Is The Best of Enemies a True Story But the job didnt last, and Atwater went to the Department of Social Services to apply for help. One day we were working with a welfare problem, people werent getting the type help that they were supposed to get from the welfare department, so I took one of the ladies and went down to the Department of Social Services, Atwater recalled in a 2010 interview. The only foods she could afford for her children were rice, cabbage, and fatback. He convinced her landlord to fix her house, helped pay back her debt, and helped her find her path. They just have them. I pulled out the knife that I kept in my handbag and opened the blade. The other co-chair was C.P. It was at this house in Durhams Hayti District where she met Howard Fuller, the man that would help her reach her destiny as a pioneering advocate. Ann G. Atwater was born on July 1, 1935, in Hillsboro, North Carolina. Im not following you any further. Soon, she divorced him. I didnt like integration. Yes. Ann Atwater was a woman to be reckoned with, a woman not to be ignored. Such struggles helped shape Atwater as an activist. When Kathleen Peterson was found dead in her home on December 9, 2001, suspicions naturally turned to the only other person in the house at the time: her husband Michael Peterson. And she was an effective boycotter, too. He was upset and I was upset, and he was cussin' and callin' all black folks n**gers and I was callin' all white folks crackers, and I couldn't stand white folks anyway." Ellis and Atwater spoke together about their experience at events around the country, and at C.P. I tried to find somebody. Ellis, Ann Atwater's voice was deep and powerful, and she had the ability to energize her audience. Ann Atwater Pushed To Integrate Her Citys Schools And Got A Klansman Named C.P. [7][pageneeded] Afterward she attended the Operation Breakthrough meeting and discussed how the poor had to work together to get the government's attention in order to help solve poverty and what her concerns were. This wasnt actually true there was no house waiting for her when she arrived in Durham. Ann Atwater, interview by Sean Aery, Sallie Bingham Center for Womens History and Culture, February 1, 2006. Ms. ANN ATWATER (Civil Rights Activist): Yes, he did, and I hated him just as hard as he hated me. Ellis formed a lifelong friendship. Most of Michael Peterson's children stood by their father but stepdaughter Caitlin Atwater believed he was guilty of killing her mother, Kathleen Peterson. Atwater told Dateline correspondent Dennis Murphy that she had lost "far more than just my mother. Such a system is still in use today. The school's Ann Atwater Freedom Library continues her work of "making surprising friendships possible".[15]. Ellis lived across the tracks in a neighborhood nearly as destitute, but white. When Atwater discovered caseworkers kept key information from clients, she figured out how to get the information herself. Atwater found her niche. Starting from the very beginning, Ann Atwater was born in Hallsboro as one of nine children and got married in her early teenage years. She died in 2016 having won many awards and accolades for her work for the disadvantaged. In July 1971, the public schools were still segregated, despite the 1954 US Supreme Court ruling that segregated schools were unconstitutional, and 1960s federal civil rights legislation about integration of public facilities. He got up in the middle of their conversation, ignoring Atwater and the crowd of black parents behind her. Ellis, whos played by Sam Rockwell. You gotta have somethin to look at to hate. "They said I sold out because I worked with a Klansman," recalled Atwater. Fuller was bankrolled by the North Caroline Fund to do some community organizing and soon drafted Atwater into the group. We were at a meeting downtown together, said Ann Atwater years later, and he kept yelling nigger this and nigger that. She first became involved in activism after local housing advocates helped her be able to keep her home when she fell behind on rent. If I told him I needed some money, he told me he needed something, we looked after each other. It's just a strange thing, but it really happened. Her husband was a drinker who often spent all his pay on homemade liquor. [4] The roof of her house was full of holes, the bathtub had fallen through the floor, and the house was so poorly wired that when the man cut off [her] lights for nonpayment, [she] could stomp on the floor and the lights would come on and [shed] stomp on the floor and theyd go off. When asked if she believed Michael killed her mother, she said: When prompted for a possible reason why, Atwater called it "truly a culmination of a storm," that might have come from financial issues and secrets within the marriage. That path involved a 17-week training course, where Ann Atwater learned the ropes of community organizing and the ins and outs of tenant rights along with the citys housing code. Clayton Peterson was sentenced to four years in prison for a failed attempt to firebomb the Duke University Administration Building, reports Metro.US. WebEventually Atwater divorced him and raised their two daughters on her own as a single mother. In front of a crowd, C.P. Ann Atwater, a black civil rights activist, talks about her friend. Ellis stood up and ripped apart his Klan membership card. She spoke at C.P. So I told C.P. Ms. Atwater, Mr. Ellis there saying he hated your guts going into these meetings. Her first baby died soon after birth. [2], After Atwater co-led the charrette, she continued to work with the poor and middle-class black community in Durham. Margaret Ratliff and her young sister Martha Ratliff were adopted by Michael Peterson after their parents, Elizabeth and George Ratliff, died. When Atwater got pregnant at 14, her father a deacon in the church grabbed his shotgun and walked to the house of the man responsible, French Wilson. Atwater, who died in 2016 at the age of 80, defied stereotypes. What Happened To Ann Atwater She was a woman who found and used the power of her voice. Fuller looked at the house and asked Atwater if shed like help in fixing it. Over the course of the 10 days that they co-chaired the committee on school desegregation, Ann Atwater and C.P. She began to represent poor people with housing problems, and would go door-to-door telling others of her own previous housing problems and how she was able to resolve them. After that, Atwater went door to door telling people how they could get their landlords to fix their houses. That first meeting marked the start of her involvement in helping the poor black community fight poverty. Ellis, who died of Alzheimer's in 2005, became a champion of union and labor organizations, working as an AFL-CIO organizer. Her mother died when