African American Studies

Did racist atrocities in the 19th and 20th centuries bring Western society to an ethical and ideological turning point? Or has racial oppression simply assumed other, more insidious forms? Pursuing answers, this program focuses on a pattern of segregation and genocide evident in King Leopold's Belgian Congo rampages, South Africa's apartheid rule, the terrorism of Jim Crow, and less obvious examples that persist in today's global community. Several renowned authors, including Dr. Michael Eric Dyson of Georgetown University, Dr. Manning Marable of Columbia, and Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah of Princeton, contribute expert commentary. Contains graphically violent imagery, footage, and reenactments. Original BBC broadcast title: A Savage Legacy. (53 minutes)

In 1989, a New Jersey high school faced a painful decision: one of two teachers with equal tenure and equivalent credentials-one African-American, the other Caucasian-had to be laid off. By 1995, the reverse discrimination complaint lodged by Caucasian teacher Sharon Taxman had become a national issue of great political and legal significance, leading to a surprising out-of-court settlement funded by civil rights groups. In this program, ABC News correspondent Nina Totenberg reports on that remarkable case, while anchor Cokie Roberts moderates a spirited debate between the President of the NAACP and the Director of Litigation from the Institute for Justice. (22 minutes)

This program uses in-depth interviews with two generations of five African families now living in the Denver area to explore the dynamic process that is ethnic identity. Having emigrated from Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria, the families bring unique traditions to a shared experience: life in America. The interviews reveal the hopes of the first generation for the second, the thoughts and feelings of both parents and children on cultural transition, their sense of self as they live in America and interact with others, and their pride in adding to the rich national tapestry. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. (31 minutes)

All sides of the affirmative action issue have targeted the same goal: ending racism of all types. But do opportunities for some have to come at the expense of others? In this Fred Friendly Seminar moderated by Harvard Law School's Charles Ogletree, a what-if scenario revolves around a university's efforts to enroll a diverse student body of qualified candidates. Panelists include Ward Connerly, proponent of California's Proposition 209; Christopher Edley, Jr., author of Not All Black & White: Affirmative Action, Race, and American Values; Julius Becton, Jr., former head of Washington, D.C.'s public schools; Ruth Simmons, president of Smith College; and policy activists from the African-American, Asian, Native American, and Latino communities. A Discussion Guide and other resources are located online at www.fredfriendlyseminars.org/bbw. (58 minutes)

Using nightmare images from America's past-the noose, the lynching tree, and other emblems of cruelty-Dr. James Cone sheds light on the lingering presence of hatred and terror in our national consciousness. Cone, a Union Theological Seminary professor and author of the highly acclaimed God of the Oppressed, talks with Bill Moyers about the meaning of these and other symbols. Broadcast date: November 23, 2007. (50 minutes)

The Blue-Eyed diversity training video or DVD offers viewers a chance to watch a full-length workshop with America's most dynamic diversity trainer, Jane Elliott. Elliott's exercise, initiated in 1968 as a ground-breaking experiment in anti-racist training, has been featured on Today, the Tonight Show, Donahue, Oprah, ABC News and PBS' Frontline. Elliott believes, Blue-Eyed is by far the most comprehensive and useful video on my work available; it sums up 28 years of experience in schools, universities and corporations."

In addition to harming those directly enslaved, slavery in America has stigmatized all black Americans and deeply wounded a nation committed to providing liberty and justice for all. This highly charged yet balanced NewsHour program broaches the subject of social and financial reparations for descendants of African-American slaves. Representative John Conyers (D-MI), the introducer of reparation legislation to Congress; proponent Lerone Bennett, author of Forced into Glory; dissenter Walter Williams, of George Mason University; and others talk about the horrors of slavery, post-traumatic slavery syndrome, and forms of reparation. (11 minutes)

Following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jane Elliott, a third grade teacher in an all-white, all-Christian small town, wanted to teach her class what it feels like to be discriminated against based on a physical characteristic over which one has no control.

