In Black America; African-Americans and The Media, Part 2

.......... From the Longhorn Radio Network, the University of Texas at Austin, this is In Black America. Of course there are places where the race is mingle. And in most significant respects, the separation is pervasive and penetrating. As a social and human division, it surpasses all others, even gender, and intensity and

subordination. So using Andrew Hacker's book as a framework today, we will explore two nations, yesterday, today and tomorrow. And the relationship that the two nations have in terms of the context of our thing, African Americans and the media. Dr. Paula Impoindexter, Associate Professor of Journalism and Advertising, the University of Texas at Austin. Last fall, African American members of the faculty within the College of Communication were given a task of coming up with a lecture series that addressed the concerns of African Americans. To much debate and discussions, the committee submitted the following recommendations to the Dean of the College. First, the series had to focus on important issues facing African Americans. Second, a panel format involving several speakers be used, and finally at least three panels be organized around the theme, issues in the African American community.

The theme was concerned and settled with three areas, all centering around titles of recent significant books. This past spring, the College of Communication held its first African Americans and the media lecture series that focused on Andrew Hacker's book entitled Two Nations. I'm John L. Hanson Jr. and welcome to another edition of In Black America. This week, Two Nations, yesterday, today and tomorrow, part two, in Black America. We are the largest African American-owned production company in the country. We did, after eyes on the prize, we did six hours on the Great Depression, which also aired nationally on PBS, and then we followed up with this past January, airing five hours on the Warren Poverty. Eyes on the prize for those who don't necessarily know it is a 14-hour series.

It goes from 1954 to 1985, and it covers the Brown v. Board school integration or school desegregation decision through to 1985 and the election of Harold Washington as the first African American mayor in Chicago. Now, aside from the fact that, yeah, it got an Academy Award nomination and a Peabody and stuff, it also has a very, almost and more important use. And that is its use in colleges, and also in high schools, which is interesting, and in churches and community centers. And it is used, along with the many texts and books that we published to accompany our series always. In 1968, a report was issued by the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders that stated, in part, quote, our nation is moving towards two societies, one black, one white, separate, and unequal, end of quote. Today, that statement still holds true, but why does race remain America's deepest and

most enduring division, despite all efforts to increase understanding and expand opportunities, black and white Americans still lead separate lives, continually marked by tension and hostility. In the first of a three-part lecture series, the College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin held its first African Americans and the media lecture series that focused on Andrew Hackers' book entitled Two Nation. The panel of distinguished African Americans included Sonny Messiah Giles, Editorian Publisher of the U.S. and Defender newspaper, Eddie Williams, President, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and Judy Richardson, Director of Education and Co-producer, Blackside Film and Television Production. Ms. Richardson, as a producer on I on the Prize documentary, focused her discussion on the civil rights movement and the role blacks have played throughout American history. We were going to do eyes on the prize back in 1978-79. We were going to do it as a two-hour documentary, who knew from 14 hours.

So we're trying to figure out what to do, and I'm looking through stride toward freedom, which was Dr. King's account of the bus boycott. And I'm looking through trying to figure out people who might be good people to interview. And I find this name of Joanne Robinson, and I think my God a woman, you know. So I try and locate her. And I called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference office. I called in Atlanta, and I called Montgomery, and finally by calling each person would give me somebody else to contact. Finally, somebody said, look, I think that she is a teacher in Los Angeles. I started talking to her, and she gave me the story of this over the phone. And it was the first time I thought to myself, we really have a series here. Well, at that point, we really have two hours here, you know. And what she started telling me was how this happened. She said that, in fact, what she does is that when she hears from one of the two attorneys, Joanne Robinson gets the call from the black attorney, the two of the two. And she then calls her co-chair, Mary Fairbergs.

And Mary Fairbergs says to her, we have the plan, let's put it into action. And what they mean is that there have been other people who have continued to resist, you know, bus segregation. But they wanted the absolute perfect person around whom all black Montgomery could galvanize. And that was Mrs. Parks. She belonged to the church in the black community. She was a worker with the NAACP, so that people knew she was four black rights. And this at a time when you could be killed for having an NAACP card on you. So they knew her. She was a nice person. People liked her. And she had standing within the community. So they decide, this is the case. So Joanne Robinson is a teacher at the local black college, Alabama State. She goes undercover of night because it's a state-supported institution and runs off 35,000 copies. Now for those of us old enough to remember before Xerox, we're talking a mini-graph machine here.