she was 6. Even though the Supreme Court had ruled in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Educationcase that schools had to be desegregated, this by no means meant that there wasn't a great deal of resistance in some communities, especially in the South. Atwater, the daughter of sharecroppers and a single mother of two, moved to Durham when she was about 18 and spent most of her life fighting for the rights of black and impoverished citizens in Durham. One of the workers said, Maam, this is the service for Clayborn Ellis. Born Ann George in the community of Hallsboro in Columbus County, North Carolina, she was pregnant and married at the age of 14. She made dresses out of flour and rice bags for her daughters to wear. Atwater was an unlikely civil rights activist. He grew up in the tobacco and textile town of Durham, North Carolina. She became an effective leader. Yes. Ellis, read about Malcolm Xs brutal assassination and Americas struggle for civil rights. -An Unlikely Friendship Documentary, Yes. She was a fierce fighter for rights for poor African Americans who shook up the white power establishment in Durham, N.C. in the 1960s. WebKathleen had one daughter named Caitlin from her first marriage to physicist Fred Atwater, per PopSugar. But Atwater's husband struggled financially, and became alcoholic and abusive. She seems an unlikely activist and hero. Ann Atwater was a pioneer of community organizing and black advocacy. She turned those chairs back around to force them to face her. And he wasn't clapping his hands even along with us; he would clap an odd beat. Im not following you any further.. In particular, Kathleen's daughter Caitlin Atwater disassociated herself from the family, believing her stepfather Michael Peterson played a role in her mother's death. VarietyThe Best of Enemies depicts the unexpected friendship between Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis began to change. But my pastor was sitting there and saw me holding the knife. What are you gonna do? " the father demanded, according to the book The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson, upon which the movie is based. It met for ten sessions. He was to tear it apart. If we fail, at least no one can say we didnt try. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Caitlin Atwater is Kathleen Peterson's daughter with her first husband, Fred Atwater. I didnt like Ann boycotting stores. Racism was instilled in Ellis from a young age. She didn't feel that she could ever achieve true closure, but she could move forward. The circumstances in which their mother died would raise suspicions about Michael Peterson's role in Kathleen Peterson's murder ahead of his trial. [12][pageneeded], The two antagonists eventually learned to work together and, to everyones astonishment, became good friends. But to see--as I tell everybody, God had a hand on that because in the meetings C.P. A friend talked her out of trying to stab C.P., telling her, "That's what they want you to do." All rights reserved. "I just lend whatever God gives me to give out. I didn't like integration. She had already been friends with the girls when their parents met and connected. She moved to Durham in 1953, where her husband, William French, had relocated. He credited his meetings with Ann Atwater as being the reason he was able to shed his racism. She and her husband relocated to Durham soon after in the hopes of better opportunities, but things shifted for the worst. we would see whose God would be the strongest, my God or his God. By the end of the charrette, Ellis gave up his leadership in the KKK. Yes, The Best of Enemies is based on a true story. Ellis lived across the tracks in a neighborhood nearly as destitute, but white. We are going to have to lay aside our differences and work together. Her father earned only five cents an hour; Ann and her siblings also worked on farms as children to help support the family. CP Ellis Yes. I always said if they'd said something to me, I was going to knock the hell out of them with my Bible. We looked at each other like fools wed been arguing about the wrong things and hadnt been doing anything to make the school system better., They started talking. Ellis were named co-chairs of the Durham, North Carolinas charrette S.O.S., Save Our Schools.. Riddick set up a meeting, which is referred to in the movie as a charrette. In researching The Best of Enemies' historical accuracy, we learned that C.P. At one school meeting, a school board member got up in the middle of a conversation as she was making demands for school improvements. Ann Atwater and C.P. And I had my coat on, and I took the manual off the desk and put it under my coat while she was fussing about coming there and not getting any help. His relationship with Ann Atwater, who attended his funeral, became the subject of a book and a documentary film, and was the favourite of all the interviews conducted by Studs Terkel. This article was published more than4 years ago. She organized protests for better housing, boycotts and educated citizens about their rights. Through Operation Breakthrough, Atwater was selected for the 1971 charrette or series of planning meetings over the integration of Durhams schools. And she was an effective boycotter, too. She moved to Durham in 1953. My husband was already here, and he sent back for me and my oldest child, and he told me he had a place for us to live, Atwater explained during the oral history interview. As soon as he got close to me, I was going to grab his head from behind and cut him from ear to ear. Today, Caitlin is married and is now known as Caitlin Clark. Ann Atwater, Durham Civil Rights Activist, Dies The Best of Enemies true story reveals that Ann Atwater got married at the age of 14 and moved to Durham, NC in 1953. No. They presented ways to improve curriculum, in addition to making it easier for students' voices to be heard. Ann Atwater was used to struggling, but she hit some truly hard times. Ann Atwaters life didnt start off easy. Instead, they spent the first bit of their married life sharing a single room with another man, with him in one bed while Atwater and Wilson shared the other with their baby. Ann G. Atwater For example, when addressing a white person, the welfare worker would politely call the person over to the desk and there privately ask Your name? WebIn 1971 in Durham, North Carolina, Ann Atwater tries to get better housing conditions for poor black people, and is ignored by the all-white judge panel. I didnt like them. SCOTUS Now Just Another Congressional Committee, Trump Ramps up Attacks on DeSantis: 'Dropping Like a Rock', Russian Strikes on Pavlohrad Aim to Hamper Ukraine's Counteroffensive, Greg Abbott Criticized for Response to Texas Shooting: 'A New Low', Democrat Sold First Republic Stock, Bought JP Morgan Before Collapse, Conservative Influencers Struggle With Countering Biden's Messaging. ", Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Story of unlikely friendship in Durham hits She said, "I realized there was definitely another side to him.". Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner portrays Margaret Ratliff in HBO Max's The Staircase and The Stand's Odessa Young takes on the role of Martha Ratliff. The marriage was unhappy, and when Wilson got a job in Richmond, Virginia and asked Atwater to uproot herself again, she countered: I already followed you to Durham. This will be the first time two completely different sets of philosophies have united to work for this goal of better schools. Jim Thornton/The Herald Sun Collections/University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill LibrariesAnn Atwater and C.P. She survived on $57 a month from a welfare check, and struggled to pay rent, as she gained only occasional domestic work in white homes. State Government websites value user privacy. The funeral homes were still segregated, said Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, director of the School for Conversion, a community program in Durham. They don't have any evidence to some of the things that they do and some of the opinions they make. Over 10 days, the opposing sides met and tension grew. A housing organizer came by one evening to ask if she needed help to get repairs. -The Best of Enemies book. Ellis have agreed to take part in these meetings, which were all about improving race relations and figuring out a way to integrate the schools? Ellis had an especially difficult time returning to his life post-charrette, as he had lost his effectiveness in the conservative community, which he acknowledged in a toast on the last night of the charrette. Photo from the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill Libraries, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, An official website of the State of North Carolina, Advisory Council on Film, Television, and Digital Streaming, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion, N.C. Newsweek has everything you need to know. "He didn't want [integration]," said Atwater of C.P. Ellis came to realize that blacks were not suppressing poor whites, and that the two groups shared problems. Atwater had been an activist for quite some time before her role in helping to solve the problems related to the desegregation of schools, which is what's focused on in the movie. WebDid Ann Atwater's husband leave her to raise their children alone? But much rang true. Ellis said of his wife, "but she endured it because I enjoyed it, see? For food, she and her daughters could only afford rice, cabbage, and gravy while she made her daughters clothes out of the bags the rice came in. Ann Atwater, interview by Sean Aery, Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, February 1, 2006. As a result, there was no one to direct the Klan's Youth Corp and the program disbanded. The other co-chair would be C.P. According to The Best of Enemies true story, Ann says that C.P. BLOCK: Civil rights activist Ann Atwater in Durham, North Carolina. I pulled out, I had a little small knife, pocket knife." I didn't like them. [8][pageneeded]. Moving past race, they began to focus on other issues, such as the academic quality of Durhams schools. Ellis. "She didn't particularly like the Klan," C.P. The two realized they had been arguing about the wrong things, that they had the same hopes for their children and a lot in common as poor people. The unlikely friendship is remarkable, but most of all, Ann Atwaters legacy is that of a fierce defender of integration to whom the word no meant nothing. Ann Atwater BLOCK: Well, what happened in the course of this meeting over 10 days that turned things around in the way that it did? Throughout her career she helped improve the quality of life in Durham through programs such as Operation Breakthrough (Durham, North Carolina), a community organization dedicated to fight the War on Poverty. Ann Atwater Ann mar- She had little faith that hed be able to get her landlord to do anything, but she agreed to go with him to a meeting for his organization. Atwater went to work as a maid, making 30 cents an hour. Kathleen Peterson Today, Todd is believed to be living in Tennessee. She was also not afraid to tell anyone to go to hell if she felt like it. Ann's dad had encouraged her baby's father to marry her. When Ellis, who later became a labor rights activist, died in 2005, his family asked Atwater to give the eulogy. Ellis quit the KKK. Trump's latest attack addresses DeSantis' overseas trips to the U.K., Israel, Florida's Covid-19 record, and polling support for the 2024 Presidential race. C.P. This is the story of Ann Atwater, political activist and desegregationist, the true story behind the 2019 film The Best of Enemies. C.P. From then on, she demanded to be heard. Categories: Ellis' funeral on Saturday. Ellis, an exalted cyclops of the local Ku Klux Klan in Durham. Atwater changed history in Durham, refusing to be ignored as she demanded better schools and living conditions for black residents. Ms. ATWATER: Yeah. Operation Breakthrough helped people define and accomplish a series of tasks in order to build a pattern of achievement. C.P. According to C.P. (modern). Yes. She was not afraid to voice her opinions loudly and proudly. C.P. Claiborne Paul Ellis, union organiser, born January 8 1927; died November 3 2005, A reformed white racist, he fought for black workers, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Ellis died in 2005 and Atwater was asked to deliver the eulogy. Local leaders, in addition to the organizer of the charrette, Bill Riddick (portrayed by Babou Ceesay in the movie), decided that Ann Atwater and C.P. And the funny part about it, we stayed friends all these years. His father and local community blamed poor blacks for their problems, and reasoned that blacks were to blame for why they could never get ahead regardless of how hard they worked. From then on, she demanded to be heard.

