Concern,
I am a young Afican- American woman who believes in Reparations, but also belives in hard work does desrve to be payed in full for. The work of Slaves in the past mentally unbearalble. I don't know how the people kept their families together. We as Afriacn-Americans donnot have anything but Slavery to be taught to our children. It Would be only right, that African-Americans be paid for the deteriation of a Culture. When the slaves were let go suffering cotinued for years, just to fit into an American
Society that had no means for Blacks to Prosper. It is just like letting a child go off into the world with no support for the parent. The child would be lost.
Thank You
Scincerely,
Naomi L.F.
I just wanted to comment on a phrase I heard during the show. The reporter mentioned that the banishment of blacks in Forsythe County GA was an example of the largest ethnic banishment in America.
As good as the show was, why did he not know about the Cherokees and the "Trail of Tears"? Or any one of HUNDREDS of other times when Indians were driven off their lands? The bumper ticket is true (to paraphrase), "If you're not Indian, you're an illegal alien!"
An Indian was being forced to convert or be burned at the stake. When asked why he would not convert and go to heaven to be with other Christians he said (to paraphrase), "If they are like you, I do not want to meet them." He was then promptly burned alive at the stake. From the documentary on the voyages of Christopher Columbus
I found the film very informative, and it only tells a small part of the injustices suffered by the descendants of enslaved Africans in America. I also find it interesting to hear the concept of reparations described as "divisive" whenever the issue is raised in reference to the descendants of enslaved Africans, but the ongoing efforts for holocaust reparations are never described that way. It also isn’t considered unjust that holocaust reparations are still being paid by the taxes of those who had nothing directly to do with the holocaust. Even the much heralded presidential candidate Barack Obama refuses to discuss reparations for the descendants of enslaved Africans; apparently there's a limit to how much he's willing to dialogue on race.
what an enlightening film!!
it occurs to me, that when it comes to topics such as slaver, racism, and others, that one can tend to look for a hiding place.
there is no hiding place!! your conscience never looks for one!! only when we defer to our brain do we find a convient hiding place!!
i was surprised the community of pierce city did not jump at the chance to help the BROWN family move their grandfathers grave to their family plot. perhaps their mayor did not give them the opportunity to perform this good deed.
thank-you for the look back into our family histories!!73
As a journalist and author, I applaud this effort to shine a light on the reality of property ownership in the United States. For blacks, Native Americans and other 'unfavored minorities' legal ownership to land in this county has been problematic at best. There are CURRENT cases in Arkansas, Kentucky and Mississippi that I am personally familiar with, many of which involve possible official corruption and extortion. I discuss part of the ongoing land piracy problem in my book, Land, Legacy and Lynching; much of the book is devoted to CURRENT land theft, theft via document deception and official corruption. This is not and "ancient" problem; it is real; it is happenening as we speak.
I understand that injustices were done and they should be righted. However, how many years need to go by until it is felt that the injustices have been made right? Does it take an apology and then forgiveness as is the Bible; does it take land-money? Nothing can ever bring the people in the past back. I am a polish american. Injustices were not only done by Germany in Auschwitz and again here when our generations landed in America. I also have a brother that was killed and I hated that person for about ten years, and I wanted that peson to die. But I finally realized that I needed to forgive, to realize that maybe he learned a leason as well and would be a better person. For me to hold that hate and anger in only made it worse and kept my trust and faith away. I was then the one doing the wrong by keeping the hate, anger and assuming that I was owed something. I am not owed something because my father's father was done wrong. We all live in this land of America. We should all go forward not backwards. I go on my own merit, true to my heart, big or small.
I watched "Banished" with a certain amount of intellectual curiosity since I had once lived nearby a town that had banished blacks many years before my habitation of said town. The whole journey regarding the relocation of an ancestor was interesting to me, and the town's dilemma and reaction was equally interesting, because they were trying to reconcile a different era, a different context, a time period when the banishment occured, with TODAY.
Then, all of a sudden, the principal player had his hand out, asking for an entitlement, expecting the "white town" to pay for the past sins of the residents of the town, even though he could pay for the movement of his kin, so he said, with no financial hardship whatsoever. It made my heart sink. That action was just too sterotypical to bear. As a white person, I do not understand that 200+ years later, we are obligated to pay for something we had nothing to do with. It is time to move on. It is past time to get on with the living of one's life and give up the fruitless exercise of rehearsing over and over and over the sins of the past. It is time to put that same energy on improving the black community and insisting that their young people choose education and a healthy lifestyle. Every single group on the face of the earth has been pushed off their land at one time or another! Study history. Being stuck in the past is nothing short of depriving onesself of the future.
Bravo Marco Williams on telling an untold story! Great, eye opening film. Intriguing and well told. Thank you... I learned so much.
The histories of the wrongdoings of the Indian American, African American, Jews, Irish, Christians and the list goes on not only in the United States but across the world displays the evil and selfishness of mankind. We have much to learn from the wrongs of our past and of our present. Open your hearts to hear the pain that has come from these wrong doings. Commit your heart to work to make a difference in the present and in the future.
We can't undo the past but we must not forget the past either. It isn't possible to pay off eveyone that has been harmed or hurt and money will not heal their pain, but the wounds can heal if each of us learn from the past and help to heal those around us that are hurting and we listen, and we work to not repeat the past.
Reparations is a divisive issue. In my family's history, we had Native American ancestors who suffered the " Trail of Tears" - some of whom died on the "trail". We also have in our ancestry, several "indentured Servants" which is simply another word for white slave - they never experienced "Freedom" in thier lifetime. These events - and African Slavery were part of the growing pains of the "New World". These practices, while unimaginable to us today, were not anything new. With regard to the African Slave Trade, the warrior tribes in Africa would conquer peaceful agrarian tribes and kill thier men, take thier women as breeding stock and slaves and enslave the children that survived.
Thus, they were enslaving thier fellow Africans - themselves. The main problem they faced was Maintenance of the slaves. When the opportunity to "sell" or "Trade" these slaves became commercially viable to the Portuguese and others, a huge increase in "gathering" occurred. Americans entered the "trade" at a fairly late date in the process. Also, in spite of the 2 million or so African slaves that came to America - the MAJORITY of African Slaves went to Latin America and other provinces and countries - not America. Therefore, in order to be FAIR and JUST in the pursuit of reparations, the source of the problem should bear the brunt of the responsibility and it would be necessary for all the offending countries to pay, commensurate with thier involvement in the practice. Slavery was an accepted internal way of life in Africa before the first African Slave was ever sold - therefore Africa must be the first country to ante up. Also, because there was a "profit" to the warrior tribes who HUNTED slaves, the correlating countries in Africa need to be assesed accordingly at a higher rate. Then comes the process of levying each of the other countries that participated based on the prevalence of thier involvement. Next, consideration of the expenses incurred in the effort to "break" the slave trade would need to be credited to the countries that tried and eventually stopped the practice - America was instrumental in this effort. Ultimately, considerations and credit must be given to social programs which helped the blacks economically and educationally after the civil rights movement.