Hello, yes. 35,000 copies. Doesn't go to bed that night, right? She gets in the car the next morning and she has already done, started a telephone entry, which meant that one person would call five people, would call five people within the Women's Political Council. Talking about the fact that Mrs. Parks had been arrested. So she said she gets in the car. She has one of her students in the passenger side. They get up to one of the black schools and one of the principals had had a student station there. She said without a word being said, X number of leaflets were passed to the student. And that by the end of that day, therefore, black Montgomery knew that A, Mrs. Parks had been arrested and B, that the Women's Political Council was suggesting a one-day boycott of the buses. Now, originally, again, it's going to be a one-day boycott and it's for a more humane form of segregation, if that's not an oxymoron. Hello. So what would happen, and originally we were going to have Julian Bond as a stand-up narrator and for filmic reasons, mainly because he put a distance between the material and the

viewers. So we ended up not having him on camera. We did it as an off-camera narrator. But originally, when he was doing on camera, we had him go through what you would have to do as a black person on the buses. And what would happen is that you would get to the front, you would pay your dime, you would de-board the bus and walk outside to the back of the bus and board the back. The whole point being that you should not pollute the white section, you don't go on through it. Now, when you got on the bus, there would be the white section in the front and the so-called colored section in the back. And then in the middle would be this kind of gray area. And if you were seated as a black passenger in this kind of gray area, it could remain colored unless more white passengers got on at which point it became white. So what the boycottters are originally going for, talk about ridiculous nature of racism, hello. What would happen, what they want to do originally is simply to have this remain a colored section if colored passengers are seated in it.

Now, if the bus company had gone for this, they could have kept segregation a little bit longer. But no, right? In fact, they say no that they won't do this. And since the bus ridership is two-thirds African-American, the bus company, which is privately owned, goes bankrupt in six months. Now it's important, usually when I'm talking to teachers, I talk about the fact that it's very important for young people to understand that, however, there has always been African-American resistance. Because otherwise they look at this and they say, you all must have been chumps. You went for this? You know, I would have done this and this and I would have done it. So you talk about some of that. So for example, in 1940-41, Dr. Robin Kelly is doing some initial research on this. And he's researching resistance to bus segregation in Birmingham in just one year, 40-41. And one of his favorite cases, he's one of our advisors. One of his favorite cases is this one older black guy who resists segregation as put off

the bus and stays at that same bus stop. And every time the bus comes by, he keeps trying to board the bus. Bus driver says, uh-uh, man, stays at that bus stop. Now to think what it means to do that kind of resistance before there is any press on any of this, before there's a mass movement, where again, you could be beaten very badly for not getting off the sidewalks in some communities, some rural communities, when white people came by. Yet this man stood firm. And usually what I talk about is also the fact that, you know, you have to also understand the structure that is allowing this to keep in stay in place, which includes the federal structure and the Dixie Cratt legislators who run all of these major committees because of course black people cannot vote. And so they get seniority because they keep getting reelected and reelected. So you have a Senator Stennis and a Senator Eastlinden. So there's all of that. Because otherwise, young people do not understand why we took it so long. You have to understand what was up there.

How do they stay off the buses? Because they develop an elaborate system of transportation. So you get somebody like Mr. Lewis whom we interview. He's headed transportation. And we said to him off camera at one point, Mr. Lewis, how many people did you transport every day? And he said kind of offhandedly, oh, eight to 10,000, Judy Richardson, director of education and co-producer, black side film and television productions. Also on the panel was Eddie Williams, president, joint center for political and economic studies based in Washington, D.C. The Senate was created in 1970 to stimulate blacks and other minorities to participate fully in all aspects of the American political system. Mr. Williams addressed, focus on the role blacks in society have played and the attack on affirmative action and race relations. Now, I've mentioned affirmative action several times. I'd like to take a few minutes to share with you some findings from a new study prepared by the joint center on affirmative action.

In fact, I will give you a little sneak preview. Affirmative action has been official public policy for 31 years and longer. All of a sudden, its opponents are alleging that that policy means setting rigid quotas, hiring unqualified people and giving preference to minorities and women. This is plain old bolder dash. These are the bogeyman being created by conservatives to frighten and provoke white folks. The fact is that affirmative action policies do not require any of these things. The one exception is when a court of law orders remedial action as a result of a legal finding of past discrimination. In some cases, quotas are said by the courts and companies are expected to establish hiring procedures that enable them to reach those quotas. But even so, even when quotas are set by the courts, these companies are institutions

are not required to hire unqualified people and there are no sanctions if a company fails to meet its goals. The joint center study challenges many of the assumptions and criticism used in the assault on affirmative action. For example, in a chapter on the economic cost of discrimination against black Americans, economist Andrew Bremmer, a former member of the Federal Reserve Board, concludes that the failure to train and employ blacks costs the U.S. economy more than $241 billion or about 4% of our annual gross domestic product. In a chapter on the economic cost of affirmative action, economist Cecilia Conrad of Columbia University takes on the conservative argument that affirmative action is a drag on economic efficiency.