. However, more prominent members of the community felt that the issue was too hot to get involved in. Her mother died when she was 6. They would turn the chairs around and demand to be heard. Her pastor was there, grabbed the hand holding a knife and stopped her. The purpose of this charrette was to discuss school desegregation, a still contentious issue, and to draw up a series of recommendations to present to the school board. Ellis had epiphanies. The Society's Olivia DeJonge portrays Caitlin Atwater in HBO Max's The Staircase. Todd Peterson is the second son of Michael Peterson, from his first marriage to Patricia Sue. He grabbed my hand and said, Dont give them the satisfaction. . Tensions steadily rose, but near the end the two had a change of heart. When her job as a maid ended, she found herself living in a dilapidated house in North Durham on a welfare check of $57 a month. The other was C.P. Ann actually gave Ellis' eulogy when he passed away. It was funded by the North Carolina Fund, a statewide program to improve education. Ellis. Ann Atwater in an image from the 2002 documentary. He had similar feelings, saying, "It was impossible. She and Ellis continued their friendship to the end of their lives. However, Yes, this comes straight from Diane Bloom's 2002 documentary, No. The poor blacks of Durham had to fight both racial and class divisions: one against the whites who claimed superiority and another against the wealthier blacks who did not want to associate themselves with the lower class. Ellis was a former grand exalted cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan in Durham, North Carolina. Ms. ATWATER: No, it don't when you look back at it. Aiden Shaw Makes His Return In 'And Just Like That' Season 2, 15 Movies On Netflix About Mothers & Daughters Thatll Make You Emotional, Beef Captures Our Toxic Tendency To Confuse Love With Sacrifice, What Parents Are Talking About Delivered Straight To Your Inbox, By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. She attended a Durham premiere of the film in March 2019 and answered media questions on the red carpet. Welfare was only providing $57 a month, and she was leasing a dilapidated house where she was $100 behind her rent. She knew that some welfare workers were guilty of this. He invited Atwater to co-lead the charrette with C. P. Ellis, who was then the Exalted Grand Cyclops of the Durham Ku Klux Klan. Despite the suspicions surrounding their mother's death, Margaret and Martha Ratliff continued to support Michael Peterson, believing he did not kill Kathleen. Ms. ATWATER: Well, in the first five days of the meetings, we had a choir come in, a gospel choir, a church choir--to come in and do some singing. An Alford plea is one where the defendant admits that the evidence against them would likely lead to a finding of guilty, but the defendant asserts their innocence. Atwater disliked the lack of respect many whites showed for blacks. We didnt know we had things in common., They talked about the hardships of raising children in poverty, and their efforts to emphasize that their children's potential was equal to that of middle-class children. The first three episodes of The Staircase premiere on Thursday, May 5, and the remaining episodes drop weekly on HBO Max. Atwater initially declined to serve as co-chair, but reluctantly agreed to work with Ellis. At the time, Durham had a fairly large black population, with a considerable portion of educated, middle-class blacks, in addition to white residents and poor blacks. "This particular night C.P. I know if we weren't gonna look after our children, nobody else would. Atwater was an unlikely civil rights activist. BLOCK: Why would C.P. So, where are Michael Peterson's children now? That was real, said Ann-Nakia Green, Atwaters 35-year-old granddaughter. He goes from being a leader of the Ku Klux Klan to being a union organizer for both blacks and whites, a civil right advocate. He still got my back and He always will have it as long as I keep trusting in him." "And then he sat down and I snatched the phone out the wall, and we sat down and we had a meeting.. Ann Atwater: Grassroots Organizer and Veteran of Americas Freedom Struggle. He worked in the tobacco factory and she as a domestic, but he turned to drink. Considering their history of mutual animosity, Atwater and Ellis were reluctant to work with the other, but both knew that to have their opinion represented, they must participate. Civil-Rights Activist, Ex-Klansman C.P. Ellis : NPR Peterson was the last person to see her alive. On the final night of the charrette, Ellis stood before the crowd and ripped up his Klan card. Accuracy and availability may vary. ELLIS (Civil Rights Advocate): I wanted to make them angry. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [1] In the documentary An Unlikely Friendship, Atwater recalled that while working on a white owner's farm, she was given food only through the back door and after the white workers had eaten. Ann Atwater and C.P. The Best of Enemies (2019 film I knew what happened to my mom." Courtesy of STXfilmsAnn Atwater in an image from the 2002 documentary An Unlikely Friendship. She organized her community to rail against the citys repressive and reprehensible policies towards black housing, often peacefully in pickets and marches and city council meetings, but she was not averse to more violent tactics, as when she participated in the bombing of the Housing Authority. There certainly is no deep seated love between Mr. Ellis and myself but this school project brings out problems we all have. Jeter Downs needs to play to develop. The enmity was mutual, and the charrette seemed stuck. That was Howard Fuller with Operation Breakthrough, a program founded in Durham in 1964 to address poverty and inequality. Do you look back, and does it make sense to you? Ann The real-life story of Atwater is featured in the movie The Best of Enemies, starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell, which opens in theaters Friday. [9] Atwater mobilized poor blacks in Durham to help them stand up for themselves. The kids in some of the schools were also being taught material that was a year behind what kids their same age were being taught in other schools. I went on back out the street and went on down, right back down the street to the office, and we Xeroxed the part that told the welfare recipients their rights.. In the 1960s, eighty percent of black Durham residents lived in substandard housing, a figure which had remained unchanged since the 1920s. Initially, they didn't even speak to one another. I hated her guts., BlacKkKlansman: How black detective Ron Stallworth infiltrated the Colorado Klan, Atwater countered: I hated him just as hard as he hated me. was up raging and ranting, that's when I wanted to cut his head off. Before Peterson's trial, the Durham court ordered the exhumation of Ratliff's embalmed body, buried in Texas, for a second autopsy in April 2003. "He changed from a Klansman to a Christian, and they said I had sold out, that he was a n**ger lover." And that plan was to put us there to make sure that this school integration would be done peacefully, and that's what happened. Ellis told an NPR interviewer that Atwater was an effective boycotter, making progress and he hated her guts. He grabbed my hand and said, Dont give them the satisfaction.'. 