“This masterful film casts a brilliant light on events shamefully obscured for decades.”
-Julian Bond, Chairman, NAACP Board of Directors
“This hidden piece of history has now been brought to light in a powerful,
passionate documentary.”
– Howard Zinn, Author, A People’s History of the United States
“This stunning documentary places the Orangeburg Massacre at the center of a long series of events critical to our understanding of the American civil rights era.”
-Darlene Clark Hine, Past President, Organization of American Historians
SYNOPSIS
On February 8, 1968, eight seconds of police gunfire left three young men dying and at least 27 wounded on the campus of South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, S.C. All of the police were white, all of the students African-American. Almost all of the victims were shot from behind as they fled the gunfire that erupted without warning.
The Massacre happened after four days of student protests to desegregate the city’s only bowling alley. It was the first time ever police opened fire on students on a U.S. campus. Two years later Kent State would shock the nation.
This powerful yet disturbing documentary film explores the eye-witness accounts of student protesters and police officer participants. Interviews with former Governor Robert McNair, the prize-winning journalists who covered the story, and many others, provide a compelling account of the price paid in America’s struggle for racial justice. It raises questions about an event that has yet to be resolved.
Producers’ Quote:
“This is one of the most important events of the civil rights movement that almost no one knows. Our job as documentary filmmakers is to shed light on incidents that have not been fully considered; to raise questions that will contribute to the discussion of accountability so as to help insure that this kind of tragedy never happens again.”
– Bestor Cram & Judy Richardson
Scarred Justice: The Orangeburg Massacre 1968 