So, in order to gain universal support of reparations, there is much work to be done. It is an UNJUST DEMAND to place the brunt of the responsibility for these occurrences on the shoulders of modern Americans - many of whom have fought on behalf of blacks and equal rights - the PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY and DEBT to descendants of slaves IS AFRICA'S.
Remembering history is absolutely important. However, there is no need to wallow in negatives for the sole purpose of denigrating people who are so distant from an occurrence so as to be innocent of it. One must also look to the future.
I recall when the Japanese were given reparations during world war two. Here in America they were all rounded up and put in camps in which they had to stay untill the war was over. I think they were given 25,000 dollars apiece, hmmm, not bad. I have never heard anyone question if it was something they deserved. Reparations due to racial dividing, slavery, and inhumane treatment is certainly due. But who would the recipiants be? I think it would be impossible to pull it off. Best to let the past slowly dimm away, and enjoy the progress we have accomplished.
My ancestors were driven ou tof the towns in northern Missouri and I'm as white as any European American (to use the politically correct pronoun) that lives here today. They were driven out because they were of a different religion than those they lived amongst and were driven out in the middle of the night at gunpoint. Many others were killed. You seldom, if ever hear about this little scandal. Why? Because I'm not constantly out yeling and screaming and demanding that I get "my" land back. I also don't have my own history month to go aroound reminding these people how cruel their ancestors were (something they have no more control over than I have over my situation).
If you REALLY want to talk injustice, how about what was done to the American "Indians"? They were forced out of their tribal lands that they had occupied for centuries. I don't hear them making any large fuss about it , either. In my book, they have more reason to be upset than I or anyone else who isn't a Native American has!
This is not the first case and certainly the biggest case of american people being banished. Check out the "Trail of Tears" where in the late 1820s thru the 1830s peaceful Cherokee indians were forced out of Georgia. President Jackon rejected a decision the the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of the indians and forced thousands of Cherokees out of their homes, lands, and businesses.
These Cherokees had their property taken and were marched at gun point to Oklahoma. This was done mostly in winter and they were forced to mostly trevel on foot over the mountains in snow and bad weather. The primary cause of this genocide was the greed of whites in Georgia whites who wanted the gold that was on Cherokee land, and the hatred that president Andrew Jackson had for all Indians. This was genocide plain and simple.
Watching this, its not hard to figure out why ignorant people consider themselves superior. It simply a matter of ignorance combined with a dark heart. In comparision to their own, they don't stand in the light of enlightenment, therefore it is needed to step on those that are different, simply because they aren't white. This is what their self esteem is born of. Extreme hate.
They can't stand next to the affluent whites, because they are usually poor, greedy, needy, uneducated, and looked upon as white trash. In America, when Europeans moved here, if a white man didn't own land, he didn't have the right to vote. Take a look at the Revolutionary War. Every one of the founding fathers of this country were affluent men that didn't want to pay taxes to the king of England, but once this country had its independence, the first order of the day was to impose taxes on the very citizens that fought against taxation without representation. As a matter of fact the first civil war here in America had nothing to do with slavery, it was about poor farmers not being able to pay the taxes on their land, therefore banks were foreclosing.
The average white American male was in dis-illusionment because they believed that independence would free them from taxes. But for them, taxes continued, only there was a different hand extended.
So back to the point, ignorant whites couldn't stand for blacks to be land owners, especially if their land exceeded what whites could claim as their own. Enter intimidation. Enter banishment from the community. Enter thieft by taking. And they, to this day, still can't understand why the Confederate flag is an absolute symbol of ignorance, hatred and everything else that is dark in heart. The fact that these very people still see it as an emblem of pride is a testament their continuing ignorance . . . . .but they believe in FREEDOM. Give me a break. . . . .may they find enlightenment in the afterlife.
There are lots of my relatives that are turning in their graves, waiting for the same thing---reparation---for alot longer than african americans. Nearly 500 years' worth, and counting! Who is going to make a film about that someday!! No one has the courage!!! And white women everywhere, being terrorized out of their homes by drug dealers---who will make reparations for this?? Entire neighborhoods being turned into slums, which were fromerly, and not that long ago, decent places to raise a family---now torn to shreds and left for dead? So Sorry! You're on you're own! You don't make enough on your clerk's wages to afford a place out-of-the-violence, oh well! WHO will pay me the real-time reparations of thousands of dollars I need NOW to recouperate from this? WHO?
my mother spoke of a time when the town of willimaburg or newport news viringia was a place where many black could walk down the street with other white. that was until Rockfella came to the town she did not say what he had came for but after the black people could no longer walk down the street they had to move out of certain places and no more walking on the same side of the street as whites. she was heartbroken but she would never tell us the rest of the story. when roots came on she was ill just watching the show she would say those things need to be left in the past.
when i questioned her she never spoke of the south only to say that where she lived and it was on a farm. she would tell us the name of her mother and father but not what happen to them. her father name was henry james before marriage she mother was lucy bell. other then this i have not ideal what happen to make her so sad and her not wanting to speak of which town it was. if someone knows please tell me if you have any imformation.
Today, the first two pages of my newspaper discussed the history of discrimination against blacks. My daughter spent six hours doing a project about racial discrimination against blacks. She has spent three weeks discussing it in her History class and she is in the seventh grade. She has done two projects about it already.
There comes a time when beating the discrimination drum starts to sound like a whine and it is at that point. If blacks want to continue this story, it will surely backfire. My kids aren't allowed to watch Ayesha anymore because of an entire show dedicated to discrimination against blacks. Want to be treated like equals? Start acting like one. The fact that Obama is kicking Hillary's butt should show you that people are not color blind.
The producers and development staff of this program should have collected outstanding data from the archeological excavations carried out in the untouched remains of the slave/shareholder houses located on the early sugar cane site known as the Jordan Planatation of Brazoria County, Texas.
In his role as an expert historical archaeologist, Dr. Kenneth Brown of the University of Houston documented material left "in situ" by African-Americans who were banished by whites from Brazoria county in the late 1800's. Dr. Brown conducted indepth analysis of the artifacts uncovered in this multi-season dig and was able to document many of the families that were forced to abandon their homes with little more than a moments notice. His data includes the historical (both oral and documented) outlines on why these people were forced to abandon their homes (and almost all of their belongings), gather together in groups and endure a forced expulsion.
These events may help to support the obvious conclusions many people have arrived at after watching the program. That this type of banishment occurred throughout the United States and that doing the right thing (reparations) will take time and accurate investigatioon.
If people are interested in finding out more about excavations of this rare and untouched slave/shareholder site, they are directed to the University of Houston Anthropology department site and to the rare early African-American artifacts listed and the history available for review.
