"Banished"

Remembering the name Marco Williams and having seen his previous work, I knew without having read a description of this film that it would cover yet another dark story of the African American experience. So, like I was with the Emmet Till, I was not really "gung ho" to jump right into viewing it. Viewing it in public might have been a bit much as well. So I chose to view it at home in the company of friends and family- all of whom were African American and have roots in the South, like myself. We'd just watched "A Class Divided" and another "hollywood" movie the night before so were anxious to view and discuss this piece. Fresh in our minds was "Being Black in America" - the 2-part series shown on CNN over the last couple of weeks. Naturally, with all of this context, a lot surfaced.

The first thing I began to write down were connections or instances in history that seemed to compare or contrast with what was being described....

1. I thought of the "Red Summers" that occurred in South but also in Chicago with the drowning of Eugene Williams at a south side beach (just minutes from my house!)

• The Sumner-Rosewood, FL case
• The Tulsa, OK case

2. The various lynchings published in the Chicago Defender and other Black newspapers across the country at that time, but I was reminded of Without Sanctuary (book and exhibit)

3. It called to mind the exile of Jews from their homes into the ghettoes

4. The fact that I never heard of Japanese Internment Camps until I had to teach a Facing History humanities course (2001-2008)

5. The possible inclusion of my own ancestors in the "Trail of Tears" and "Indian" removal process from the South to reservation land out west.

6. The encroachment of 1st Nations lands in British Columbia and the struggles of those peoples today

7. I was reminded of the FHA sanctions on housing and home loans ("Race: Power of an Illusion" documentary)

The second thing I found myself doing was questioning what I was seeing and hearing:

• Why were the Black descendants so forgiving?
• How is it that African American descendants used their Christian beliefs to forgive what had happened when some Whites used Christianity to preserve their town they way it was? Which is the true Christian?
• What would happen if all Whites in America practiced a Day of Prayer and openly acknowledged the role of their ancestors in slavery, lynching or banishment?
• Why is it that African Americans seem to be the only group to not be eligible for reparations?
• Has the world REALLY changed if this kind of film is even necessary? If racism and healing had taken place since Dr. King, why is it so difficult for these families to claim what's rightfully theirs?
• Why were the White citizens of these 3 counties so angry with the writers who brought the stories out? Why were they angry with the descendants for wanting compensation, a public acknowledgement or even, memorials?
• What roles should "forgiving and forgetting" play in the lives of African American descendants of banishment?

Lastly, I guess, I consider the condition of myself and African Americans today. As we look back over our own family histories (mine include stories of alleged racial violence and segregation, but no banishment) and the general history of minorities in America, I couldn't help but think that in many ways all people of color suffer from some form of banishment. Lower class citizens, too, are banished. Women, have suffered banishment, as well. Can one compare all these cases, though? Is it fair to say they are the same when African Americans are still so clearly behind their white counterparts in education levels and net worth? There is and always has been the concept of the "other" or this racial dichotonomy in America that keeps Whites on one side and everyone else on the other side. Without all that we've overcome, that's still one mountain we have yet to move.