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To learn more, view our full privacy policy. And she was an effective boycotter, too. Is The Best of Enemies a True Story But the job didnt last, and Atwater went to the Department of Social Services to apply for help. One day we were working with a welfare problem, people werent getting the type help that they were supposed to get from the welfare department, so I took one of the ladies and went down to the Department of Social Services, Atwater recalled in a 2010 interview. The only foods she could afford for her children were rice, cabbage, and fatback. He convinced her landlord to fix her house, helped pay back her debt, and helped her find her path. They just have them. I pulled out the knife that I kept in my handbag and opened the blade. The other co-chair was C.P. It was at this house in Durhams Hayti District where she met Howard Fuller, the man that would help her reach her destiny as a pioneering advocate. Ann G. Atwater was born on July 1, 1935, in Hillsboro, North Carolina. Im not following you any further. Soon, she divorced him. I didnt like integration. Yes. Ann Atwater was a woman to be reckoned with, a woman not to be ignored. Such struggles helped shape Atwater as an activist. When Kathleen Peterson was found dead in her home on December 9, 2001, suspicions naturally turned to the only other person in the house at the time: her husband Michael Peterson. And she was an effective boycotter, too. He was upset and I was upset, and he was cussin' and callin' all black folks n**gers and I was callin' all white folks crackers, and I couldn't stand white folks anyway." Ellis and Atwater spoke together about their experience at events around the country, and at C.P. I tried to find somebody. Ellis, Ann Atwater's voice was deep and powerful, and she had the ability to energize her audience. Ann Atwater Pushed To Integrate Her Citys Schools And Got A Klansman Named C.P. [7][pageneeded] Afterward she attended the Operation Breakthrough meeting and discussed how the poor had to work together to get the government's attention in order to help solve poverty and what her concerns were. This wasnt actually true there was no house waiting for her when she arrived in Durham. Ann Atwater, interview by Sean Aery, Sallie Bingham Center for Womens History and Culture, February 1, 2006. Ms. ANN ATWATER (Civil Rights Activist): Yes, he did, and I hated him just as hard as he hated me. Ellis formed a lifelong friendship. Most of Michael Peterson's children stood by their father but stepdaughter Caitlin Atwater believed he was guilty of killing her mother, Kathleen Peterson. Atwater told Dateline correspondent Dennis Murphy that she had lost "far more than just my mother. Such a system is still in use today. The school's Ann Atwater Freedom Library continues her work of "making surprising friendships possible".[15]. Ellis lived across the tracks in a neighborhood nearly as destitute, but white. When Atwater discovered caseworkers kept key information from clients, she figured out how to get the information herself. Atwater found her niche. Starting from the very beginning, Ann Atwater was born in Hallsboro as one of nine children and got married in her early teenage years. She died in 2016 having won many awards and accolades for her work for the disadvantaged. In July 1971, the public schools were still segregated, despite the 1954 US Supreme Court ruling that segregated schools were unconstitutional, and 1960s federal civil rights legislation about integration of public facilities. He got up in the middle of their conversation, ignoring Atwater and the crowd of black parents behind her. Ellis, whos played by Sam Rockwell. You gotta have somethin to look at to hate. "They said I sold out because I worked with a Klansman," recalled Atwater. Fuller was bankrolled by the North Caroline Fund to do some community organizing and soon drafted Atwater into the group. We were at a meeting downtown together, said Ann Atwater years later, and he kept yelling nigger this and nigger that. She first became involved in activism after local housing advocates helped her be able to keep her home when she fell behind on rent. If I told him I needed some money, he told me he needed something, we looked after each other. It's just a strange thing, but it really happened. Her husband was a drinker who often spent all his pay on homemade liquor. [4] The roof of her house was full of holes, the bathtub had fallen through the floor, and the house was so poorly wired that when the man cut off [her] lights for nonpayment, [she] could stomp on the floor and the lights would come on and [shed] stomp on the floor and theyd go off. When asked if she believed Michael killed her mother, she said: When prompted for a possible reason why, Atwater called it "truly a culmination of a storm," that might have come from financial issues and secrets within the marriage. That path involved a 17-week training course, where Ann Atwater learned the ropes of community organizing and the ins and outs of tenant rights along with the citys housing code. Clayton Peterson was sentenced to four years in prison for a failed attempt to firebomb the Duke University Administration Building, reports Metro.US. WebEventually Atwater divorced him and raised their two daughters on her own as a single mother. In front of a crowd, C.P. Ann Atwater, a black civil rights activist, talks about her friend. Ellis stood up and ripped apart his Klan membership card. She spoke at C.P. So I told C.P. Ms. Atwater, Mr. Ellis there saying he hated your guts going into these meetings. Her first baby died soon after birth. [2], After Atwater co-led the charrette, she continued to work with the poor and middle-class black community in Durham. Margaret Ratliff and her young sister Martha Ratliff were adopted by Michael Peterson after their parents, Elizabeth and George Ratliff, died. When Atwater got pregnant at 14, her father a deacon in the church grabbed his shotgun and walked to the house of the man responsible, French Wilson. Atwater, who died in 2016 at the age of 80, defied stereotypes. What Happened To Ann Atwater She was a woman who found and used the power of her voice. Fuller looked at the house and asked Atwater if shed like help in fixing it. Over the course of the 10 days that they co-chaired the committee on school desegregation, Ann Atwater and C.P. She began to represent poor people with housing problems, and would go door-to-door telling others of her own previous housing problems and how she was able to resolve them. After that, Atwater went door to door telling people how they could get their landlords to fix their houses. That first meeting marked the start of her involvement in helping the poor black community fight poverty. Ellis, who died of Alzheimer's in 2005, became a champion of union and labor organizations, working