I was sickened by the disgusting pleas for a few coins of reparation for the diabolical horrors inflicted on Blacks 100 years ago. The descendants upon whom these demands are being made are innocent of these banishments except for the burden of purifying their hearts to prevent recurrence. I found more dignified their refusal to pay reparation than of those who pleaded for it. If Blacks honored their forebears as much as they claim they would never reduce themselves to special pleaders and would not accept money from whites unless it were offered with contrite hearts.
Get out the violins,i heard about this -it happened 100 years ago. What this is really about is agitation for reperations. FORGET ABOUT IT,you blame people that weren't even alive. AOL is a lefty organization that throws off postings it doesn't agree with,and everyone knows it. Did you ever present the other side of the story,you know there always is.
For years I have struggled to share with others who I think need to understand more about the African American experince with great frustration I must add. But, here by just witnessing and walking with these families expereinces you have accomplished it all. What beautifully skillful telling of little known history you have accomplished. Your telling of this story now and then had the affect of transporting me in and out of this event and gently returning to now. I want to purchase this vidio and share it with those who need to understand the African American experince as told in your documentary. Do please tell me how I might be able to own this work.
Gratefully and Sincerely yours,
Dr. O. Perez
Editors note:
DVD copies of BANISHED are available from:
California Newsreel
877-811-7495
www.newsreel.org
I believe all of us lost dearly, but those whose ancestors were banished have a place in time where they can lock in a time and place where their ancestors were Grossly wronged by whites.I'm 48 and I've watched as caucasoids have some how saw fit to pay reparations to their own kind or even native americans, to the Japanese or Jews, But when it comes to my people who suffered and died in this country for over 400 years they tell us that we should just get over it! But I digress to the subject at hand , they lost Heritage,
They lost Tangible property,They lost the chance to grow up and be raised, oh to run and play in ones ancestor footsteps,to be taught wisdom and Knowledge under that same oak tree in the shade, they lost Great things ,Less thangreat things , things that most take for granted,However big or small they Lost and the White Democrats won.
all should NOT be forgotten. i am VERY glad that this film was made. why? because it's NOT OVER. racism is more hidden, because everyone's concerned about being POLITICALLY CORRECT - but it still exists ... more than you know. and to push history so far away and "forget about it" is only to hurt our people even more.
anyone who does not see the blessing in this film being made needs a huge wake up call. do your own research. find justice for yourself and your own family in what ever way you see fit ... but do something. we are a broken people, and things like this help the wounds to heal. no, they aren't healed 100% ... but it's a start.
kudos to the creator of the film.
God bless.
peace.
Thank you PBS for your Independent Lens series, and also thanks to Mr. Marco Williams for making the film Banished. It is important to know that this ugly part of American history that the film examines and brings to light, existed in many cities and municipalities across the country, but especially in the South, Mid-South , and Southwest. After President Lincoln "Emancipation Proclamation" and post reconstruction in America, blacks were thriving and suceeding in business and entreprenurship, education, politics and contributing to the communities in which they lived. In the those regions of the country illustrated by the film and elsewhere, politics and political power was the the instrument in maintaining white domination. The Democrats at that time, or as the "Dixie-crats" as they were later identified by scholars wanted to issue a new form of control and power, and maintain the status quo by using legislation to manipulate the law and fear that would insight racial tension. In 1898, the Wilmington,NC riots were a result of political domination being maintain by whites and to defeat by any means necessary the insurgence of white Populist & black Republicans from gaining power. However, unlike the riots and the forced exodus of blacks in cities or counties as mentioned in Banished, blacks/African-americans didn't disappear. Wilmington has come to terms with it's terrible past and has acknowledge it without reservation. Wilmington is now still a thriving coastal NC city that enjoyed and prospers because of this healing. I think Mr.Williams film looks for this type of resolution with the cities he documented in this film, and hopes that it is adopted now and for the future of all mankind.
This film was so effective in translating to me, the abhorant, continually historical reality that racism breeds on still today. Here I am a white 41 year old single parent woman- I can't find the words to describe the rage I feel for this continuous mistreatment. I watched these men of great pride for their history/family...I watched them communicate with brick walls, and I wanted to step in and screem. I was especially moved at the direct questioning of the title researcher and his absolute failure (deliberate), to acknowledge the robery (no other words) of precious land. Land I feel was more painful to lose, only trumped by the treatment of the Indians. I'm hovered in this state of shock from your video. The first thing I did the next day was to lay it all out for my 12 year old daughter in a way that I hope translated the message and crimes from the film. I made it a very conscious point to raise my child in a pool of acceptance, non-biased, God chooses who he makes and we're all loved in his eyes.. environment. Rest assured, my child will grow with a melting pot, not a hermatically sealed environment. GREAT FILM, NOW GET IT SHOWN ON ABC/NBC/...Primetime channels! I never heard anything about this until your film. Time to broaden the audience and educate the masses! Hat's off and a profound THANK YOU!
Florida paid reparations to the ancesters of Rosewood who were banished in the early 1900s about 1918 if memory serves. Thank you for the program, it was both heartbreaking and informative.
Thanks to Mr. Williams and PBS for covering this.
I am a Georgia resident and it couldn't have come at a better time considering our state legislature just adopted, without opposition, a bill that actually requests to reclaim land in Tennessee and North Carolina. The land (which is about 1 mile wide and 150 miles long---and includes part of the Tennessee river) legally belongs to Georgia but was misdrawn by a surveyor in 1818. 1818!!! This proposal was adopted on 2/20/08.
I wonder how eager these legislators will be to give back the Forsyth property----and any other Georgia properties from which African Americans were banished. I will ask them today.
Oh, yeah. That is something that we can do. We must not allow our input and concerns to be limited to blogs and living room soapboxes. I'm sure that Mr. Williams' aim was not merely informative entertainment but also to spur individuals to action. Contact your government officials. If you don't know who they are, go to congress.org and you can find out who your state and federal officials are by entering your zip code.
It amazes me that in 2008 this paradigm still exists. Equally amazing is the fact that the US has gained reparations for the Japanese, injured during Pearl Harbor, and the Jews, victimized by the Holocoust, yet they will fight tooth and nail to deny reparations for victims of Slavery.
If there was marked economic improvement for the majority of African Americans, I might feel differently, but the opposite is true. We are the only race that has not consistently prevailed and are still suffering the effects of slavery. Non-cohesive as a race, discriminated against, hired last/fired first, lower wages, poor education, etc.
I became quite angry looking at this program, as my Grandfather and Great-Grandfather had similar stories, one in Alabama, and the other in South Carolina. That is the precise reason that I never wanted to live in the South. So much ignorance and arrogance! America the beautiful is becoming America the ugly.
I was really mesmerized and painfully educated while watching Banished. It made me think of my father who died in 2005 at the age of 93. I'm the oldest of six and he taught all of us that all humans have goodness and deserve respect. We did not understand nor comprehend bigotry while growing up as a result of his genuiness.
