In the beginning of "American Promise," filmmakers Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster set out to chronicle the complete pre-collegiate education of their son Idris and his best friend, Seun Summers. But as time goes on, things become complicated.
Seun's father, Tony Summers, worries about Dalton's ethnic composition — it's about 75 percent white.
"I've been the only black child in the classroom," says Tony. "Wasn't a pleasant thing, back then."
He hopes time has changed that– and as the film shows, in some ways, it has. In the early grades, Both Idris and Seun did well and enjoyed school. Back when interviewed at the age of five, Seun appeared delighted to be at Dalton.
