Independent Lens

Racist Trees

By Sara Newens and Mina T. Son. A production of Wild Pair Films, in association with Wayfarer Studios and Get Lifted.

Were trees intentionally planted to exclude and segregate a Black neighborhood?

Racial tensions ignite in this documentary, when a historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs, California, fights to remove a towering wall of tamarisk trees. The trees form a barrier, believed by some to segregate the community, frustrating residents who regard them as an enduring symbol of racism.