As a family, we have set aside the monetary gifts received from his funeral and have been trying to decide how we want to memorialize his memory. I know after watching Banished that he would feel truely honored if we could figure out a way to use the money to memorialize the grandfather of Mr. Brown.
This is said like the nice townspeople stood at the edge of thier town and threw out a hand while bending at the waist asking AA's to leave. This is not so. They killed the AA's in most towns whether they left or not! They wanted thier money, possesions etc..., this was the main reason for asking them to leave in the first place. It's a shame what is left blind in this country while we are in every other country, straightening out "thier" democracy!
As USUAL we have the assorted cast of souless 'stale saltines' boo hooing and lamenting with their patented pablum whine of "my ancestors didn't own slaves or some of my best friends are....blah, blah, blah". The past is the past but the future of this country will be paid for by the blood of its sordid deeds...
This was an interesting program to watch. However if you want to get into reparations then how far are we to go back. You have to put a time limit on it somehow. If you don't you could say that all land in the US belongs to the Native Americans and we should all, each and everyone of us without Native American blood, leave the country because we don't belong here.
I think it has been too long to look back now. If the families wanted something done about this they should have started sooner. For some of these cases it has been almost 100 years. I do not believe in reparations for something you did not suffer yourself or had no direct part in. I have never owned a slave and to my knowledge no one in my family history ever owned any. Even if one of my distant ancestors did it has been at least nine generations or more since so why should I or anyone else be expected to pay or foot the bill for reparations.
I THINK THAT THE AFRICAN AMERICANS DID LOOSE BECAUSE OF THE BELIEVES OF THE WHITE CITIZENS. MANY OF THESES TOWNS ARE STILL WHITE TO THIS DAY BECAUSE OF THOSE ACTIONS. MY QUESTION IS WHY?
I've lived in Forsyth County, GA since the early 1990's and I found this program to be very enlightening. In all the years I've lived here I have never heard about the banishment that took place. My observation of the community is that when I first moved here, I encountered a few people who were obviously prejudiced against blacks. I say that because of the derogatory statements they made with little regard for who heard them. I'm from New England and was no stranger to it there, either.
Over the years, I think the climate has changed--mainly due to the influx of people from other areas and just more progressive thinking in general. I hope that PBS will publicize the program and run it again. I don't think many people here saw it. It was deeply affecting to me.
These people have been robbed of an opportunity to create intergenerational wealth for their families. It's a travesty and though I have never agreed with the concept of reparations, I think some type of compensation needs to be offered to people with claims that can be validated.
Hello,
I watched this after seeing the State of the Black Union 2008 symposium on 2/23/07. It came on here in eastern NC around 2 am in the morning on an extened PBS channel. I throughly enjoyed this film. I hope that you will continue to do more of these types of films.
Should you get the opportunity and if at all possible, please go down to the Domincan Republic and see how the Haitian People are living off of 2 dollars a day for cutting 2 tons of sugar cane in the sugar cane plantations down there. Everytime I look at a bowl of sugar or anything that contains sugar here I get angry.
Thanks again for your wonderful film.
Why was it not discussed what brought these nice townspeople to banish the black residents? Seems a VERY one sided report.
My relatives are from Pierce City and Monnett. We were told many years ago that the black residents were stealing from the poor white farmers in the area for several years. Finally after a brutal murder of a white woman(they had been caught in the act of stealing a farm animal) the people of Pierce City banded together and forced them from town.
This was not a mob action against blacks but a militia aimed at protecting their lives and property.
I thought the documetary "Banished" was great. I did not know about that time in history and I thank pbs for this documentary and any documentary on previous black generations and the struggles they went through for me. I am a grandmother now, and have been saving all this information for my small granddaughter. I'm not a hyphenated "african-american", I'm a black woman in America under American rule by no choice of my own. I was born in America which makes me an "American".
Marianne, I want to say "Amen". Noel F., you mentioned the NAACP? They've been "hoodwinked" and "bamboozled". They don't even know what they really stand for anymore. They are not what they used to be. They are into the entertainment business now. I bet they didn't know about the banisments; and if they did, why didn't they tell us??? Oh, it's not dressy dinners and entertainment. And Ray, is probably one of the named county residents. The perfect example of what's really going on in the minds of many white people while they're smiling and acting so down to earth.
It was very sad to see that those residents, in the 3 counties mentioned in the documentary, are just as sick as their ancestors. And probably would not hesitate to do the same today if they thought they could.
Somebody mentioned the fact that the KKK are much smaller than they were back in the early 1900's. They are not smaller in number today, they are under different names now. They are producers for black rap artist thinking it's cute to spew a bunch of obscenities about each other and the females in general. They are police officers, the govenors running the school systems in the urban areas. They are running the prisons and the justice systems that punish a black person 4 times harsher that the white counterpart that committed the same crime. They are the car manufactures that direct particular types of vehicles towards the black culture. I could go on. They have not gotten smaller in numbers, they found a more undercover way to destroy you. They don't have to wear the white dunce caps anymore, they got the young black male wearing the black hoodie and wiping out his own because he has no idea of where he comes from, so he does'nt know where he should be going.
It's all our own faults now. Repairations to me would be to change the tone of the billboards in the black neighborhood, get the (nice way of saying it) nude clubs off every residential corner in the neighborhood, supervision at the nice little recreation centers in the neighborhood, get the unhealthy fast food restaraunts off every corner in the neighborhood. I could go on there too. It's up to black people to help themselves and pay attention to what the candidate believes in and stands for, before you vote. Party allegiance needs to be broken. And those of us who attend church regularly, and are true Christians, need to take it to the ones that are not attending. They're not coming to the church! Stop fearing each other. And clean up your surroundings and take pride in what you do have. Most of all, quit "trying to be like" anyone else. You are "fearfully and wonderfully made" by the awesome had of God!
I am writing my dissertation about black land loss and its economic aftershocks for the African American community. My original focus was Pres. Johnson's mandated evacuations following the civil war, but this film has opened my eyes to a generation of Americans still living, being affected by this phenomenon.
I too think that the family member who wanted to remove his great-grandfathers' remains should have paid the bill first and then sued for renumeration. As it stood in the film, he gave off the appearance of trying to pull a fast one in the name of justice. Of course, I think it is plain that he only wanted justice, i.e. for the city to admit to the wrongdoing that caused the family's heartache in the beginning and to pay for the costs of transfer, but the entire process would have had more transparency if the descendants had paid for the service and then pressed the city, ultimately the responsible party, to reimburse the costs, using the courts if necessary. In addition, I think that the city should pay for the erection of a monument documenting the horrific chapter of the town's history and that this should be done in every community where this barbarism occurred.
Lastly, I was wondering if anyone had looked into the possibility of trying their case for land reclamation/reparation in states that still have courts of equity, of which Tennessee is one. Statutes of limitations tend to me more forgiving in these courts/chancery courts as their specific purpose is to find justice where money won't undo the damage...its a thought...