She documents the fact that direct costs of enforcing affirmative action are quite small, relative to the cost of doing business, and that those costs of enforcing affirmative action are on the order of about $12 per employee. She also finds that the policy's impact on productivity is minimal. In a chapter entitled Evidence of the Effectiveness of Equal Employment Opportunity Policies, Emily Bajit and Heidi Hartman of the Institute for Women's Policy Research provide a powerful rebuttal to the allegations that affirmative action is taking jobs away from white males. They conclude that the preponderance of evidence suggests that equal employment and affirmative action policies have resulted in small but significant gains by blacks and women in a range of blue collar and white collar occupations. However, they found no evidence that these gains have either harmed the competitiveness

of American businesses or violated any fair employment practices. It appears that many of the jobs gained by minorities and women resulted from them getting a greater share of newly created jobs and not from displacement of white males. It's an article in the New York Times today that comments on the fact that white males hold 95% of all of the top positions in corporate America. I don't think there's been any inroads on that, that is part of the problem. Despite the existence of affirmative action, there continues to be differential unemployment rates between blacks and whites and there continue to be occupational disparities as we well know. Now the authors of the study point out that affirmative action can reduce some forms of discrimination but it does not necessarily eliminate institutional or systemic discrimination

which also adversely affect opportunities. Now these are some of the facts. This is not emotionalism, this is not ideological, these are some of the facts and let's use them to put an end to the distortions and the outright lies about affirmative action. Now it is one thing to win public policy debates, it is quite another to command the political machinery that actually implements public policies. Therefore, we not only must become more influential in the policy arena, we also must increase our political leverage through voter registration and turnout through lobbying and through building progressive coalitions around mutual interests. In Texas, I know I don't have to spend very much time talking about the power of politics or the politics of power, Texans and those who are allowed to visit in this fine state obviously wrote the book on these subjects.

The second front on which we need to pursue broad based strategies deals with the issue of race which is emerging once again as our society's most intractable problem. Perhaps it has always been America's Achilles heel. More than a century and a half ago Alex Detokville concluded that and I quote, the most formidable of all the ills that threaten the future of the United States, arises from the presence of a black population upon its territory. He said, and I quote again, the danger of a conflict between the white and black inhabitants perpetually haunts the imagination of the Americans like a painful dream. In eyes on the prize and for more than four decades we have all worked very hard, it's been a lot of hard work to enact public policies that will keep this painful dream from coming true, yet as hacker and others observe racial inequality persists today.

We cannot effectively attack the cancer of racism until we acknowledge as a nation the symptoms of this disease, until we understand the underlying causes of these symptoms and until there is a national political will to do the right thing to cure this sickness. There are many things that can and should be done. In today's highly politicized environment however, I think we need a serious sustained, balanced national dialogue on race and diversity. A dialogue led by a prestigious and impartial Blue Ribbon Commission like for example the 1968 Kernner Commission on Civil Disorders. The Kernner Commission, chaired by the then governor of Illinois Otto Kernner, led a national dialogue on the urban riots, particularly the riots following in the wake of the assassination

of Dr. King. A dialogue on the urban riots and on racism. It focused national attention on the underlying cause of the riots and it proposed solutions to address those causes. It concluded that and I quote, our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal. In fact, the title for Andrew Hacker's book Two Nations is taken from this conclusion from the Kernner Report, a conclusion which shocked the nation in 1968. Eddie Williams, president, joint center for political and economic studies. The third balance was Sonny Messiah Giles, editor and publisher, Houston Defender newspaper. With a degree in political science from the University of Houston, she has been a member of the 4th of states since 1981 when she purchased a 64-year-old newspaper at the age

of 27. Her address focused on the lopsided portrayal of blacks in the media. The black press has been there to build a more accurate picture of blacks, reinforcing the positive image, seeking a sense of community and self-worth. Just think about it. Some claim that we don't need a black press, we're an integrated society. There's no need to be segregated and to have a black press. And as people make those statements, I always throw these three questions at them. And I say, let's talk when you can say yes to these questions. That the majority press devoted an equitable share of positive coverage to the minority community. That the majority press employer, representative number of minority journalists. That the majority press provide adequate minority participation in most decision-making positions in all management levels. When you can give me three yeses, let's talk. The black press is not without its problems of competing for advertising dollars or what

I would call corporate America's total disrespect for the black consumer. That's another speech. The competition for young journalists, the increased cost of operation, the new technology, and the question of how will newspapers be distributed in the future. Despite all of these, I personally think technology is going to level the field for small businesses to a great degree. But those problems that I also mentioned are problems that not only the black press faces, but the general press faces. But I heard all that the newsrooms of America still constantly complain of having a lack of qualified minorities. In the 60s, that line would fly. In the 90s, as the kids say on the campus defender, which is our teenage paper, 14s by teens and about teens, their comment is, don't go that way. To break it down in more simple terms, it is a flat lie.

