Silver Dollar Road isn’t a new story– it’s one of many that comes as a consequence of systematic Black land loss that continues to happen to this day. Director Raoul Peck tells it in a new way, completely focusing on the Reels family and hearing their story entirely, from the initial confusion to two of the homeowners’ incarceration, and remembering the good old days when they used to enjoy the land. The land dispute has escalated to years of harassment, imprisonment, and being taken advantage of from opportunistic legal counsel. While it could have benefitted from from detailed legal proceedings, Silver Dollar Road still powerfully depicts an intimate family story that outlines the systemic racism enabling Black land loss today.
"A celebration, an elegy, and a profound recording of a frustrating historical wrong."
— Robert Daniels
"[A] riling — but not without joy — documentary."
— Lisa Kennedy
The story of the Reels family who are valiantly attempting to protect the land their family bought one generation after slavery. This documentary, based on the 2019 ProPublica article, highlights the covert ways the legal system has been exploited to keep Black land ownership fragile and the racial wealth gap growing.
For generations, the Reels family owned a waterfront property in Carteret County, North Carolina, known as the Silver Dollar Road. However, because of its prime location, land developers seek it out, harassing the family and taking advantage of an unclear inheritance in order to take the land.
Given the subject matter, Silver Dollar Road could have taken a more factual and journalistic approach, with more interviews dedicated to land law experts to help make the legal issue clear. Instead, director Raoul Peck dedicated all of its time to hearing the family’s stories. It’s a powerful, more intimate choice – it’s a choice that emphasizes their experience, the personal consequences that happen when a land speculator is able to take advantage of the law. It’s an empathetic choice, that highlights the injustice done against them, but also highlights the quiet indignation they haven’t had the opportunity to express.
Infuriating, as intended. It’s infuriating how ordinary folks still get treated this way today, and how justice feels selective.
