In filming her documentary, Invisible Revolution, filmmaker Beverly Peterson found herself at the front lines of the struggle between hate groups in the midwest and the Anti-Racist Action (ARA) group. Tuesday night, about 160 students bore first-hand witness the experiences of these two disparate constituencies and the battle they fight.
As part of the Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) Race and Ethnicity Film Series, Invisible Revolution was viewed by an audience of students, professors, and members of the ARA, some of whom traveled from as far as Montreal to watch the documentary. Invisible Revolution concentrates on the conflict between members of three different hate groups - the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC), the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), and Independent Nazi Skins (INS) - as well as the ARA, a youth organization actively opposed to racism.
In producing the documentary, Peterson spoke to a Grand Dragon in an Ohio KKK chapter; Matt Hale, the leader of the WCOTC; a jailed member of the INS; and several prominent members of the ARA. The film documents a cross burning in the woods, KKK weddings, KKK rallies, and ARA demonstrations.
Invisible Revolution was screened at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah last month. In accordance with this year's EPIIC theme, "Race and Ethnicity," students felt that acknowledging the proximity of hate groups in the US was important for the Tufts community.
"There is a very vivid undercurrent of racism still in this society and there's a youth culture that embraces it and needs to be confronted," said Sherman Teichman, director of the Institute for Global Leadership, which oversees EPIIC.
With security concerns in mind, Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) initially required visitors show a university ID to gain access, but ARA members were eventually permitted entrance to the film and the following discussion.
Junior Vanessa Dillen, an EPIIC student, was thankful the ARA shared its point of view. "I really appreciated the fact that the ARA drove down from Montreal to speak with us," she said.
The ARA voiced several concerns about the film during the discussion with Peterson, with some cautioning that teenagers might see the film and become attracted to hate groups.
Freshman Geoff Downs, who attended the screening, agrees with the ARA. "I have qualms about the film itself.... I feel like it unintentionally gave these white power groups another pulpit to preach from and to play into the fetishism of their own groups," he said.
Downs also said that younger viewers may view the KKK wedding and the dramatic cross burning in a positive light. "[The groups] try to portray this image of this neat, little group that does cool things in the woods," he said.
Sophomore Kristen Lawrence has friends in the ARA in her hometown, and said the film did a disservice by focusing on the human aspects and rituals of the hate groups rather than the logistical activities of the ARA. "[The ARA] is a group that isn't just sitting down and waiting for things to take place. These are kids going against young people, not adults," she said.
Others felt that the film fairly portrayed the hate groups by humanizing the members, which allowed viewers to gain a new, perhaps unpopular, perspective. "I think the director did a really good job of presenting both the hate groups and the anti-racist group as real people - that they were leading everyday lives and what they go through on a daily basis," said senior Mimi Feldman, an EPIIC student.
To address the existence of white supremacist groups in the US, EPIIC considered showing American History X, a fictional film which also focuses on hate groups in the midwest, but chose the documentary format instead. Looking back, Teichman said that screening Invisible Revolution was "the right decision," because it addressed a "cutting edge issue and it was real... the immediacy and authenticity of the people who came to the film, which included a constituency that was represented in the film, made it an important educational moment."
Tuesday night's audience was one of the largest crowds EPIIC has ever received for a film. In fact some viewers were ushered into Tisch Library for a private viewing, as the original venue, Pearson 106, could not accommodate everyone. Danielle Lightburn, program assistant for the Institute of Global Leadership, felt that a good public relations effort and the film's subject matter led to such a large turnout.
"It's a topic that people can relate to, something they see as a problem in American society," Lightburn said. "Even if our campus hasn't been particularly influenced by hate crimes, it's still an issue that comes up on other campuses in other cities."
Feldman agreed that students were attracted to the film because its subject matter interested them on a personal level. "I really heard a buzz around campus," she said. "It's something so close to home, something people really understand."
The writer is a member of the EPIIC class.