Thank you for sharing this piece of our history with us. Ignoring injustice never helps anything, it only makes the problem bigger, heavier and spreads the blame to engulf the next generation.
I was very annoyed at the way the mayors and citizens treated the descendants of the victims. Every time they ignored them, didn't do anything. It was so aggrivating. I feel so sorry for those poor blacks. I wish I could make a difference.
I was born and raised in Harrison AR and if anyone believes that that things have changed, they are sadly mistaken. I moved away in 1997 mainly due to the racism and the fact that I didnt want my children raised in that type of environment. I am married to a wonderful black man, he is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. We do go back to visit a couple of times each year as my family resides there. The first several times we went to visit, my husband would not spend the night in AR, we would drive back to MO each night so he felt comfortable, I would NEVER put him in a position to where he is uncomfortable. But now, we do stay with family as most all of them have embrased him and have come to love him as I do.
In the documentry the one counsilman stated that Tom Robb is the reason blacks stay away and Zimmerman stated it is because the KKK feel comfortable there and Zimmerman is exactly right. Oh dont get me wrong, there are a LOT of people that do not share the same beliefs as Tom Robb, but those people are just like me, they move away from it. You cannot change the minds of those biggots but my husband and I have been able to change the minds of a slight few of my family members and thats worth it to me.
I can remember that football game against Fayetteville and I can remember people talking and laughing about the incident in the resturant afterwards. I felt so bad at that time for that entire team and especially the young boy and his family that had to endure all it. I have never understood, even growing up in an all white community, why people were ridiculed due to the color of their skin.
One thing that a lot of people may not realize about the KKK is that they are against ANY RACE that is not white. They feel like the white race should be kept pure and not mix with ANY other races. I would love to know how many members of the KKK that claim to be PURE white are actually of mixed race, they might lose a few members that actually have had a few foxes in the hen house so to speak. Another thing, the KKK thrive on articles like this because they look at it like free publicity, keeps their name out there. Tom Robb jumps at all of those chances.
Also spoken of in the documentry was Aunt Vine and the scholership set up in her name for minorities. I guess thats Harrison's way of making an amends? Does this really honor Aunt Vine or are they just trying to get the proverbial monkey off their backs? Use it for an excuse to say we are trying to do our part? God bless the ladies that received the scholarships, even if they were given for their own piece of mind the 2 ladies will still be blessed. What the devil has made for bad, God will make it good!! You can believe that!!! As far as her grave goes, its quite possible that she could be buried in Maplewood Cemetery. Of course there are a lot of old family grave sites around so its possible that she was never laid to rest in Rosehill Cemetery.
I am not proud at all of the heritage of my home town, it is supposed to be a place that I am proud to say that I am from but thats not the case with me. The only thing that I am proud of is that I didnt buy into those thoughts and beliefs and the fact that I got my children out of there before it rubbed off on them too.
Great Job To Marco Williams and his staff. It really touched my heart! God Bless you!
I found Marco Williams' work as the director of Banished to be superior. This documentary reflected his talent and skill as an interviewer in difficult circumstances. He has my deep admiration for his ability and for the piece he turned out. This piece needed to be made. Sometimes in the Northern states we tend to forget the day to day struggles that are still going on in the Southern states.
Thank you Marco Williams!
Being native american I have a deep concern for the terrible injustice so many people have suffered all through history.
Yet I wonder why people that did not do these things owe anything to the people it was not done to.
We can only move forward and try not to repeat the past.We can not repair damage done by having innocent people pay money to the decendents of the people it was done to. It is just another form of injustice.
History should be accurate. And I believe people should know the facts.Knowing is important.To aknowledge these things is the only thing I feel is owed. A monument at the site, somthing visible to attest to the terrible injustice that was carried out there.
A community aknowledging they know and care that it once happend. But what more after all these years could possibly be fair?
Seeing this documentary brought back personal memories for me, because my great great grandparents' land was taken from them around the late 1800's or early 1900's. It's a horrendous thing to go through and effects subsequent generations more than people would think. I am very grateful that you all decided to air this very important piece. But I also think it needs to be known that it happened all over the United States. Blacks were regularly made to give up their property holdings with the threat of death or dismemberment if they refused to cooperate.
One thing I noticed about the residents of Pierce was that no matter how liberal they were, none really wanted to go so far as to give the victims of this crime monetary reparations. They gave some really flimsy excuses for not doing it. Had these people been any other race other than Black, I believe their complaints would have been seen as valid. But Blacks in this country are treated like the dirty little secret no one wants to get out.
As an African American, I feel that reparations (primarily the returning of land to the descendants of original owners) is the moral and right thing to do. However, I also believe that is impossible if not highly improbable.
The same racism that forced blacks off of their own land still exists today in the school boards, neighborhood committees, city halls, mom-and-pop diners, family owned businesses, corporate offices, fraternities, campuses, classrooms, fire departments, police precincts, hospitals, sports arenas, living rooms, bedrooms and dining rooms all across the country.
True, meaningful reparations will never be realized because no one is really brave enough to say in plain language what reparations really mean. The only reparations that can be achieved will come in the form of documentaries like this one.
I saw the show tonight and was shocked. I am white, and was shocked! I had no idea. What I can't understand is why our wonderful government and US Supreme Court have not elected to grant reparations to the families of all those who were treated in such a reprehensible way. We have granted reparations to many groups, including the American Indians, but not our African Americans. I don't understand that at all.
By the way, it appears someone responded by saying how wonderful Pierce City is, and how underhanded the family member was. Not true. I would guess that's the Mayor or Pres. of the Chamber of Commerce writing that. How disingenuous of him or her.
I would love to see more shows on this subject, and hopefully something can be done to compensate the families for all of the wrongful deeds towards their family members. There are no words to describe how horrible all of that was, and apparently, still is.
A very sad situation. I was touched by this Documentery. My condolences to all involved. Skerp
They should have paid for the exhumation. That was manipulative what they did. At that point, I lost all sympathy for the black family and turned off the television and went to bed.
And to use the term "racial cleansing" was not right. Those people escaped with their lives and went on to have more children, unlike the Jewish people who were murdered by Nazis in an attempt at racial cleansing.
The film maker was biased, used inflammatory language, and manipulated and antagonised the people of Pierce Town.
He did nothing to promote his cause.
Thank you for an outstanding documentary about little-known tragic events in American history. I am particularly interested in the legal efforts to restore land and/or obtain reparations for those black families whose land was stolen from them in the aftermath of the mass expulsions.
The documentary seems to indicate that once a landowner occupies stolen property for seven years that the doctrine of adverse possession prevents any additional claims from being made by its rightful owners. Although it has been many years since my property law class in law school, I do remember that the doctrine of adverse possession was founded on the idea that the rightful landowner had meaningful access to the court system to attempt to reclaim his land, and that his failure to do so for a period of time authorizes the party who is using his land to claim legal title.
