AllMovie

Filmmaker Paul Saltzman returns to Mississippi to confront the virulent racist who assaulted him in the mid-1960s, in the process sparking a thoughtful debate on the topic of intolerance and personal reconciliation at the dawn of the 21st Century. The American Civil Rights Movement was in full swing when Saltzman journeyed into the heart of Mississippi to help with voter registration in 1965, and some of the locals in this Old South stronghold were determined to maintain the status quo. One of those men was Byron "Delay" de la Beckwith, a proud member of the Ku Klux Klan whose father made headlines as the man convicted of killing Civil rights activist Medgar Evers. Shortly after arriving in Mississippi, Saltzman was attacked by a group of men led by de la Beckwith. The horror of that situation stuck with Saltzman for decades and now, over 50 years later, he sits down with his assailant to discuss the lingering specter of racism. Additional interviews with Harry Belafonte recount the turbulence of the voter drive that Saltzman took part in, and conversations with Mississippi native (and current resident) Morgan Freeman offer unique perspective on the prevalent attitudes of the locals, both past and present.