Documentary filmmaker Rachel Boynton travels across the United States exploring how Americans tell the story of the Civil War. Filmed from the last year of.
no we re not. you know what s different? we just don t remember. my name is greg carr. anyone associate professor and general department of african studies here at howard university. and what connection do you have to the history of the civil war and reconstruction? well, in addition to the direct history, my ancestors have been brought here from north carolina and alabama. no civil war veterans in my direct family, but we were enslaved in alabama. so obviously, coming out of a civil war, my family, share croppers, coming in the era of jim crow, great migration moving throughout the south. you know, i m a living part of that stream of history. and as a professor here at howard university, and particularly in africa american studies, which is the steady and area i work in, i devoted a great part of my work to understanding the implications of the civil war and reconstruction, in terms of contemporary american life. what s this right here?
this is a film about storytelling, about how we tell the story of our country s past. why do we want to believe one version and not another? maybe because it makes us feel safe at night. there is one episode of america s history that is told very differently, depending on who you are and where you live. it is the story of our civil war and what came after. the hot winds of war blew across the land. made of it, a country divided. friend turned into foe. brother fought against brother. it was such a long and drawn
Abolitionists in particular. the moment the first black person is enslaved, they re pushing back. they are collecting arms as much as they possibly can to prepare for what they believe is inevitable. and that is the violent overthrow of slavery. there seems to be a kind of cirricular resistance to teaching this aspect of american history. look, and i think, i m also a historian. i can understand this, and i can anticipate why. but i just wanted you to talk about, it takes your book to underscore force, as well as freedom, you know? and we all know that that s a part of this history, but it s not taught that way. yeah. it s not taught, i think, because we have this hypocritical, i think, hypocritical love affair with violence. we talk about violence, i think, in these really romantic ways. but that s only when we re talking about white men, right?
There is value in remembering for what these statues were put up for. what do you say to people across this state, marching with confederate flags? i don t say nothing to them. they are not on my radar. they are unruly unbelievable, as far as i know. we pray, oh lord, for those who are attacking our heritage me for their since. we pray our lord the truth of history would triumph. i feel like the country never really were unified after the war, in a way that included all of its citizens, right? like maybe taking down these statues now could help us reunify. but don t try to take away history, because you don t agree with it. and if you really studied history, you see it was more than just slavery. there was taxation issues. well, then, do you put on a bulletproof vest? probably. why? because they were firing paintball the other night. sounds harmless, but who s to