Here, however, it would be pure fantasy to say that displaced black landowners had any meaningful ability to avail themselves of the state court system in the early part of the 20th century. The title attorney interviewed indicated that the Federal courts were open to black litigants during this time; even if this was true, however (and there is reason to doubt that the southern Federal courts after Reconstruction were any more hospitable to black litigants than were the state courts), this was primarily if not entirely a state law claim that would have been dismissed by the Federal courts.
I also seem to recall that the party claiming adverse possession as a ground for legal title must do so in good faith and with reasonable basis to claim legitimacy; how could a white squatter who knowingly occupied land from which its rightful black owners were driven by mob violence ever meet this criteria? I would like to know if the attorneys representing these families have made a genuine effort to try to defeat the adverse possession claims on these grounds. Also, one other point that the documentary did not raise is that the current owners of these properties are protected (presumably) from these claims by their title insurance; therefore, it would be the title insurance companies who would need to defend and ultimately pay any legal judgment on these actions. I could easily see the title insurance industry as a whole deciding to reach a mass settlement which, if it did not restore actual title to the land stolen from these families, at least provided the descendants of the owners with financial compensation for their losses.
In short, I am not willing to take as a given the conclusion that these were historical tragedies but that there is no party who today can compensate the families who were driven out; until a few years ago, the same was said about Holocaust victims and other groups who have since been rewarded reparations. If anything, the legal rights are much clearer and straightforward here, as there are clear records of legal title to these properties in these families with no indication that they were sold. What is being done??
To Marco Williams and PBS,
What a sad and thought provoking program you did, when you did "Banished". It brought me back to my upbringing in Louisiana (born in 1946 left in 1969 after college). I was raised hating blacks (N's as we called black people) all my life. We were raised thinking blacks were between the animals and humans. This is embarrassing to admit, but true. I vividly remember putting a white painted piece of wood on the back of city busses to make black people move in back of them so I could sit in their seat, even though there were seats available to sit in in front of them. If the black people didn't move, the bus driver stopped the bus and threw them(literally) off the bus!This I can now admit was horribly wrong, and thankfully is not where I am now in my life. I had to leave Louisiana and allow myself to grow emotionally and realistically to realize I don't hate anyone, especially because of their ethnicity. I am humbled by my past, but thankfully I was able to change myself through reality and soul-searching.
My actions, though terrible, are forgiven by my appologies to mother earth and by my current actions. I don't think the actions of the cities cited in your riveting program are forgiveable through an appology. I think people run off their land, and then their land allowed to be taken(semi-stolen) by other white people should be addressed and corrected. I don't think you're stirring up anything, I think you are addressing a problem that should be corrected. Maybe we need some more of the wonderful man's (Dr. Martin Luther King's) Peace Marches. Although I scorned and yelled at the first ones, I would be honored to join any current ones. I am a different and better person now.
Thanks Marco and PBS!
I just had to say that I personally believe that things can get better but first we have to teach tolerence. When I was a young girl my father whipped me for playing with a malota boy. I also watched him take a belt to my little sister for taking a fish from a young boy. He was black and my father left welts and bruises all over her back.
No one will ever be able to wipe those images from my mind or remove the pain. His ignorance is unforgiveable. How can a man who proclaims to love his children be so cruel. We owe the people of this nation some form of retribution for the damage we have done and are still doing. By the way I am now 43 and would like to see real change before I leave this realm of existence. I have to say if I get to heaven and god is black I will be glad to see him anyway. He has been a gracious and loving god.
I believe retribution is due the decendents of all the people who were banished from these towns. If we can take away we can give back. I suggest that we look into what has been given back to the American Indian and use these as examples of how things can be done. We will never be able to make up for what our ancestors have done to either of these peoples but we can try.
Today is a new day and should be treated as such. We can not live in the past but we can learn from it. Stop making the same mistakes. Name calling never stopped any wars but it certainly started a few. If we can spend billions of dollars cleaning up the mess we or someone else makes on the other side of the world ,why can't we fix this? Love is blind. Love each other.
My family moved to Harrison just over a year ago from the north. One of the first things I noticed was a desperate lack of people of color in Harrison. Namely, there were few, and scarcely that number, African Americans in Harrison.
After being in my new position for a few months, my boss, a veteran VP of the local hospital came to me, called me into her office, closed the door, and whispered, "The hospital was now totally integrated". She went on to say, "We hired a", she stopped and looked around as if someone had followed us into her office and was hiding behind a plant, "black woman, she works in housekeeping". I sat there with my mouth open and deer in the headlights glazed eyes. Did I hear that right? She really did not just say that, did she? She did. I never saw this woman who, in accepting the position, seemed to have changed the hospital forever. She stayed only a few weeks and was gone again. But at least the hospital was not totally integrated.
In the year I have been here in Harrison, I have felt the ugly underlying lack of respect for people of color and pretty much people with differences here in town. No one can tell me racism is going away. I have heard the racist comments, sexist statements, and homophobic slurs first hand. I do dare to confront them, but I am well aware of the backlash that is possible. I have seen that too.
Having said all that, I have also seen people here, mostly people who have moved here from somewhere else with plans to stay, who are not racist. I do think Harrison is changing, but not very fast. People have warned me where not to go because it's "Klansy" over there. Some people notice the monochromatic nature of the area as I have, and they too don't like it. But there are still some powerful people here in Harrison that fight change, at any cost.
I have this final thing to say. Don't run away from Harrison. Some of us living here want it to change. But, if you won't come, if you won't settle here in Harrison or Boone County, if you walk away, you are saying that it's OK for us to stay racist. We need people to come here, and large numbers of you. People to vote, people to start spending money with supporters, people to start showing up at things, people to say, now wait a minute, that's not right. The KKK has 500 members. Only 500! Come take back Harrison. 100 years without diversity is far far too long.
Thank you Mr. Williams for a a fantastic film exposing something that very much needs to be exposed. I live in Duluth, MN, where the population of black people dropped by about half after a lynching in 1920. It was only because the lynched were from out of town, I believe, that more did not flee. (Bigger towns also, during this Nadir of race relations, had a much tougher time pushing out their black citizenry.)
I find it interesting that reparations for something that happened *within living memory* is so often mistakenly dismissed by referring to the theft of land from Native Americans. The fact is that Native Americans were stolen from in a time when the law supported white pioneers and the government in their endeavors. Treaty violations can thus be addressed (and should be), but much of it is lost in the murk of orchestrated *lack of law* rather than a violation of it. The wrongness of what happened there is on a huge scale, but it differs significantly from what happened to black landowners circa 1900.
