SAVE OUR HISTORY: VOICES OF CIVIL RIGHTS (TV)
Summary
One in this series of educational programs focused on preserving national history. This installment examines eyewitness accounts and experiences from the civil rights era in America. Actor Mekhi Phifer opens the program and explains that a team of journalists traveled the country interviewing those who lived during the time of racial turmoil and change in the 1950s and '60s, and several interviewees discuss the experience of growing up in segregated societies and realizing that there were "two Americas." Frankie Rogers of Tennessee talks about her confusion as a child about whites-only restaurants, and Kenneth Mullinax of Alabama recalls his grandfather's anger when he expressed affection towards his black nanny. Others recall that cinemas, zoos and other public places had "colored day" once a week in which blacks were allowed to visit, and they discuss the "dos and don'ts" of living alongside whites, including the need to show excessive deference and tolerate disrespect without retorting. Adrian Dove of Texas remembers being forced to ride in the back of the bus and give up seats to whites, revealing that he stole and kept a "colored section" sign. Hugo Owens of Virginia ended up successfully filing a suit against his city when his children were forbidden from using the whites' library, pointing out that his city taxes supported the institution.
Black schools, far from "separate but equal," were often inconveniently located and had outdated books, but segregation in public schools was outlawed in 1954, leading to many protests and riots. Jacqueline Dash Ziglar of South Carolina recalls enduring abuse from students and onlookers and witnessing state troopers escorting children to school, and Grace Booth reads from her childhood diary, remembering her fear and confusion in response to the heated situation. Morris Thompson of Arkansas explains how the few black students in his school protected one another from the white students' mistreatment. Hazel LeBlanc Whitney then describes her unsuccessful attempts to register to vote in 1953, adding that her preacher husband was later allowed, though many other blacks were refused after "failing" an unfair test. Activist Medgar Evers, who encouraged blacks to register, was later murdered in 1963. Gretchen Weber recalls being harassed by a neighbor who supported Governor George Wallace's segregationist policies, explaining that a cross was burned on her family's front lawn. Former Ku Klux Klan member Billy Roy Pitts reveals that the Klan had an escalating four-step policy for dissenters that included cross-burnings, physical beatings, house-burnings and finally murder. Ellie Dahmer and daughter Bettie explain that their family assisted blacks in registering to vote and that their home was burned and shot at by Pitts and others as a result, leading to Bettie's father's death.
Michael Dizaar discusses participating in a youth protest at age fifteen in Birmingham, which was met by police dogs and powerful fire hoses. Gene Young landed in jail for several days after participating in a school walk-out, and was later asked to speak at a mass civil rights meeting. Rogers recalls marching with her friends while in college and being caught by her mother, who was fearful for her safety. Jean Desmond explains that she participated in non-violent protests with her daughter, noting that the activists were mostly young people and saying that she was "ashamed for her generation" for not helping. She and several others went to several whites-only restaurants in Maryland, demanding service for their integrated group, eventually forcing about twenty places to give in. Patricia Stephens Due explains that she spent forty-nine days in jail for eating at a whites-only establishment, refusing to pay the fine for an unfair law and demanding to be seen as a "first-class citizen." Nurse Doxie Whitfield recalls working at a newly-integrated hospital and being thrown from a room by a patient's angry husband, who later returned and apologized, explaining that his wife died because he removed her from the hospital. Angie Buck discusses her grandfather's racially-motivated murder and her father's lifelong distrust of whites as a result, adding that her mother taught a more tolerant policy. Pitts explains that he later deeply regretted his actions, testifying against the Klan and serving five years in prison, during which time the Dahmer family forgave him for his crimes. Phifer closes the program by noting that many more interviews can be found on the History Channel's website. Commercials deleted. This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.
Details
- NETWORK: History Channel
- DATE: February 12, 2005 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:00:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:88505
- GENRE: History
- SUBJECT HEADING: History; Civil rights; America; African-American Collection - News/Talk
- SERIES RUN: History Channel - TV series, 1998-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Susan Werbe … Executive Producer
- Jeffrey Tuchman … Executive Producer, Director
- Christine Schillinger … Producer
- Shelley Friedman … Associate Producer
- Mekhi Phifer … Host
- Frankie Rogers … Interviewee
- Kenneth Mullinax … Interviewee
- Adrian Dove … Interviewee
- Hugo Owens … Interviewee
- Jacqueline Dash Ziglar … Interviewee
- Grace Booth … Interviewee
- Morris Thompson … Interviewee
- Hazel LeBlanc Whitney … Interviewee
- Gretchen Weber … Interviewee
- Billy Roy Pitts … Interviewee
- Ellie Dahmer … Interviewee
- Bettie Dahmer … Interviewee
- Michael Dizaar … Interviewee
- Gene Young … Interviewee
- Jean Desmond … Interviewee
- Patricia Stephens Due … Interviewee
- Doxie Whitfield … Interviewee
- Angie Buck … Interviewee
- Medgar Evers
- George Wallace