PBS Independent Lens Series brought to you by, The Cafe' [Think Tank] & B-13 Peer Review
Brought to you by: The Cafe' [Think Tank] and B-13 Peer Review visit us on facebook- https://www.facebook.com/groups/bondservojc13/The Film
A hundred years ago, in communities across the U.S., white residents forced thousands of black families to flee their homes. Even a century later, these towns remain almost entirely white.BANISHED tells the story of three of these communities and their black descendants, who return to learn their shocking histories.
In Forsyth County, Georgia, where a thousand black residents were expelled, the film explores the question of land fraudulently taken, and follows some descendants in their quest to uncover the real story of their family's land. In Pierce City, Missouri, a man has designed his own creative form of reparation—he wishes to disinter the remains of his great-grandfather, who was buried there before the banishment. And in Harrison, Arkansas, home to the headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan, a white community struggles with their town's legacy of hate.
By investigating this little-known chapter in American history, BANISHED also takes a contemporary look at the legacy of racial cleansing. Through conversations with current residents and the descendants of those who were driven out, the film contemplates questions of privilege, responsibility, denial, healing, reparations and identity.
What can be done to redress past injustices? What is the ongoing impact of the expulsions on families and communities today? In the stories of black families whose land and livelihood were stolen, the film illustrates the limits of the American legal system and the need for creative forms of repair. By introducing these families and the white communities who forced them out, BANISHED raises the question of responsibility for past wrongs and what is involved in righting them.
The Places
The three communities portrayed in BANISHED are not cultural anomalies, but rather legacies of a systematic and violent history of racial discrimination.
Today, these legacies are reflected in issues of property, power and population. What steps are these communities taking—or not taking—in order to rectify history, and is such a thing even possible? What other instances of racial banishment have had lasting effects in counties across the United States?
The Families
“Banishment causes losses of all sorts. There is loss of opportunity… There’s loss of community.
And those things are very hard to get back.”
—Alfred Brophy, law professor
For the families featured in BANISHED, the legacy of racial banishment is not only a historical one, but also one that carries enormous relevance today. Issues of reparations, adverse possession and land loss gain urgency when addressed through a personal lens.
The Strickland family's ancestors were expelled from Forsyth County Georgia in 1912. Read an update on the state of the old Strickland burial ground (pictured at right) from family member Phyllis Minley.
Learn more about the Stricklands >>
The Brown family's ancestors, the Cobbs (pictured at left), were banished from Pierce City, Missouri in 1901. Read an update from Charles Brown, Jr. about his efforts to disinter his great-grandfather from the Pierce City cemetery and receive reparations from the town.
The Browns
Charles Brown, Jr.’s family, the Cobbs, were banished from Pierce City, Missouri in 1901. In December 2007, Charles updated Independent Lens on the issues presented about his family in BANISHED.
What has your family been up to since filming ended?
The making of BANISHED has stimulated a lot of interest in Pierce City and what happened to my family in 1901. I have attended several screenings at film festivals around the country. A lot of people express horror and outrage. Some speak of disgust. Some even ask me if Pierce City satisfied my monetary request. No one has defended Pierce City and tried to justify the actions of the Pierce City residents and their neighbors’ actions in 1901.
My family, as American citizens in 2007, does not understand why no one in our government on the local, state or national levels has stepped up to the plate to try to address the things that happened to our family and the rest of the African Americans living in Pierce City in 1901. By this not happening, the chain of custody has not been addressed.
My hope is that someone steps up to the plate and rectifies this wrong. I was trying to work through all of this on a small scale by asking them to reimburse our family $2,600, our expenses incurred to move my great-grandfather. I feel they missed a great opportunity to move in the right direction. It was not about the money. We were demanding respect in the name of our family, asking Pierce City to bring this dark secret from their past out in the open, address it and work through it.
Please tell us about your family history, particularly as it relates to your story presented in BANISHED.
I have been researching my family for six years. I found out that my father’s mother was one of nine children born to James and Arminta Cobb in Tennessee. They migrated to Pierce City, Missouri and the family collectively purchased an eight-room house and contributed to the growth of Pierce City. Two of the males worked as Pullman Porters on the railroad. James Cobb, Sr. died of dropsy in 1898. He was the only one I could not find in the 1900 Census.
My brother, James Brown, had heard from our father about some kind of an incident that happened to the family while they were in Pierce City. He didn’t know the particulars so my brother went to Pierce City looking for any evidence to indicate that our family was involved in a riot of some sort. He found, through the managing editor of a local newspaper, an article in theSt. Louis Post Dispatch dated August 25, 1901. This article describes what happened to the African Americans living in Pierce City during that time. There were interviews with my family and also a picture showing them at a relative’s two-room home in Springfield, Missouri. There were over 200 bullet holes in the Cobb residence.
I found out James Cobb, Sr. was buried in the Pierce City cemetery. After the incident, no one in the family was allowed to visit his grave to place a wreath on his grave or just to visit with his grave. The house was not even an issue. If you weren’t allowed in the town, how could you stay current with your payments? Our home was sold for non-payment quickly after the incident. It was stated in the records that the Cobb home was sold for non-payment.
