Flag Wars

The documentary was filmed in a neighbourhood in Columbus. The area has long been home to Black working class families. In recent years another group has begun moving in. The newcomers are white and many of them are gay. They buy the old houses and restore them. Property values rise. That rise puts pressure on the older residents. Taxes and building codes turn into a weight. Some owners lose their houses. Tension between the two sides grows. The quarrel is fought over flags and symbols as well. The filming went on for four years. The account does not hand the argument to either side. Racism and hostility to gay people are plainly visible on screen. Residents of the neighbourhood speak in the eighty six minute documentary, an American production Linda Goode Bryant and Laura Poitras finished in 2003.