Seeds of discontent; 9 Of 26

This is the ninth in a series of programs entitled seeds of discontent presenting the program tonight as Harvard's mature and your assistant professor in the School of Social Work Wayne State University professors from MIT during the past three weeks. Our topic has been the American Negro historical perspective. You have heard the voices concerns hopes and disappointments of a selected group of older Negro men who were a part of this blood stain degrading yet in many ways the very proud history of many of the problems that they faced are still with us today. Their sense of being wronged of being hurt and angered by better than a century of broken promises have been passed on through generations and form the basis of the current level of discontent among the explosive action oriented Negro you throughout the country. And the severity of history has not been the same for all negroes. Therefore the tone and nature of response will be different. On tonight's program we will began an examination of various tones feelings

and attitudes of negroes from many different walks of life. Our STARTING POINT will be the field of entertainment. Right. O.

Eat. Eat eat. The voice of Odetta one of the foremost artists in the folk singing Figaro. Listen as she reveals in her own words how the problems of the American Negro look from the top. Field of entertainment is perhaps so much further advanced. And as far as New Girl participation in it is concerned that's mostly sort of out front and the

distance ahead and I want the rest of the field is not that far below. On another words I find that there is discrimination and in show business. I think I've used before and the examples of when there is one. A classical male or female singer there are other classical singers Negro but they can't seem to get beyond the hump. You know when Marian Anderson was going outdoors he made her had a very difficult time of it. She never really sort of flowed out into her own. I was asked once a question well isn't that because of the talent

that is involved. Both of them were excellent artists. There seems to be more than one white woman operatic singer out there. You know in the higher songs of popularity. We have our popular singers. When Lena Horne was going Dorothy Dandridge had a difficult time of it recently because we have several performers male performers out there. Who are in this. A very popular area. But you don't have. You don't have. I've got

several singers. You know there has to be. It's like one where we are limited to one comedian or one pop singer or one folk singer right. You know it's like it's so are now in the back of the scenes. I mean I think that we all noticed that it was only after the Negro community complained and complained bitterly and and in several different ways that we saw the. Negro models on television. You know in the commercials things or were negro newscasters. And that is also curious because they most all of them are. In the warehouse right.

Maybe I should explain that by telling a story. There was once a show in Jamaica. But you know what. And a friend of mine said well maybe you should audition for the role of something or other. And he talked to some people he knew and these people who were producing this thing. So I asked them to describe me because after all Lena Horne was going to be the fair haired beauty. You know it's a it's. They have to be in the or we notice that they have the models are could well be Caucasian with suntans. OK. Now I know you don't what you told me so further. There seems to be a lot of image building as opposed to a simple recognition of talent where it is involved. There seems to be only room for a limited number.

Yes I say yes. There is now. We've been working now about 15 years. We have a fair amount of talent going and yet we can't seem to break beyond the something or other I don't really quite know what it is I've often wondered. You have other talented hoaxing is coming along and the feeling is that overnight all the records on the radio. I saw recently the film festival was taken at the Newport Folk Festival and it was people the people filming it. Have this. Just a thought or image of beauty. Not just the people

helming this but all through this country beauty is. I remember growing up and I never I never saw me on the billboards or in movies. And the people who are in show business both in front of the curtain and back of it or the back of the feature film cameras are people who have grown up in the atmosphere of the United States and they do not all of a sudden drop this mantle or attitudes when they go into one field or another. So it stands to reason that it's still there unless someone has worked very hard to get rid of some of the fallacies that we're working with rushing or actually moving on and looking to have the kinds of.

Equal pay for equal work and equal talent if we can put it on that basis. Do you feel based on your contacts or personal experience that the negro entertainer as a rule can demand the same salary as a white perform. Well let's take it from the base and the base would be called a union. And you go home would have to belong to one human on the other. And so the starting out fee would be equalized not because it was planned that way necessarily but because it is because of the unions. Now as time goes on in the field as you're doing your popularity grows so that it grows

the salary that that you ask for an awful lot of the salary is determined by popular records that way. It's it's it's you know this area of money talks you know that's that's the things that give our heart the heart of. Judgment and or respect you know it's that it's a dreadful kind of thing but if it still is that way within the entertainment field. So in that area and the stabilizing the unit would be unions. So there isn't there isn't the same kind of paying as there's like that there's a folk song called Down.

Monads. And in the song The sailor is saying. A dollar and a half his white man's pay you know $5 a day is white man's pay my dollar and a half a day and. You don't even need an explanation as to its to what the situation is what what the color of the Moon who's getting the doll and commanding. You then feel that the unions in this area have stabilized this so that it is not so much of a problem. It has been said that by some at least that a rookie white image or group can sometimes zone to the time go overnight in terms of

of salary. Of location as to where they play and I was wondering in comparison to two negro performances. If you'd seen any discrepancies in this theory are you feel that the unions pretty much still control the Senate related to the vector of its power. You know I'll be ready. There is another that is another area that the young bands rock n roll. Now I'm not even sure if these kids belong to the you know they've been able to get enough money upped to join the unions. Now in that situation I can see that discrepancy and what they would get ARE night. Because they think black man this country is sometimes get the feeling that he's made to be taken advantage of. Now also as you mention this it creeps into my

mind that there are not a lot of blues singers who have been so admired by and copied. By young white musicians kids who were trying to learn something and hope they will come up with the exact same sound as a group or an individual. And the original individual is not booked you know outside of his own neighborhood let's say or or state. But these other kids can go all over this country singing his stuff you know and when or at one point saying you know it's like the right sound. They Negroes have the right sound at the wrong color.

