A Divided City

Westminster’s independent study option has seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years, with nine Upper Schoolers completing semester-long independent projects this year. Two seniors, Jonas Du and Sam Cohn, researched the intersection of race and urban planning in metro Atlanta, producing a 20-minute documentary to tell the story of their findings.

The documentary they produced, A Divided City, included interviews with Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Sandy Springs mayor Rusty Paul, and Georgia State University economics professor and writer David Sjoquist, as well as research, historical footage, photography, and maps from the Atlanta History Center and the University of Georgia Civil Rights Digital Library.

“The way [Keisha Lance Bottoms] framed the city’s past in context with its future goals ended up being a major theme of the film,” Jonas says.

Sam and Jonas concentrated on the idea of different borders that have shaped metro Atlanta over the years. “The borders we studied ranged from city lines to walking paths, all the way down to a tiny roadblock. Borders are divisions that are created to preserve some form of homogeneity, and many of Atlanta’s borders are rooted in trying to preserve racial homogeneity from the segregation era,” Sam says. The independent study project gave both soon-to-be graduates the opportunity to follow their interests in filmmaking and public policy.

"Prior to undertaking this project, my perspective on Atlanta was largely a bubble. Traveling across the city to film wildly different communities not only exposed me to the cultural and socioeconomic diversity of Atlanta, but also revealed to me that although we often don't realize it, the places we interact with in our everyday lives are rooted deep in history. I know this project will serve as an invaluable foundation for my future study of political science and I hope to approach other defining issues of our time through the same lens of storytelling and exploration."

–Jonas Du '21