The Charrette: Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis (Part 2)

In Part 2, we pick up inside Durham’s 1971 school charrette — the collision point where a civil rights legend and a Klan leader are forced to sit face-to-face for ten days and decide the fate of the city’s schools. What begins as shouting, sabotage, and years of rage finally cracks open into something neither of them saw coming: recognition. Across long days and brutal night sessions, Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis stop fighting at each other and start fighting to be heard. Their defenses crumble, their fears surface, and the truth slips out — their children are suffering under the same broken system. And when integration is finally put to a public vote, every eye in Durham waits for one man to choose who he really is. Then C.P. Ellis does the unthinkable: he stands, admits he’s been wrong, and tears up his Klan card in front of the entire room. What follows isn’t a miracle but rather more of a transformation. Durham moves toward full school integration, and Ann and C.P. begin a decades-long partnership that reshapes their city, their families, and ultimately, each other. From enemies to advocates to inseparable friends, their story becomes one of the most unlikely — and important — alliances in civil rights history. This is the moment hate loses its footing… and history shifts. **Tune into our Part 2 Interview with Dr. Daryl Davis on Friday 11/20/25**