Now I heard that. I imagine bookings imagine that the popular appeal of particular group would have something to do with the bookings but I wonder of anything beyond there. Look at some of the top spots in the country. And the feel. They have there are discrepancies are top bookings more difficult to obtain on the part of negroes as opposed to white entertainers. Well let's take the top top rooms hotels things now in order to go into the top hotels you would have had to in some way get the kind of reputation. Smaller rooms or gotten to an agent who works in these top rooms and I think

the ratio of negroes in the top rooms. I think there's a follow through here you know. If it's wanted too loud it aloud in her lifetime. The popularity of the wanted to. Who are up there you know. OK I'd like to move on to more personal aspects of your life as an entertainer as it applies to things such as. Oh problems that you might have encountered and public accommodations during your travels. By that I mean hotel rooms where they are available to you if you had any special problems in this area. There was one instance where it was but it

wasn't so. Oh I see. Maybe I'll think of it as I'm speaking. At one point I made the decision that. We would play and sing to any students segregated school or not. I felt that we could do that and I felt that we should do that because there are all kinds of people to get to and perhaps do something. And we went to the school. And when we got there registered into the hotel and went up stairs and I had heard that no one talked to me about it.

The first of all one of the remarks was that while we thought that her bass player was white. And both Bill and I had registered in hotel. And they told Bill that he couldn't eat and they in the dining room and by the time I'm hearing this is time for us to go to concert. And Bill is saying that the critic at the at the desk. I said that we couldn't use the front door. I said well I never thought that running a room you know and having to do with you know doors but front or back. But then it was and it was an issue then right. So we go downstairs. And this clerk is there yelling and screaming

and Bill is putting down his base I said hey the only way you can argue is worse than sappy and argue with him. Right. So the thing to do is just to walk out so we walk out of the door. Right. Right there on the campus. We were put and through our office kind of saying where was it was what looked like a huge room that been divided. And we were told that these officers over here but they were all locked up you know. So we were sort of this public room people were coming in and out. There was a group a male group on the show. And when I opened the show and we came out we found that those officers had been open. And they were dressing in the privacy of the office rooms. I mean it was.

A while ago her out got her there. I was infuriated. I did that with all that happened. We got back to the hotel and went to the doors down to a restaurant which was a Negro restaurant. And we walked in and the people who were there came over and said hello to us and how pleased they were that we were there. None of them had been to the concert right. And how proud they were that we were at the hotel. And I remember the shame. You know absolute shame I felt and it was with this experience that I said Hey what I get just for get they segregated things with Barb's just forget it because I'm not going to go back

into that situation. There would need to be helped and I think I realize that there are kids there who are not necessarily of the opinion of that of the school segregation. This example I have never missed out aside from from from the self Have you encountered very many difficulties in this area. No. OK. And looking back. Over Your Life as a performer. How is there anything about the way this society has treated you. Or what if anything better society has has done or their treatment of you that that that in fury H.E. most that it causes you the most personal concern. Within the field of my work yet as in this

slowness of mass communications with the mass communications field. It's not very difficult at times to see kids that you've had some part in influencing. And sometimes using materials and ideas that are yours zooming to the top. Television. Who me. It seems to be difficult to be an imaginative people supposedly with imagination who have scripts and if the author hasn't put in a description of a negro or if there is no strife between two people not

that they don't even think in terms of an actor one actress as being good for the role necessarily. You know. What else. There's one thing I've done that I wouldn't do again. I am a guy. Five years ago I guess we played and a movie called Sanctuary and. I did not and I did not object to the part then. But since then I've gone a little bit and I wouldn't do it again. They characters that I played. Was one who helped keep alive the myth that your black servant will

give up his life for you. You know yourself. Oh go.

There. You have just heard the music and commentary of 0.0 one of the outstanding folk artist of

our time. Her reaction should just that in the field of entertainment the abilities of an individual negro can make some difference. But even here there are limits and impositions that go beyond the individual. Those shades of color of one's skin are the degree of straightness of one's hair presents obstacles. And Barry is against reaping the total benefits of one's contribution to the society and which he calls his own. As long as these barriers exist can it be said that there is room at the top. Does the top really exist for the negro performer. If there is no time what does this do to the motivational system at the man at the bottom. There is ample reason to suggest that socially and psychologically the topic is a myth. If by some process of magic all negroes could become Oded as our Belafonte's overnight there would still be a tremendous psychological and credibility gap surrounding the theory of gaining

acceptance by proving oneself by performing admirably and greatly voiced so loudly throughout the century. One can well imagine what the distance of the gap must be to the ordinary negro citizen or youngster who never occupies the spotlight or recognition on the stage. Until this gap is closed and there is some sincere recognition of man's work as a man as a creative thinking being the current level of discontent among Negroes will continue to mount. Next week Odetta Dick Gregory and other performing artists will voice their concerns and feelings about the conditions troubles and problems of the American Negro and todays society. You have just heard Harvard Smith Jr. assistant professor in the School of Social Work Wayne State University. Seeds of discontent is produced by David Lewis and engineered by Dave Pierce. This is Wayne State University Radio.

This program was distributed by the national educational radio network.