{"id":27039,"date":"2023-09-11T13:56:51","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T20:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?post_type=films&p=27039"},"modified":"2025-11-18T14:05:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T22:05:34","slug":"racist-trees","status":"publish","type":"films","link":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Racist Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Were trees intentionally planted to exclude and segregate a Black neighborhood?<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":28128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"topic":[1225,1264,1226],"class_list":["post-27039","films","type-films","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-politics-and-government","topic-race-ethnicity","topic-social-justice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRacist Trees - Independent Lens<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs fights for the removal of a wall of trees.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Racist Trees - Independent Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs fights for the removal of a wall of trees.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Independent Lens\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-18T22:05:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/RACISTTREES_Thumbnail_1920x1080-1280x720.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/\",\"name\":\"Racist Trees - Independent Lens\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/RACISTTREES_Thumbnail_1920x1080.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-11T20:56:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-18T22:05:34+00:00\",\"description\":\"A historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs fights for the removal of a wall of trees.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/RACISTTREES_Thumbnail_1920x1080.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/RACISTTREES_Thumbnail_1920x1080.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Film poster in the style of a '40s tourism postcard for Palm Springs. The postcard says \\\"Greetings from Racist Trees, California.\\\"\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Racist Trees\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/\",\"name\":\"Independent Lens\",\"description\":\"Independent Documentary Films\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Racist Trees - Independent Lens","description":"A historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs fights for the removal of a wall of trees.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Racist Trees - Independent Lens","og_description":"A historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs fights for the removal of a wall of trees.","og_url":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/","og_site_name":"Independent Lens","article_modified_time":"2025-11-18T22:05:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/RACISTTREES_Thumbnail_1920x1080-1280x720.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/","url":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/","name":"Racist Trees - Independent Lens","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/RACISTTREES_Thumbnail_1920x1080.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-11T20:56:51+00:00","dateModified":"2025-11-18T22:05:34+00:00","description":"A historically Black neighborhood in Palm Springs fights for the removal of a wall of trees.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/racist-trees\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/RACISTTREES_Thumbnail_1920x1080.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dipsy.pbs.org\/independentlens\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/RACISTTREES_Thumbnail_1920x1080.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Film poster in the style of a '40s tourism postcard for Palm Springs. 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