Is there anything else you'd like to share about your experiences making the film?
The incident mentioned in BANISHED shows glaring problems with our system. The Cobb property, as well as the property of every other person of color who owned property in Pierce City, was stolen through adverse possession. The government did not protect the African American citizens of Pierce City on that day in 1901 and did not protect the chain of custody.
I am upset because the town has chosen not to openly admit wrongdoing by their ancestors. The town has been collecting taxes on our property since 1902. How can Pierce City say they bear no responsibility? I am hurt, confused and outraged. The rest of my family feels the same way I do.
Pierce City, Missouri
On August 19, 1901, white residents in Pierce City (spelled "Peirce City" until the early 1920s) ignited a 15-hour rampage with weapons stolen from a state militia arsenal and violently banished the town’s 300 black residents. Three black men were lynched, allegedly in response to the murder of a 23-year-old white woman. But evidence has since revealed that some townspeople wanted to follow the lead of nearby Monett, which had expelled its African American population seven years earlier. To explain what had happened to Pierce City’s black population, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch described the town as “Monettized.”
A century later, according to the 2000 Census, there were 1,385 people living in Pierce City, more than 96 percent of them white, 0.22 percent of them black. The history of black banishment remained a hidden one. Expelled residents were often too ashamed and unsettled to pass on their stories, and many of their descendants grew up without knowledge of the events.
Pierce City resident Murray Bishoff, editor of the Monett Times, has researched and written extensively about the racial expulsions. Bishoff first published a series of articles in the Times in 1991, the 90th anniversary of the lynchings and banishment. He created a related exhibit which is now housed at the Pierce City Museum and wrote a historical novel on the subject titled Cries of Thunder. He also paid the bulk of the costs for a marker in the town cemetery that commemorates the three lynching victims, where he holds a yearly vigil with his wife each August 19.
In June 2005, Mark Peters, the Pierce City mayor at the time, published an apology in the Monett Times in which he said the “exodus of nearly 300 African Americans... created a wound which is not healed yet, despite the passing away of the persons who gave in to human weaknesses of fear and hate.” Although Pierce City has designated June 5 as a day of remembrance for the banishment, Bishoff’s efforts often seem singular.
A major tornado destroyed and damaged much of Pierce City in May 2003. Nearly 90 percent of the historic downtown business district, as well as nearby residential areas, were severely damaged. Many of these buildings were later taken down, and the town is still trying to rebuild itself.
Learn More: BibliographyThe Film
Banished
The filmmaker’s Web site includes news on screenings and links to interviews.
Two Tone Productions
The production company founded by Marco Williams, a black filmmaker, and Whitney Dow, a white filmmaker, to make films that address issues of race and difference.
The Center for Investigative Reporting
CIR is a nonprofit organization that reveals injustice and strengthens democracy through the tools of journalism.
PBS.org: P.O.V.: TWO TOWNS OF JASPER
BANISHED filmmaker Marco Williams’s film about the 1998 murder of a black man by three white men in the small town of Jasper, Texas.
Fanzine: Interview With Director Marco Williams
Read an interview with Williams about the making of BANISHED and the stories involved. The Places
Silence No More
The Web site of the Harrison, Arkansas-based Community Task Force on Race Relations.
Colombia Missourian: Banished
A 2007 article on Pierce City, Missouri, including the work of journalist Murray Bishoff and interviews with the town’s handful of black residents.
Whitewashed!
A 2007 article about how the Atlanta Journal Constitution deliberately left out reports on racial cleansings, including those in Forsyth County, Georgia. Banishment
History News Network: Interview with Elliot Jaspin
An interview with Cox Newspapers editor Elliot Jaspin and his research on racial banishments in American history.
Cox News Service: Leave or Die
Elliot Jaspin’s account of racial banishments and an explanation of how he obtained and analyzed his data, plus an interactive account of the expulsions.
Mapping Census 2000: The Geography of Diversity
Get detailed maps on racial diversity based on data from the 2000 U.S. Census.
Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension on American Racism
By James W. Loewen(New Press, 2005) A sociologist’s study of the thousands of American “sundown towns” that expelled their African American residents and their subsequent efforts to remain all-white.
Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America
By Elliot Jaspin (Basic Books, 2007) The book based on Jaspin’s comprehensively researched history of racial banishment in the U.S. Reparations
John Conyers, Jr.: Reparations
Michigan Representative John Conyers explains H.R. 40, the Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act, which he has re-introduced to Congress since 1989. The site also provides links to the bill and related discussion.
WashingtonPost.com: 1898 Race Clash Ruled a Coup
In 2006, a state-appointed commission declared that North Carolina should provide economic reparations to the descendants of 1898 racial violence and attacks on African American residents.
MSNBC.com: A Push for Slavery Reparations
Read a 2006 article regarding the reparations movement for black Americans.
Reparations Central
Reparations Central is “an online reparations clearinghouse that contains a significant amount of information relating to the issue of reparations for people of African descent.” Sources
The following served as information sources for sections of this site:
THE PLACES
Forsyth, Georgia
Harrison, Arkansas
Pierce City, Missouri
MAP
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Comments
Post a Comment