as an AFL-CIO organizer. Her mother died when she was 6. Even though the Supreme Court had ruled in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Educationcase that schools had to be desegregated, this by no means meant that there wasn't a great deal of resistance in some communities, especially in the South. Atwater, the daughter of sharecroppers and a single mother of two, moved to Durham when she was about 18 and spent most of her life fighting for the rights of black and impoverished citizens in Durham. One of the workers said, Maam, this is the service for Clayborn Ellis. Born Ann George in the community of Hallsboro in Columbus County, North Carolina, she was pregnant and married at the age of 14. She made dresses out of flour and rice bags for her daughters to wear. Atwater was an unlikely civil rights activist. He grew up in the tobacco and textile town of Durham, North Carolina. She became an effective leader. Yes. Ellis, read about Malcolm Xs brutal assassination and Americas struggle for civil rights. -An Unlikely Friendship Documentary, Yes. She was a fierce fighter for rights for poor African Americans who shook up the white power establishment in Durham, N.C. in the 1960s. WebKathleen had one daughter named Caitlin from her first marriage to physicist Fred Atwater, per PopSugar. But Atwater's husband struggled financially, and became alcoholic and abusive. She seems an unlikely activist and hero. Ann Atwater was a pioneer of community organizing and black advocacy. She turned those chairs back around to force them to face her. And he wasn't clapping his hands even along with us; he would clap an odd beat. Im not following you any further.. In particular, Kathleen's daughter Caitlin Atwater disassociated herself from the family, believing her stepfather Michael Peterson played a role in her mother's death. VarietyThe Best of Enemies depicts the unexpected friendship between Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis began to change. But my pastor was sitting there and saw me holding the knife. What are you gonna do? " the father demanded, according to the book The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson, upon which the movie is based. It met for ten sessions. He was to tear it apart. If we fail, at least no one can say we didnt try. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Caitlin Atwater is Kathleen Peterson's daughter with her first husband, Fred Atwater. I didnt like Ann boycotting stores. Racism was instilled in Ellis from a young age. She didn't feel that she could ever achieve true closure, but she could move forward. The circumstances in which their mother died would raise suspicions about Michael Peterson's role in Kathleen Peterson's murder ahead of his trial. [12][pageneeded], The two antagonists eventually learned to work together and, to everyones astonishment, became good friends. But to see--as I tell everybody, God had a hand on that because in the meetings C.P. A friend talked her out of trying to stab C.P., telling her, "That's what they want you to do." All rights reserved. "I just lend whatever God gives me to give out. I didn't like integration. She had already been friends with the girls when their parents met and connected. She moved to Durham in 1953, where her husband, William French, had relocated. He credited his meetings with Ann Atwater as being the reason he was able to shed his racism. She and her husband relocated to Durham soon after in the hopes of better opportunities, but things shifted for the worst. we would see whose God would be the strongest, my God or his God. By the end of the charrette, Ellis gave up his leadership in the KKK. Yes, The Best of Enemies is based on a true story. Ellis lived across the tracks in a neighborhood nearly as destitute, but white. We are going to have to lay aside our differences and work together. Her father earned only five cents an hour; Ann and her siblings also worked on farms as children to help support the family. CP Ellis Yes. I always said if they'd said something to me, I was going to knock the hell out of them with my Bible. We looked at each other like fools wed been arguing about the wrong things and hadnt been doing anything to make the school system better., They started talking. Ellis were named co-chairs of the Durham, North Carolinas charrette S.O.S., Save Our Schools.. Riddick set up a meeting, which is referred to in the movie as a charrette. In researching The Best of Enemies' historical accuracy, we learned that C.P. At one school meeting, a school board member got up in the middle of a conversation as she was making demands for school improvements. Ann Atwater and C.P. And I had my coat on, and I took the manual off the desk and put it under my coat while she was fussing about coming there and not getting any help. His relationship with Ann Atwater, who attended his funeral, became the subject of a book and a documentary film, and was the favourite of all the interviews conducted by Studs Terkel. This article was published more than4 years ago. She organized protests for better housing, boycotts and educated citizens about their rights. Through Operation Breakthrough, Atwater was selected for the 1971 charrette or series of planning meetings over the integration of Durhams schools. And she was an effective boycotter, too. She moved to Durham in 1953. My husband was already here, and he sent back for me and my oldest child, and he told me he had a place for us to live, Atwater explained during the oral history interview. As soon as he got close to me, I was going to grab his head from behind and cut him from ear to ear. Today, Caitlin is married and is now known as Caitlin Clark. Ann Atwater, Durham Civil Rights Activist, Dies The Best of Enemies true story reveals that Ann Atwater got married at the age of 14 and moved to Durham, NC in 1953. No. They presented ways to improve curriculum, in addition to making it easier for students' voices to be heard. Ann Atwater was used to struggling, but she hit some truly hard times. Ann Atwaters life didnt start off easy. Instead, they spent the first bit of their married life sharing a single room with another man, with him in one bed while Atwater and Wilson shared the other with their baby. Ann G. Atwater For example, when addressing a white person, the welfare worker would politely call the person over to the desk and there privately ask Your name? WebIn 1971 in Durham, North Carolina, Ann Atwater tries to get better housing conditions for poor black people, and is ignored by the all-white judge panel. I didnt like them. SCOTUS Now Just Another Congressional Committee, Trump Ramps up Attacks on DeSantis: 'Dropping Like a Rock', Russian Strikes on Pavlohrad Aim to Hamper Ukraine's Counteroffensive, Greg Abbott Criticized for Response to Texas Shooting: 'A New Low', Democrat Sold First Republic Stock, Bought JP Morgan Before Collapse, Conservative Influencers Struggle With Countering Biden's Messaging. ", Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Story of unlikely friendship in Durham hits She said, "I realized there was definitely another side to him.". Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner portrays Margaret Ratliff in HBO Max's The Staircase and The Stand's Odessa Young takes on the role of Martha Ratliff. The marriage was unhappy, and when Wilson got a job in Richmond, Virginia and asked Atwater to uproot herself again, she countered: I already followed you to Durham. This will be the first time two completely different sets of philosophies have united to work for this goal of better schools. Jim Thornton/The Herald Sun Collections/University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill LibrariesAnn Atwater and C.P. She survived on $57 a month from a welfare check, and struggled to pay rent, as she gained only occasional domestic work in white homes. State Government websites value user privacy. The funeral homes were still segregated, said Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, director of the School for Conversion, a community program in Durham. They don't have any evidence to some of the things that they do and some of the opinions they make. Over 10 days, the opposing sides met and tension grew. A housing organizer came by one evening to ask if she needed help to get repairs. -The Best of Enemies book. Ellis have agreed to take part in these meetings, which were all about improving race relations and figuring out a way to integrate the schools? Ellis had an especially difficult time returning to his life post-charrette, as he had lost his effectiveness in the conservative community, which he acknowledged in a toast on the last night of the charrette. Photo from the University of North CarolinaChapel Hill Libraries, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, An official website of the State of North Carolina, Advisory Council on Film, Television, and Digital Streaming, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion, N.C. Newsweek has everything you need to know. "He didn't want [integration]," said Atwater of C.P. Ellis came to realize that blacks were not suppressing poor whites, and that the two groups shared problems. Atwater had been an activist for quite some time before her role in helping to solve the problems related to the desegregation of schools, which is what's focused on in the movie. WebDid Ann Atwater's husband leave her to raise their children alone? But much rang true. Ellis said of his wife, "but she endured it because I enjoyed it, see? For food, she and her daughters could only afford rice, cabbage, and gravy while she made her daughters clothes out of the bags the rice came in. Ann Atwater, interview by Sean Aery, Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture, February 1, 2006. As a result, there was no one to direct the Klan's Youth Corp and the program disbanded. The other co-chair would be C.P. According to The Best of Enemies true story, Ann says that C.P. BLOCK: Civil rights activist Ann Atwater in Durham, North Carolina. I pulled out, I had a little small knife, pocket knife." I didn't like them. [8][pageneeded]. Moving past race, they began to focus on other issues, such as the academic quality of Durhams schools. Ellis. "She didn't particularly like the Klan," C.P. The two realized they had been arguing about the wrong things, that they had the same hopes for their children and a lot in common as poor people. The unlikely friendship is remarkable, but most of all, Ann Atwaters legacy is that of a fierce defender of integration to whom the word no meant nothing. Ann Atwater BLOCK: Well, what happened in the course of this meeting over 10 days that turned things around in the way that it did? Throughout her career she helped improve the quality of life in Durham through programs such as Operation Breakthrough (Durham, North Carolina), a community organization dedicated to fight the War on Poverty. Ann Atwater Ann mar- She had little faith that hed be able to get her landlord to do anything, but she agreed to go with him to a meeting for his organization. Atwater went to work as a maid, making 30 cents an hour. Kathleen Peterson Today, Todd is believed to be living in Tennessee. She was also not afraid to tell anyone to go to hell if she felt like it. Ann's dad had encouraged her baby's father to marry her. When Ellis, who later became a labor rights activist, died in 2005, his family asked Atwater to give the eulogy. Ellis quit the KKK. Trump's latest attack addresses DeSantis' overseas trips to the U.K., Israel, Florida's Covid-19 record, and polling support for the 2024 Presidential race. C.P. This is the story of Ann Atwater, political activist and desegregationist, the true story behind the 2019 film The Best of Enemies. C.P. From then on, she demanded to be heard. Categories: Ellis' funeral on Saturday. Ellis, an exalted cyclops of the local Ku Klux Klan in Durham. Atwater changed history in Durham, refusing to be ignored as she demanded better schools and living conditions for black residents. Ms. ATWATER: Yeah. Operation Breakthrough helped people define and accomplish a series of tasks in order to build a pattern of achievement. C.P. According to C.P. (modern). Yes. She was not afraid to voice her opinions loudly and proudly. C.P. Claiborne Paul Ellis, union organiser, born January 8 1927; died November 3 2005, A reformed white racist, he fought for black workers, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Ellis died in 2005 and Atwater was asked to deliver the eulogy. Local leaders, in addition to the organizer of the charrette, Bill Riddick (portrayed by Babou Ceesay in the movie), decided that Ann Atwater and C.P. And the funny part about it, we stayed friends all these years. His father and local community blamed poor blacks for their problems, and reasoned that blacks were to blame for why they could never get ahead regardless of how hard they worked. From then on, she demanded to be heard.

