Based on a true story that takes place in 1971 in Durham, N.C.
C.P. Ellis (Sam Rockwell) is the owner of a gasoline service station and the local leader of Durham’s Ku Klux Klan. He’s asked to co-chair a number of community meetings with Ann Atwater (Taraji P. Henson), a civil rights activist.
The elementary school where the Black students attended was partially closed because of a fire. The vote that will come at the end of two weeks of Town Hall meetings, will decide if the students will be integrated into the school where the White students attend.
Bill Riddick (Babou Ceesay) is a community organizer who is asked to monitor the meetings. There’s raised voices and insults, but a few people actually listened to one another.
C.P. is a guy who feels that he’s more important because he’s a member of the Klan. He has a wife and kids at home and an older mentally challenged son living in a psychiatric hospital. He visits him often and shows him a lot of patience and love. Ann is an outspoken, feisty woman who is very dedicated to her cause. She works tirelessly for justice for her neighbors. A very unlikely pair to come to an understanding, never mind an agreement.
Both actors give very good performances, along with Ceesay as the calm monitor.
The film, directed by Robin Bissell, is very thought provoking. With the racial tensions that prevail, it seems that some people still have a ways to go.