In these cases, and your film only addresses a few of thousands, there was a *law* that was violated by people who are still benefiting from that theft. Maybe the one who stole it died--albeit usually only recently, but their children are often alive and well. No doubt that some of those thieves were likewise poor, and seeking reparations from them might be futile. However, they still were thieves, and they need to be exposed for being so. Their children should step forward and acknowledge what was done. An apology at the very least would be in order. Payment would be nice, and should be sought if there is a clear line of legal argument.
But the most real thing is that their theft was allowed by a local government--there was conspiracy and collusion by those local authorities. They should be held responsible. A generation is nothing. The fact that we pretend to forget that something occurred because it was perpetrated by someone who died a few years ago is ridiculous and self-serving.
It starts with an apology and it continues with respect and an acknowledgment of responsibility. May your film be a part of making that happen.
Hi! The show was just another reason why I must continue to fight for my rightful place in the United States of today. As an African-american man who was born and raised in the Deep South, I totally understand the experiences of these families. My birth certificate has "Negro" on it. I experienced racism directly while growing up in Florence, South Carolina and I STILL DO SO here in New York City. Yet, many whites have the audacity to say we should learn to forget the pass. Tell a Jewish person that and see what happens!!!!!!!!!!!
The documentary Banished was informative and tragic. I am continously amazed at the amount of crimes that were committed during that period of time that went unpunished. Where were the " so called" authorities when innocent people were being lynched and ran off their properties? Obviously, they were a part of the mob that committed those terrible acts of violence. Every year we learn of various atrocities that occured in this country and I commend the film maker for revealing this tragedy. I recently seen the docementary concerning the Tulsa Oklahoma race riot in 1921 and that was horrible also. From reading about these horrific acts there is always some lame reason for starting their path of destruction when in fact it was pure hatred.
At this time, I would say that the local and federal government should step in and provide reparations to the descendants of the families. Why is it always so controversial when reparations are due to African- Americans?
Thank you for this revealing documentary. As the nation witnesses the phenomenon of Obama, it is sobering to realize that for some parts of the country, all men and women are NOT born equal - even in this 21st century. I just hope and pray that it is a tiny fraction of this wonderfully diverse nation.
While reparations and memorials were interesting methods of coming to grips with history, what I found chilling was the manner in which the leader of the KKK and the retired man could calmly tell their black interviewer that they did not like blacks. It just shocked me to the core that racism is a value that some people can uphold openly and have no qualms about expressing - makes a 52 year-old bi-racial person realize how naive she has been or what a charmed life she has lead thus far!
I wonder how you cope with meeting such people, Marco Williams? Does it make you feel threatened? Do you just soldier on? Do you feel compassion for these narrow-minded souls? What was it like off-camera when you went into their homes? How come they even allowed you in? Are they so proud of their beliefs they will use any medium to make sure they get a nation-wide hearing?
So Charles Brown puts the funeral home owner on the spot to do the exhumation. After coming onto the owner with a rap about honor he stiffs the guy on the bill. Then he wants the town to pay it. Again, Brown can come across as moral. Either way, no cost to him.
Nothing is fair and just of what these families endured. They were stripped of life, liberty, and freedom to possess ones family, value, traditions, and culture. It is a sickning, sad, shame of evil upon one's society in any town, city, community, or world we all live in. May all of God's love shine upon the families pain, sorrow, and loss. May all family members keep the love, strength, and courage to face this pain that was brought to your family. It sickens me of the violence, hatred, and fear that only evil can bring to loving families as yours. May you all enjoy and unite in every family reunion and new generation of such precious individuals.
A Girl from the North who was raised in diversity.
I find it amazing that people are saying Mr. Brown wasn't upfront about what he wanted done once the body was moved. It's obvious because he was in fear that he may not have got the coroner to agree to move the body, had he told him his plan at first. It's bad enough his families land, property was stolen which rightfully belongs to the Brown family. Then the coroner has the nerve to complain about Mr. Brown not being fair, yet that county stole his family's land, and yes Mr. Brown paid the coroner. I am glad Mr. Brown took his loved one's remains out of that hateful town with those hateful people who were so infested with hate.
My blessings, prayers and strength to the Browns and other descendants whose family suffered this horrific terror. Keep your faith in God and I believe God will one day wake up those towns, and teach them how to be human beings one day, because they certainly are not.
Secondly, for those of you who made ignorant statements like, if the native americans didn't get reparations, then those families shouldn't. Not true, many Native Americans were able to obtain some land from the government and are living on reservstions. Some tribes were able to build casinos on their property and are making a profit that goes within their communities;so please don't be selfish and use the Browns family or the other families that suffered from this situation to even compare, because the victims in the "Banished" documentary received absolutely nothing.
Words cannot express how I feel hurt for those families. It was sheer, American terrorism and it is so sad that it happened to innocent families that just wanted a part of the American Dream, but it was not allowed to them because they were Black. These victims' ancestors not too long before that endured the pains of slavery and then they had to experience being chased from property they owned. It's such a sin and shame.
The people living in those counties that know of this has done nothing to correct those wrongs other than benefit from land and property stolen from other people. I think it is a very, shameful stain in American history. I don't know how they can wake up every morning knowing many of them are living on stolen land. The Japanese and Jews received compensation for crimes against them. But for some reason many whites in this country and our government feels that descendants of African-American slaves, and victims of crimes like in "banished", Tulsa Riots, etc., are not deserving of any reparations or compensation and don't even feel we deserve an apology.
After watching that documentary my feelings have completely changed for this country and how I view it. This isn't just one county, but many counties this happened in within America. I think it is sad that our government did not force those counties to pay some form of compensation. The counties could have at least paid for the headstone for the Browns loved one, how inhumane. I'm sure they'll welcome a dog before they welcome an African-American. I pray that God wake the people in those counties up to do right as human beings instead of being hateful. That is not being human at all. I am glad those counties are exposed and shows the face of what America tries to hide, that racism is alive and well.The people in those counties just expressed so much prejudice ignorance and hate, and will teach their children to hate as well. My prayers go out to the Browns and Stricklands for the pain their ancestors had to endure. Peace be with them.
While my heart goes out to the Brown family, they should really look upon what happened as a blessing in diguise. Would they really want to raise a family in a place with such small minded, mean, bigoted and not terribly bright (it is easy to pick out the responses from residents of Pierce - the grammar and spelling are atrocious) people?
America has gone all over the world to help all civilizations. But it has failed at HOME!. GOD is watching!!!. And when we are all called home some day, AMERICA will stand and pay dearly before GOD!!!.
Greetings -
This film, Banished, is a must needed look into more of the hidden history of the United States. So often our children are lead to believe that they have no real roots other than slavery. Many do not want to talk about the successes the enslaved gained after slavery ended. Banished reveals another painful part of our history in the US. However, its importance outweighs its painfulness. I thank you for being an instrument of conversation and change. Thank you for keeping the truth before our eyes.
Kudos and keep the lens rolling.
Thank you so much for this film. I hope that this story of our past will be a lesson for our future.