Here alone there are journalists that could feel many of the newsrooms in America. The question is, when will the door open? If you realize that in 1955, no blacks were in radio or television newsrooms nationwide from a national level. Those stats were taken from the book by Janet Davis and William Barlow. Lee Thornton, who was a former CBS White House correspondent, who also wrote a chapter in this book, said, the fact of the matter is journalism has historically and systematically excluded members of minority groups. Think about it. The rights of the 60s brought African Americans to the newsroom. I don't know if you realize that. Why? And Eddie, it took them a thunder. The current commission was one of the key pieces that opened the door. President Lyndon Johnson appointed the people to the current commission, which did a study of observation as to why the rights had taken place.

As a result, they slammed the media. They made the statement that there was a failure to analyze and report adequate racial problems. They indicted the media for treating African Americans as invisible people. They said they were shockingly backwards and not seeking out hiring training and promoting black Americans. The tokenism was not enough. And as a result, the door was open. I should say the door was cracked. In 1970 in the White Press, there were over 100 African American reporters. This is print. In 1980, no, this is in general, I'm sorry. In 1980, there were over 300 African American reporters. On the broadcast side, if you take into consideration that it was 1962, when Malgoode became the first black network correspondent, then it may put some of this in perspective. As early as 1974, and I remember, I said, Mal came in in 1962, that's not a lot of years. The former president of CBS Fred Friendly stated, the pressure is off.

Maybe they feel they've done as much as they can. My interpretation is the door is not what it used to be, but it is not closed by any stretch of the imagination. I like the idea Eddie put on the table of a new current commission, especially for 1995. As in my opinion, the reality is another editorial comment, if they don't do one now, they'll have a riot to study just like they did before. Understanding the games and the rules and who the players are is important to each one of you as students, whether your journalism majors are not. As you know, at the world of broadcast media, it is often equated to the sports arena, our sports in general. Why? Because African Americans are good enough to be in front of the camera, yet not to be trusted to do the thinking in the front office. Think about it.

In Gil Noble's book, Black is the color of my television. He sites the reasons given for blacks and minorities not being in management. One is very few slots, one of you heard that one. The other is a lack of black and minorities to move up. Well, if you don't allow people to come into the entry level jobs to be able to move up, they won't be there for you to promote. What does the future hold? Well, this is where I get to bring the crystal ball out. I think there's some factors that impact the crystal ball. One is technology, one is demographics, and the other is good business sense. Demographics are changing. Who will the reader or viewer in the next 20 years be? According to the birth rate, the audience will be predominantly minority, blacks and Hispanics. Eddie can back me up. The marketplace is shrinking when it comes to readers. But you want to know something. In most of the major cities, the ratio of minorities to whites is already there. A lot of people don't want to talk about that. The marketplace is shrinking when it comes to readers, as I said.

The listeners and viewing audiences fragment it beyond belief. With cable, network television, look at all the radio stations we have, and then you have the options of video and CD. Technology in the industry is changing so fast, it's hard to keep up. In fact, many have concluded that newspapers will not be newspapers the way you know them in the year 2000. That's not that far away. The question of how newspapers will be distributed is being argued on the floor of the Texas legislature right now, and Congress, as the newspaper magnets and the telephone companies fight it out. The black press has made a strategic decision, let the giant fight and whoever wins join forces. The cost of operation are doing business as a serious concern because those mediums who make the wrong decision risk the possibility of dying in the process. Sunny Messiah Giles, editor and publisher, Houston Defender newspaper. We will present part three of this lecture on next week's program. If you have a question or comment or suggestions, ask the future in black America programs, write

us. Also let us know what radio station you heard us over. Views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station or the University of Texas at Austin. Until we have the opportunity again for IBA technical producer Cliff Hargrove, I'm John El Hansen, Jr. Thank you for joining us this week and please join us again next time. Cassette copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing in black America cassettes. Communication Horn Radio Network Communication Building B UT Austin, Austin, Texas 78712. That's in black America cassettes. Long Horn Radio Network Communication Building B UT Austin, Austin, Texas 78712. From the Center for Telecommunication Services, the University of Texas at Austin, this is the Long Horn Radio Network.

I'm John El Hansen, Jr. Join me this week on in black America. For using Andrew Hacker's book as a framework today, we will explore two nations, yesterday, today and tomorrow. The relationship that the two nations have. Two nations, yesterday, today and tomorrow, part two, this week on in black America.