Documentary highlights 1966 arrest of Black teen for touching white boy’s arm

"This film speaks directly to the issues in front of us – White Supremacy, individual bravery, the rule of law, democracy," John Legend said about the documentary

A documentary exploring the story of a young man who was arrested for touching a white boy’s arm in 1966 has come to life.

A Crime on the Bayou” follows a young Black teenager, Gary Duncan, who attempted to break up a fight between white and Black teenagers outside a newly integrated school.

As described in a documentary summary, Duncan, who is from Plaquemines Parish located south of New Orleans, gently lays his hand on the boy’s arm, then the boy ‘recoils like a snake.’ That’s when things took a turn for the worse. Police arrested Duncan that night for assault on a minor and changed the trajectory of his life.

The International Documentary Association shared how officials in the community used the law against people like Duncan to uphold white supremacy and segregation. In the film, we meet the white Jewish lawyer Richard Sobol, who defended Duncan and fought the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Although Duncan was denied a jury trial by a local judge, he was able to win the right to one through the U.S. Supreme Court, the New York Times reported. During this intense process, Duncan and Sobol formed a lifelong friendship.

A statement on Augusta Films’ website reads in part, “Systemic racism and pervasive anti-Semitism meet their match in decisive courtroom battles, including the U.S. Supreme Court; hate is vanquished by a powerful friendship that will last a lifetime. With the rise of white nationalism in the U.S. and abroad, there is no more important story to tell today. The roots and the mechanics of hate groups are in full display in this dramatic story of a crime on the bayou.”

Gary Duncan is one of the key figures in “A Crime On The Bayou.” (Credit: Screengrab from Shout! Factory YouTube)

Nancy Buirski is the director of the documentary and spoke about the dangers of white supremacy. 

“That’s what, to me, is so insidious and dangerous about white supremacy; it’s not just people carrying banners, yelling, and screaming,” Buirski told PEOPLE. “It’s actually manipulating the legal system and other systems so that people have difficulty living. It created a world in which Gary Duncan, and so many others, are afraid to walk down the street.”

Buirski drew connections between the incident from the 60s to current day issues still plaguing Black people across America. 

“This film isn’t history; it’s reality reconsidered,” Buirski told PEOPLE. “We started making this movie before the Black Lives movement really got underway, and before George Floyd’s murder. I would call Gary’s story tragic, but not tragic on the same level as George Floyd’s murder. But I think that one can take a string and connect the two.”

The film has influential figures and celebrities speaking highly about its impacts, including John Legend, one of the executive producers.

“From time to time I come across a work that speaks to the tumultuous events of the day, bringing clarity and a new way of seeing to the chaos and confusion,” Legend said in a testimonial about the documentary. “A Crime on the Bayou is one of those works. This film speaks directly to the issues in front of us – White Supremacy, individual bravery, the rule of law, democracy. But its heartbeat is the profound alliance between a Black teen on trial, and his young Jewish attorney. This allyship is what moved me the most.”

“A Crime on the Bayou” is currently out in select theaters nationwide

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