. However, more prominent members of the community felt that the issue was too hot to get involved in. Her mother died when she was 6. They would turn the chairs around and demand to be heard. Her pastor was there, grabbed the hand holding a knife and stopped her. The purpose of this charrette was to discuss school desegregation, a still contentious issue, and to draw up a series of recommendations to present to the school board. Ellis had epiphanies. The Society's Olivia DeJonge portrays Caitlin Atwater in HBO Max's The Staircase. Todd Peterson is the second son of Michael Peterson, from his first marriage to Patricia Sue. He grabbed my hand and said, Dont give them the satisfaction. . Tensions steadily rose, but near the end the two had a change of heart. When her job as a maid ended, she found herself living in a dilapidated house in North Durham on a welfare check of $57 a month. The other was C.P. Ann actually gave Ellis' eulogy when he passed away. It was funded by the North Carolina Fund, a statewide program to improve education. Ellis. Ann Atwater in an image from the 2002 documentary. He had similar feelings, saying, "It was impossible. She and Ellis continued their friendship to the end of their lives. However, Yes, this comes straight from Diane Bloom's 2002 documentary, No. The poor blacks of Durham had to fight both racial and class divisions: one against the whites who claimed superiority and another against the wealthier blacks who did not want to associate themselves with the lower class. Ellis was a former grand exalted cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan in Durham, North Carolina. Ms. ATWATER: No, it don't when you look back at it. Aiden Shaw Makes His Return In 'And Just Like That' Season 2, 15 Movies On Netflix About Mothers & Daughters Thatll Make You Emotional, Beef Captures Our Toxic Tendency To Confuse Love With Sacrifice, What Parents Are Talking About Delivered Straight To Your Inbox, By subscribing to this BDG newsletter, you agree to our. She attended a Durham premiere of the film in March 2019 and answered media questions on the red carpet. Welfare was only providing $57 a month, and she was leasing a dilapidated house where she was $100 behind her rent. She knew that some welfare workers were guilty of this. He invited Atwater to co-lead the charrette with C. P. Ellis, who was then the Exalted Grand Cyclops of the Durham Ku Klux Klan. Despite the suspicions surrounding their mother's death, Margaret and Martha Ratliff continued to support Michael Peterson, believing he did not kill Kathleen. Ms. ATWATER: Well, in the first five days of the meetings, we had a choir come in, a gospel choir, a church choir--to come in and do some singing. An Alford plea is one where the defendant admits that the evidence against them would likely lead to a finding of guilty, but the defendant asserts their innocence. Atwater disliked the lack of respect many whites showed for blacks. We didnt know we had things in common., They talked about the hardships of raising children in poverty, and their efforts to emphasize that their children's potential was equal to that of middle-class children. The first three episodes of The Staircase premiere on Thursday, May 5, and the remaining episodes drop weekly on HBO Max. Atwater initially declined to serve as co-chair, but reluctantly agreed to work with Ellis. At the time, Durham had a fairly large black population, with a considerable portion of educated, middle-class blacks, in addition to white residents and poor blacks. "This particular night C.P. I know if we weren't gonna look after our children, nobody else would. Atwater was an unlikely civil rights activist. BLOCK: Why would C.P. So, where are Michael Peterson's children now? That was real, said Ann-Nakia Green, Atwaters 35-year-old granddaughter. He goes from being a leader of the Ku Klux Klan to being a union organizer for both blacks and whites, a civil right advocate. He still got my back and He always will have it as long as I keep trusting in him." "And then he sat down and I snatched the phone out the wall, and we sat down and we had a meeting.. Ann Atwater: Grassroots Organizer and Veteran of Americas Freedom Struggle. He worked in the tobacco factory and she as a domestic, but he turned to drink. Considering their history of mutual animosity, Atwater and Ellis were reluctant to work with the other, but both knew that to have their opinion represented, they must participate. Civil-Rights Activist, Ex-Klansman C.P. Ellis : NPR Peterson was the last person to see her alive. On the final night of the charrette, Ellis stood before the crowd and ripped up his Klan card. Accuracy and availability may vary. ELLIS (Civil Rights Advocate): I wanted to make them angry. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [1] In the documentary An Unlikely Friendship, Atwater recalled that while working on a white owner's farm, she was given food only through the back door and after the white workers had eaten. Ann Atwater and C.P. The Best of Enemies (2019 film I knew what happened to my mom." Courtesy of STXfilmsAnn Atwater in an image from the 2002 documentary An Unlikely Friendship. She organized her community to rail against the citys repressive and reprehensible policies towards black housing, often peacefully in pickets and marches and city council meetings, but she was not averse to more violent tactics, as when she participated in the bombing of the Housing Authority. There certainly is no deep seated love between Mr. Ellis and myself but this school project brings out problems we all have. Jeter Downs needs to play to develop. The enmity was mutual, and the charrette seemed stuck. That was Howard Fuller with Operation Breakthrough, a program founded in Durham in 1964 to address poverty and inequality. Do you look back, and does it make sense to you? Ann The real-life story of Atwater is featured in the movie The Best of Enemies, starring Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell, which opens in theaters Friday. [9] Atwater mobilized poor blacks in Durham to help them stand up for themselves. The kids in some of the schools were also being taught material that was a year behind what kids their same age were being taught in other schools. I went on back out the street and went on down, right back down the street to the office, and we Xeroxed the part that told the welfare recipients their rights.. In the 1960s, eighty percent of black Durham residents lived in substandard housing, a figure which had remained unchanged since the 1920s. Initially, they didn't even speak to one another. I hated her guts., BlacKkKlansman: How black detective Ron Stallworth infiltrated the Colorado Klan, Atwater countered: I hated him just as hard as he hated me. was up raging and ranting, that's when I wanted to cut his head off. Before Peterson's trial, the Durham court ordered the exhumation of Ratliff's embalmed body, buried in Texas, for a second autopsy in April 2003. "He changed from a Klansman to a Christian, and they said I had sold out, that he was a n**ger lover." And that plan was to put us there to make sure that this school integration would be done peacefully, and that's what happened. Ellis told an NPR interviewer that Atwater was an effective boycotter, making progress and he hated her guts. He grabbed my hand and said, Dont give them the satisfaction.'.

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