SHOWS FOR YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR PARENTS TOO : ‘On Promised Land’s’ story hopes to bridge a gap of fear, ignorance

On Promised Land explores familiar territory: Civil Rights-era race relations. But rather than focus on the better-known and graphic events of the movement, the Disney original film concentrates on the inherent drama in personal relationships.

“On Promised Land” concerns two families, one white and one black, and the friendship between the oldest of one family and the youngest of the other.

Set in the rural South of the 1950s, the film stars Joan Plowright, Judith Ivey and 9-year-old Norman D. Golden II (“Cop and a Half”) as Jim Jam.

The semiautobiographical story was written by Ken Sagoes, who stars as Jim Jam’s uncle, Bo Henry. “I wanted to write about a black family that showed love,” Sagoes says. “My father was not around when I was growing up. My African American brothers and sisters need fathers so much. I write stories about how I wanted things to be.”

Sagoes hails from Stockbridge, Ga., the home of Martin Luther King Jr.’s father. He says that much of “On Promised Land” is based on incidents in his childhood that left a profound impression on him.

“On Promised Land” tackles such issues as familial bonds, loyalties, loneliness, friendship, tragedy, pride, pets, promises, oppression and repression.

Actress Ivey says of Sagoes’ screenplay: “I love writing where you tell a story and in spite of it, you get a lesson, and I think that’s what the writer did.”

Ivey, who plays the bigoted Olivia, adds: “The film takes an important issue--racism--and gives it a forum in which to discuss it within families. You can discuss it on several levels of sophistication.”

“I find racism very simple,” she says. “It’s just a fear. There are many people living their lives through fear. The story is so much about being enlightened and having consciousness raised.”

“On Promised Land” airs Sunday at 7-9 p.m. on the Disney Channel. For ages 8 and up. Parents should be warned that some children may find a scene with a dead dog disturbing.

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