I wanted to inform EthnicMajority readers of some new documentaries that have recently been released by California Newsreel. They look at contemporary civil rights issues such as housing descrimination, unfair incarceration and health inequities along racial lines.

TULIA TEXAS

Though its scrupulous investigation of a landmark case, this documentary uncovers the deep-rooted assumptions about race and crime that still permeate our society and undermines our justice system. The film convincingly shows how the ‘war on drugs’ has become a war on due process, waged against African Americans.

http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0218

SCARRED JUSTICE: THE ORANGEBURG MASSACRE

This documentary brings to light one of the bloodiest tragedies of the Civil Rights era after four decades of deliberate denial. The killing of four white students at Kent State University in 1970 left an indelible stain on our national consciousness. But most Americans know nothing of the three black students killed at South Carolina State College in Orangeburg two years earlier.

http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0223

UNNATURAL CAUSES: IS INEQUALITY MAKING US SICK?

This documentary, sounds the alarm about our disturbing socioeconomic and racial inequities in health – and searches for their root causes. But those causes are not what we might expect. There’s much more to our health than bad habits, health care or unlucky genes. The social conditions in which we are born, live and work profoundly affect our well-being and longevity.

http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0212

BRICK BY BRICK: A CIVIL RIGHTS STORY

This documentary tracks the landmark case, U.S. vs Yonkers, which challenged housing and educational discrimination in the North and pushed for desegregation.

http://www.newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0219

California Newsreel is the oldest non-profit, social issue documentary film distribution center in the country and a leading resource for the advancement of racial and social justice. Visit our website at: www.newsreel.org