NBC News is really going all in on Southlake. A few days after debuting a podcast about a battle over critical race theory in the suburb’s school district, the national broadcaster’s digital news division has put out a trailer for a forthcoming documentary on the same subject.
Southlake: Racial Reckoning in a Texas Suburb premieres Friday at NBCNews.com and will be on NBC’s streaming network, Peacock, on Sept. 7. First a podcast, then a documentary. The musical adaptation must be around the corner.
Trailer and description from the NBC News Digital press release are below.
“The film gives an inside look at an idyllic Dallas suburb, complete with expensive houses, perfectly manicured lawns and elegant, sprawling streets. Over the decades, families have flocked to Southlake to live the American Dream and send their kids to one of the highest-performing school districts in the country. But in 2018, a video of Southlake students chanting a racial slur went viral, forcing the wealthy, mostly-white school district to face racism head on. Prompted by the video, dozens of parents and students began sharing even more accounts of racism and discrimination in Southlake schools. When the school board proposed a Cultural Competence Action Plan in response, Southlake’s “silent majority” pushed back. And in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, Southlake’s school board meetings soon became a battleground for a much larger culture war over changing demographics and diversity education. What played out in Southlake would foreshadow similar fights across the country amid a national battle over Critical Race Theory. Peering past the shiny facade, Southlake: Racial Reckoning in a Texas Suburb reveals the deeper complexities of life in Southlake — and in America — in 2021.”
