Students learn about horrific events in Atlanta history

ATLANTA — Many say a part of Atlanta’s history has been ignored for far too long.

Wednesday, students at Booker T. Washington High School sat in on a screening of the documentary, History Unlocked: The 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre Revealed.

Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen found out about the effort to make sure local students learn about it.

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Tenth grader Belle Williams has been to the movies a time or two, but she says some films are much more than entertainment.

“You should see this film. You should understand why. Especially if you’re a person of color and a Black person. You should see (it),” Williams said.

Emmy Award-winning director, Darrin Sims, spent seven months finding the facts about three days in September.

Over 118 years ago white mobs killed or wounded dozens of Black Atlantans. It was the largest outbreak of racial violence in Georgia’s history.

“We never addressed it. (We) never dealt with it. We still don’t. We don’t teach it,” Sims said.

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“This is a very pivotal moment in education. Period. In terms of making sure we tell the truth,” Social Studies Instructional Coach Tremetrice Wheeler said.

Wheeler said the time has come, and that students need to be taught.

Administrators say they also need to learn how Black residents carried on, and how that eventually led to the establishment of the southwest Atlanta school.

“To sit here today and watch the documentary and see what really happened. It’s incredible to see what went down and how it connects to my school, Booker T. Washington,” Williams said.

The documentary’s producers hope History Unlocked will be part of the curriculum in all local schools.

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