Intolerable Burden, The

The Intolerable Burden, directed by Chea Prince and produced by Constance Curry. Brooklyn: First Run/Icarus Films, 2002. 56 minutes, color/black and white, $390.00, sale/video; $75.00, rent/video.

"I know and my husband know, it's true in the United States; without an education you just like a fish out the water. How long can that fish live out the water"-Mae Bertha Carter

Mae Bertha Carter, an African American wife and mother of 13 children residing in the Delta, uttered the abovementioned words and ushered in the age of integration in Drew, Mississippi. Chea Prince and Constance Curry's documentary film The Intolerable Burden is as much about Mrs. Carter and the Carter family as it is the history of the African American struggle to end U.S.-based apartheid in public schools. The film is told in two voices: the voice of Mae Bertha Carter and the voice of the citizens of Drew. However, the film embodies Mrs. Carter's spirit of hope and determination and it is her view that predominates. In fact, it is not far-fetched to say she single-handedly ushered Drew into the 20th century by exercising her "freedom of choice" by sending her eight youngest children to previously all-White schools. Despite the onslaught of systemic discrimination and oppression, seven of the eight Carter children who integrated the local elementary and high schools graduated from the University of Mississippi, between 1972 and 1982.

The Intolerable Burden, based on the book Silver Rights by Constance Curry, is an excellent film that educates its audience about the effects of segregation, desegregation, and re-segregation of the Black population in Drew, Mississippi. Of equal importance is its keen ability to tell the story of Mrs. Mae Bertha Carter, a public intellectual who was denied the opportunity of formal education, and her fight for proper education for her children. The film is very accessible for both educators and students; its organization, content, and structure make it most suited for junior high school, high school, and first or second year undergraduate students. Although the film does an excellent job of presenting the material, the story told is a familiar one. It follows in the vein of Spike Lee's 1997 documentary 4 Little Girls and the 1990 PBS series Eyes on the Prize. Both films examine the Civil Rights Movement, however, instead of a general analysis of the movement, the films focus on specific individuals and their contributions, respectively. What sets the documentary The Intolerable Burden apart and makes it most compelling is its examination of the intersection of education and incarceration within a civil rights context.

Part One, titled Segregation, focuses on the city of Drew from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s and gives the viewer brief sociopolitical and historical context of Jim Crow Mississippi. Juxtaposing interviews from Black and White citizens of Drew in the 1950s, with current citizens in the 1990s and the new millennium, the film does an exceptional job of illustrating the continuation of the illegal and systemic disenfranchisement of African Americans. The film draws parallels between slavery in the 1860s and the South's economic dependency on the plantation economy, and the 1960s where plantocracy remains in effect under the guise of tenant fanning or share cropping. The comparison illustrates how little has changed in the material, economic, and social condition of African Americans citizens of Drew.

Part Two is titled De-Segregation. In 1965, in order to comply with the Federal Government's enforcement of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the city of Drew submitted and implemented the "Freedom of Choice" act as a means of desegregating their public schools. The assumption made by the all-White governing school board was that "the Blacks wouldn't dare to exercise their freedom of choice." Therefore, segregation would continue and Drew's public schools would retain eligibility for federal funding. Part Two offers an in-depth look at the effects of desegregation on the community of Drew using comprehensive interviews with seven (now adult) Carter children, their siblings, their former White classmates and school administrators. Spanning from 1965 to roughly 2002, the film explores the promise of freedom, equality, opportunity, and accessibility to proper formal education, with the stark reality of harassment, discrimination, and denial of opportunity, most powerfully illustrated through the Carter children's painful testimony of their experiences integrating the local schools.

Part Three, titled Re-Segregation, is the final section of the film and it takes a close look at life in Drew, Mississippi in 2002. Drew is a rural community surrounded by plantations and a state prison, Parchman Penitentiary. Since the advent of full integration in the 1970s, the quality of public education has been reduced drastically. In response to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a large number of White parents withdrew their children from public schools, creating "White-flight," and opened private "academies." Subsequently, the public schools became predominately Black and the academies were, and remain, virtually all-White. As a consequence, the public school system suffered, resulting in a change in the quality of the curriculum, decaying buildings, and old textbooks. Several community leaders asserted that many of the school's problems are a consequence of the all-White school board that has been accused of and investigated for mismanagement of funds. Ironically, two of the five board members, including the board's chair, have been on the school board since 1964 and were involved in the original construction of "Freedom of Choice." Thus, forms of segregation and discrepancies that were present in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, are very much a live today in Drew.

The film concludes with an exploration of the consequences of a lack of education and job opportunities. It seeks to make connections between high school drop out rates, high rates of unemployment, and soaring rates of incarceration in Drew. The privitization of prisons is established as a key component in understanding the city of Drew and its Black community, however; the documentary does very little with this point, and, thus, is the weakest part of the film. While it does a solid job of introducing the link between a lack of education and job opportunities with increased rates of imprisonment, the level of analysis is not on par with the rest of the film. A significant part of the "intolerable burden" is breaking the cycle of poverty and under-education. Compelling, and largely left unexplored, is the ironic presence of the prison and its role in continuing that cycle. On the one hand the prison provides jobs; on the other hand, it is designed to profit from the uneducated and under-educated who fill its cells. In fact, many Blacks find themselves at Parchment rather than at the local high school, as is the case for Mrs. Carter's grandson. In addition to the lack of an in-depth analysis regarding Parchment Prison, women are glaringly absent. Aside from Mrs. Carter, the women of Drew are completely silenced (unless they are addressing the problems that affect men) and unaccounted for.

The Intolerable Burden limits its focus of the effects of under-education, unemployment, and incarceration to boys and men. The viewer remains uninformed regarding women's roles in the underground economy (e.g., drug dealing and prostitution) or their rate of incarceration and its effects on their families and the community as a whole. Nevertheless, if a bit uneven, the film remains an estimable addition to the history of America.

REFERENCES

Bagwell, O. (Producer), & Fayer, S. (Series Writer). (1999). Eyes on the prize [DVD]. United States: PBS Video. (Editor's note: Due to copyright issues, this video is currently unavailable as of 1/17/2005.)

Spike, L. (Director & Producer). (1998). 4 Little girls [HBO Documentary Film]. United States: HBO Home Video. §

Reviewed by Belinda Deneen Wallace, University of Maryland, College Park.

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