Staff Report
ASUNM, the SouthWest Film Center and Student Special Events will present a one-time screening of "The Two Towns of Jasper" -- a documentary film about the racially motivated murder of a Texas man -- in Keller Hall at 7 p.m., tonight.
"The Two Towns of Jasper" tells the story of James Byrd Jr., a black man who was brutally murdered by three white men on June 7, 1998. Byrd was beaten and dragged behind a pickup truck for three miles.
The three men were John William King, Lawrence Russell Brewer and Shawn Berry, who all had with connections to the Aryan Nation white supremacist group, were convicted for kidnapping and murder.
According to a SouthWest Film Center press release, "The Two Towns of Jasper" is the result of a unique, collaborative approach to documentary filmmaking. Producer/directors Whitney Dow and Marco Williams, one a white man and the other black, used segregated film crews to capture the reactions of both the white and black communities of Jasper, Texas, as the murder trials proceeded.
The all-white and all-black crews revealed that Jasper was indeed a town divided along the issue of race, according to the Public Broadcasting Systems Web site.
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In May 2001, the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act was passed into law in Texas. The legislation increased penalties for crimes motivated by prejudice based on gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.
The film comes to UNM as part of a community outreach campaign created by its producers and Working Films -- a national organization that links independent documentary filmmaking with community education, organizing and direct action to support social, economic and civil justice.
Keller Hall is inside The Center For the Arts and the film's admission is free. A facilitated discussion will follow the screening.
