A 53-minute Documentary film
Ricardo Ainslie, Director
view the online clips

"Crossover" is a compelling account of the desegregation of schools in Hempstead, Texas, a small community west of Houston. The primary voices in this narrative are the teachers and alumni of the Sam Schwarz School, Hempstead's pre-integration African-American school, as well as white teachers and administrators who were working in the school district when schools were desegregated. The Sam Schwarz School was named for a Jewish immigrant from Poland who came to the United States during the Civil War and became a successful dry goods merchant in Hempstead. His descendents donated the land for the school in his memory. The underlying theme of the documentary is the bittersweet legacy of the Civil Rights Era for the African-American community--much was gained, but cherished institutions that anchored the community were also lost. As happened in countless communities throughout the South, in Hempstead virtually every trace of the Sam Schwarz School disappeared. The building was razed and the contents of its trophy cases, once brimming with scholastic and athletic awards (the school was very successful, and its alumni include many distinguished educators, physicians, attorneys, and engineers) ultimately ended up in the Hempstead city dump. Relying heavily on vivid characters who deliver rich, at times poignant, but also humorous observations, the documentary traces pre Civil Rights life in the community, the anxieties and anticipations of the era of desegregation of schools. The film also includes reflections, from a contemporary perspective, on what was gained and what was lost within the African American community in this great transformation of the American social landscape.

Crossover was co-produced by Ricardo Ainslie and Fae Moore and edited by Don Howard, an award winning filmmaker ("Letter from Waco"). Howard was one of the editors in Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused," and has edited work for PBS (Most recently a special segment on Texas Filmmakers). He also teaches advanced film editing in the Radio, Television, and Film department at the University of Texas at Austin.
THEMES: Cultural Trauma, the psychology of race and racial conflict