Tulia Texas 2008
Distributed by California Newsreel, Order Dept., PO Box 2284, South Burlington, VT 05407; 877-811-7495 (toll free)
Produced by Cassandra Herrman & Kelly Whalen
Director n/a
DVD, color, 58 min.
Sr. High - Adult
African American Studies, Criminal Justice, Human Rights, Multicultural Studies
Date Entered: 01/12/2010
Reviewed by Janice Wilson, J. Eugene Smith Library, Eastern Connecticut State UniversityIn July 1999 forty-six inhabitants of the town of Tulia, Texas were arrested for drug dealing. Tulia had hired narcotics undercover agent Tom Coleman, who worked for 18 months, to clean up their town and at the time it appeared as though he had delivered as requested. The issue was that almost every person arrested was an African American living in the predominately white town. This documentary examines racism as it was carried out in Tulia, Texas during this drug investigation, arrest and sentencing.
As stated in the documentary, no laws in the United States require corroboration of statements given by undercover narcotics agents. Therefore, Tom Coleman’s testimony of drug sales by the defendants was taken as truth, and his roundup of purported drug dealers earned Tom Coleman the title of Texas Lawman of the Year. Many people who were arrested and tried had no prior criminal records and yet were given unconscionably long prison sentences. The situation attracted the attention of the national media. A number of years later, one of the court-appointed lawyers approached Jeff Blackburn, an Amarillo attorney, with the story. Attorney Blackburn assembled a team of lawyers along with personnel from the NAACP and Texas ACLU and through investigation and appeals had the prisoners released and pardoned in 2004.
Information collected on Tom Coleman uncovered inconsistencies in the information he provided within his records of the drug sales on which the convictions were based and found there was an arrest warrant against him for theft. He was charged with perjury, and although found guilty was not sentenced to prison time but instead released on probation.
The documentary tells the Tulia story through interviews, commentary, display of local and national newspaper headlines, footage from CNN coverage, and clips from Tom Coleman's 60 Minutes interview. It is a highly effective film, the viewing of which is enhanced through use of discussion questions found on the Independent Lens web site.