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Documentary on Durham a Treasure

Editorial in The Herald Sun on November 20, 2007

It was a proud moment this weekend when Durham residents and others turned out en masse to hear their community's story told in the documentary film Durham: A Self-Portrait at the Carolina Theatre.

Demand for the free tickets forced a planned single showing Friday night to expand into a total of three screenings. It must have been gratifying for filmmaker Steven Channing, who has been working on the documentary for several years, when attendees packed the iconic Carolina Theatre up to its balconies.

And what a story it is; Durham began as a railroad stop around the time of the Civil War, and before long turned into a thriving community built on tobacco, textiles, finance and sweat. The film does a good job in trying to tell all sides, relating, for example, both the rise of the Duke family and the hard¬scrabble existence of tobacco and textile workers.

The film's central theme is racial cooperation. Even when other communities were tearing themselves apart over race, Durham residents, white and black, often worked together to encourage business and maintain order. This was at a time when the races were deliberately separated, by law, in nearly all aspects of life. So any contact or cooperation between blacks and whites had to be low key, even secret, such as the basketball game in 1944 between players from Duke and N.C. Central. The game becomes the film's metaphor for much of Durham's 20th century history.

There are marvelous interviews with a cast of Durham characters. Some are poignant, such as the conversation with Ben Ruffin, who died suddenly last year at age 64. Ruffin, who chaired the UNC Board of Governors, grew up poor in Durham and was deeply involved in the civil rights protests of the 1960s. As Ruffin relates, Durham history wasn't always harmonious, then or now. There were times that no amount of goodwill could overcome the genuine anger and passion of the day. Disharmony tore at Durham just as it did other places, and Durham: A Self¬Portrait depicts those times too.

There is much more. The film is a treasure we hope will be shown often so many more residents will have a chance to see it. Channing deserves congratulations on this achievement and thanks from the community for preserving these priceless stories.