BLURRING THE COLOR LINE

BLURRING THE COLOR LINE “Blurring the Color Line” disrupts the binary black and white narrative of the American South by examining the complexities of race relations between the Chinese and Black communities. The documentary follows director, Crystal Kwok, as she uncovers how her grandmother, Pearl, and Pearl’s sisters navigated life under a strict Chinese upbringing and restrictive life under segregation in Augusta, Georgia during the 1930s.

Centered around the Chinese grocery stores established by Kwok’s great grandparents, the film weaves family anecdotes and memories from the greater Chinese and Black community members from the neighborhood. The stories they share and choose to remember offer a nuanced look into how two seemingly different communities shared a connective history that illuminates the roots of America’s problematic racial history.

This film opens up critical conversations on where the Chinese community fit into the black and white dichotomy of the segregated south, how anti blackness was established and perpetuated, and how marginal groups were pitted against each other in the hierarchical structure of white supremacy.

This documentary serves to show the collective potential in how to break racial barriers and bridge divides.

Stay for a post-screening Panel featuring Crystal Kwok, director of BLURRING THE COLOR LINE, who will be joined by Jon Osaki, director of NOT YOUR MODEL MINORITY MYTH, for a  discussion on race, identity, and the politics of belonging.

Plays in

REPARATIONS + BLURRING THE COLOR LINE + PANEL DISCUSSION

Saturday, May 21, 2022, 3:15 pm – 5:45 pm