How did it feel to be bought and sold like cattle, only to be liberated with nowhere to go and no one to turn to for help? In this profoundly moving program, Ted Koppel of ABC News presents the African-American slave experience in the voices of those who knew it firsthand. Thanks to tapes-now digitally remastered-from a project undertaken during the 1930s and 40s by John Henry Falke and others, 101-year-old Fountain Hughes, who was born in 1848, and other ex-slaves give their recollections of life before Emancipation and during Reconstruction. (22 minutes)

Hispanics and African-Americans-from politicians to poets to everyday people-speak candidly about the tensions between their communities. In Los Angeles, Mexican-Americans resent the African-American perception of them as mostly illegal immigrants who are taking their jobs. In Miami, the division between blacks and Hispanics leaves Cubans feeling culturally isolated. In New York, Puerto Ricans and blacks speak frankly about competition for educational and financial resources. Poet Maya Angelou, political activist Al Sharpton, Congressman Herman Badillo, actress Philicia Rashad, and others suggest solutions that emphasize cultural understanding. Hosted by actor Hector Elizondo. (44 minutes)

Despite the colossal and continuing legacy of America's civil rights era, the movement is often best understood through the historical moments in which it took place. This NBC News program presents original coverage from frontline correspondents and camera teams at work during critical junctures in America's battle for racial equality. Hosted by NBC anchor Lester Holt, the video examines the Greensboro sit-ins; the Freedom Rider phenomenon; the efforts by, in support of, and against black students entering southern schools and universities; the March on Washington; and other events and initiatives. The DVD version contains a bonus half-hour interview with Dr. Martin Luther King following the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Not available in French-speaking Canada. (47 minutes + 53 minutes of bonus material)

Paying lip service to Dr. King's message is one thing, creating a national holiday is quite another. This is the story of how Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, birthday became a national holiday-of the unrelenting drive of his widow, Coretta Scott King, to carry on his work; of politicians (especially Representative John Conyers, Jr.) determined to memorialize Dr. King and offer hope as the alternative to black rage at his assassination; of the ultimately silly arguments against the holiday (such as the economic cost of lost man-hours of work). Rare documentary footage and interviews follow the chronology of events, while the participation of Stevie Wonder, Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte, Diana Ross, and host LeVar Burton provides the program with genuine celebration. From King's I Have a Dream" speech to Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday, Martin," this is an engaging look at the making of a holiday. (28 minutes)"

No one grasps the connections between social activism, electoral politics, and racial issues better than Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), perhaps the most prominent living veteran of the American civil rights movement. In 2007, he received the Robert J. Dole Leadership Prize from the University of Kansas and, in conjunction with the award, granted this in-depth interview before a live audience. Rep. Lewis discusses an epic range of topics, including his childhood in segregated Alabama; his first meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the back-stage dilemma over his speech at the finale of the March on Washington; his role in the attempted march from Selma to Montgomery; the ongoing need for social activism today; and more. (58 minutes)

The poorest neighborhood in the U.S. is not an isolated southern mountain hollow or a midwestern farm county blasted by drought, but a four-block stretch of public housing on the South Side of Chicago. Most of the residents are black, on welfare, and living in dysfunctional families. But as woebegone as that neighborhood is, the pattern is repeated on block after block in city after city. The problems of our inner cities have been growing worse with each year; some policymakers and scholars question whether these problems can ever be solved. In this program with Bill Moyers, Dr. William Julius Wilson, author and sociologist, argues that the time to throw up our hands in despair has not yet arrived; he believes that most inner-city blacks stay poor not because they are black, but because they live in the wasteland of the inner city. (30 minutes)

As with many historic American figures of the 19th century, Sojourner Truth's story is incomplete and somewhat mythical, a fact compounded by her having been born a slave. This detailed program traces the lifelong odyssey of a woman who literally walked out of bondage, changed her name in 1843, and traveled the country as an abolitionist and women's rights advocate. Along the way she would meet Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln and be further cast into fable by Harriet Beecher Stowe. Interviews with scholars and dramatic readings from Truth's speeches and autobiography conjure more clearly a picture of this truly heroic woman. (57 minutes)