I totally understood the African American and their horrible dilemnas. Of course there is no money that can give back what they lost; but, that is all that is left nowadays. I am a second generation of Jews who were deported from Romania. My grandparents had land, a business, a home, things. After the war, they were dead in the camps, along with 3 of the siblings who did not survive. My father, his brother and sister, were never able to get their land back, since the communists took over. There is no money that can give them back what they lost, but what is left is financial reparation. I hope the African American get what they so deserve.
I am a bi-racial American, born in the 60's--when my parents' union was considered an aberration by many. I am married to a Frenchman who came here as a young artist attracted by romantic images of American popular culture. He certainly schooled himself on the uglier side of this country but, until we watched this film together, I don't think he understood how deeply rooted racism really is in this country. The expression of pain on his face was unforgettable when I turned to him and said, "Welcome to America cheri." Thanks to this film, I think my husband better understands my hopes for and real fears about raising our daughter to be able to navigate (and survive with identity intact) the quagmire of American race relations.
Bravo Marco!
I am completely surprised that anyone is under the impression that racism is done and over with. It should be! Pierce County, is full of the most ignorant trash. If my memory serves me right we are living in the year of 2008. How can a group of human beings be scared or disgusted by another group of human beings. Causcasions have always had a problem with other racist from the begining of time. First with the Native Americans who were here first and minding their business until they came and messed that up and then the African American's who were "BROUGHT!!!!!" to this country to be used and abuse.
The very people who brought us here were now scared of us. Yet raped us and made us take of your children. You tried your best to keep us ignorant. The joke was on you, we contributed alot to this country. Screw you and your reparations we are far beyond you and your ragedy hand outs. You know what your ancestors have done and what you continue to do. After all we have gone through , how hard is it for you to allow a grangchild to remove his grandfather from your racist ground? how would that hurt you in anyway if you have changed soooooo much let him go! I will personally spread the word about racist, cold, and close minded your little county is.
The creators of this program did a great job- If they let personal feelings get in the way, this program may have instilled anger but, instead inspired hope and healing.
A few parts that stuck with me were...
1)The women in the cafeteria who stuttered, obviously wanting to say "nigger" but, not wanting to say that on camera-was completely lost for another word to use-and four to six seconds later, almost painfully "colored" came out as if she was regurgitating the word.
2)The politically correct term is "Cross Lighting"-give me a break. Maybe we can get the EPA or AQMD to issue fines each time have a "Cross Lighting" ceremony to for polluting the air.
3)The man at the Pierce City Mortuary-good guy and very level headed in the way he handled himself and the situation. (no punn intended regarding the flat top)
4)Forcyth County protest-just 20 years ago there was that much resistance and hatred by the KKK and other white supremest groups and sadly, I doubt if much has changed
After watching the Banished Documentary, I understand why the Brown family wanted thier grandfather moved and I am sorry for all pain they have suffered.What I don't understand is they way they went about getting it done.They were underhanded and manipulative. Also does Murray Bishoff forget where is is from and the community he resides in. Pierce City Missouri is not the same town it once was in 1901. Marco Williams should of done some more research before completeing the documentary because there are African Americans living in Pierce City who are respected and well known through out the community. I think Murray Bishoff needs to realize his town of Pierce City is a great place and if he thinks our culture is embarrasing he can leave...
Harrison, Arkansas has a special dishonor. They will be forever referenced in popular culture-comedy clubs, feature films, documentaries, network dramas, etc. as a magnet for unreconstructed anti-black bigots. Sad. I'd like to also ask those who call welfare reparations how can that be when most welfare recipients have been and still are whites?
John Blubagh:
The story was about African Americans, not Native Americans. Native Americans have more reperations than African Americans have ever received. Although, in my opinion they deseve loads more....but your comment shows that White Americans can NEVER deal with the pain of the African American and will always attempt to downplay our pain and their culpability!!!!!
Great show I really enjoyed.But the same thing is happening today.They have just dressed it up and now call it Gentrification.
I agree with the last post. Only the Lord can heal this in all of our hearts, but we have to do it His Way.
I also think of Corrie Tin Boom and her sister in a Nazi concentration camp. Daily, they lived through horrible things. Through an act of God, she was released; she began speaking about forgiveness [after the war]. After one particular speech, a man came up to her; he was one of the cruel guards at the Ravensbr�ck camp. Her sister had died there, while she escaped. She recognized him as he put out his hand to thank her for her speech. He had realized his cruelty, asked the Lord for forgiveness and become a christian. She couldn't put her hand out at first; then she felt a surge of warmth in her hand and shook this person's hand as the love of God healed them both. Her books are healing...Corrie Tin Boom.. Book title - Tramp for the Lord, 1974. Great book!
We cannot live in the hurt. Only God [jesus] can fully repay people for their pain. No amount of money will heal it.
This 'Banished' story needs to be told and can help through knowledge of it. Pray and ask God to help to release you from the pain. Yes, it is hard to be here at times, yet other people are dying crossing the ocean in small crafts to get here ( 'wet foot/dry foot' in Miami, FL)
Only God can heal the heart of a bigot --- Big 'I' Got [in my OWN mind]... 'puffed up' mind.... God doesn't like 'ugly' as we say in the South, and don't believe those persons are living great lives. They are not. God can fully repay those persons in many ways...to remember what they did fully and repent of their sins. Racism is sin too...
p.s. I wrongly spoke about Palm Beach & Mr. Flagler [he bought, not stole the land]. I apologize for my error.
My family's story is more of the same. On October 21, 1916 Anthony Crawford, my greatgrandfather was lynched in Abbeville, South Carolina. At the time of his murder, 427 acres of prime land in Abbeville. He was arrested for talking back to a white man, jailed, beaten half to death, dragged through town, strung to a tree and riddled with bullets. The family was run out of town, his elder sons were denied the right to administer their father's estate thereby setting the stage for the theft. His 427 acres of land sold off in bits and pieces. All of our land was stolen. The "mob" went back to their homes, and those who killed him were set free.
All I can say is GREAT !!! This was something that was new to me and I got joy out of watching this. I enjoy black history and finding out about our past. I do look forward to viewing more of your film like this one.
First, Charles Brown was disingenuous about his intention to ask Pierce City to pay for the disinterment of his great-grandfather. He should have made his request at the outset to avoid any confusion. Why should anyone who saw or read about this story trust someone else in similar circumstances? A paradox is that Mr. Brown at the time of the film still had not put a marker on Mr. Cobb’s grave.
The issue of reparations is unresolvable both in principle and as a matter of cost. The history of the planet is one of something or somebody taking from something or somebody else. Few would argue that the ancestors of the families who were banished from places like Pierce City and Forsyth County were horribly wronged. On the other hand, if their descendants deserve reparations so do the Native Americans who were there first. One could even make the argument that the Earth is a Commons where real property rights should not exist in the first place.
Thanks for the great and informative progaram.
Mimimizing and or dening a problem will not make it go away.