The Neutral Ground

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

In the South there is a rising—but not in the way they had anticipated. The Neutral Ground, a documentary written and directed by CJ Hunt (The Daily Show), examines the battle over Confederate statues in New Orleans and in Southern states. With the ongoing fight over social justice for the black community, The Neutral Ground gives us an understanding of how these statues came to be and why the fight is still prevalent today.

New Orleans has had an ongoing battle over four statues in their city: Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, PGT Beauregard and the White League’s Battle of Liberty Place Monument. In December of 2015 all but one councilman had decided to remove the statues and relocate them. Mitch Landrieu, the now former mayor of New Orleans, was determined to make this happen. This drew ire in the community as many viewed removals as a way of erasing history and not for what they represent to black community members: a reminder of slavery and racial inequality. The fight drew lines in the sand and gained national notoriety—it took over five hundred days since the decision for the statues to finally meet their demise. From the get-go Hunt already understands why the statues need to go. To gain perspective on why the statues mean so much to many in the South and the idea of white pride, Hunt reaches out to individuals such as Thomas Taylor of the LA Sons of Confederate Veterans and even attends the White Nationalist march in Charlottesville.

From there Hunt is taken through the history of Reconstruction and how the departure of the U.S. government during that time brought forth the desire for battered Southerners to build statues to supposedly honor their dead. To work even hard towards finding common ground, Hunt also participates in a Confederate reenactment at Camp Moore in Kentwood, Louisiana. And while he has made this immense effort, his fellow reenactors are reluctant to meet him halfway by visiting the Whitney Plantation in Edgard, Louisiana, a memorial to slaves and their struggle. Enlightened by this realization Hunt pays a visit to the Whitney Plantation and begins to embrace his own roots, eventually participating in a Slavery Rebellion Reenactment in Norco, Louisiana. By the end we come full circle back to the statues in question and see their time come to an end in 2017, as they are removed after five hundred plus days since the decision to take them down.

The Neutral Ground focuses on more than just the statues in question—CJ Hunt’s own upbringing as a Black and Filipino male brings his internal struggle during filming to the forefront. From conversations with his father to immersing himself in the culture of the South, Hunt takes us on a journey where he himself understands how much race still matters today—and it is eye-opening. One scene that comes to mind is when Hunt is invited by photojournalist Abdul Aziz to be witness to the events of Charlottesville at the White Nationalist rally. The fear that Hunt portrays post-Charlottesville is palpable, especially after Aziz tells him to flee during the counter-protest and is gassed while trying to leave. Up until this point we have heard the wit and humor in Hunt’s narrative—until he now sees firsthand just how much racial hatred still exists. Yet, just like the title, Hunt pushes to find that proverbial neutral ground and understand that there are both sides to every story—even if one side is incredibly skewed.

In the end scene Hunt reflects on everything he has learned from the beginning of filming The Neutral Ground. In one breath he is worried as he says, “I don’t know what timeline we are on.” And in the next he is not sure “what happens on the backside of disruption.” Hearing this brought me full circle to the beginning of the documentary when Mitch Landrieu initially discussed the removal of the statues in New Orleans. He reminded those in attendance for discussion that they were for “remembrance not reverence.” The history will always exist, even when it is not physically in our faces. And with the statues in New Orleans meeting their inevitable fate of removal in 2017, we now see other cities and countries following suit. The time to rebuild together starts now.

The Neutral Ground is available on demand as part of the “POV” series on PBS.