Realities; 8; If Eugene Talmadge Were Alive Today, He'd Turn Over in His Grave

thumbnail of Realities; 8; If Eugene Talmadge Were Alive Today, He'd Turn Over in His Grave
This record is featured in “Voices from the Southern Civil Rights Movement.” This record is featured in “National Educational Television.”
Series
Realities
Episode Number
8
Episode
If Eugene Talmadge Were Alive Today, He'd Turn Over in His Grave
Producing Organization
Educational Broadcasting Corporation. NET Division
Contributing Organization
Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/512-ks6j09x31h
NOLA Code
RLTS
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Description
Episode Description
1 hour piece, produced by NET Division, Educational Broadcasting Corporation and initially distributed by NET in 1970.
Episode Description
Black civil rights activist John Lewis, one of the founders of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), says he decided years ago that freedom for the black man was not in the North, as many have thought, but in the South. Appearing on NETs documentary about the new South, Lewis says, I saw hundreds of black people standing on the streets in Harlem, talking about what they were going to do whitey. It was very sad to see people so frustrated . I made the decision then that the real struggle, the real movement was in the South black people in the South are involved in meaningful change. Pat Watters, reporter and interviewer in the program, using Georgia as a representative sample of Southern life, garners attitudes and opinions about the changing conditions from a cross section of inhabitants, both black and white. Watters, former city editor of the Atlanta Journal, is author of two books about the South Climbing Jacobs Ladder and The South and the Nation. Ranging the spectrum of opinion on racial relations, Watters first interviews a black woman from Baker County. Theyre doing it in a different way, she says. They arent just getting up and beating up blacks. Theyve found a new way of going about it. However, in other areas the blacks are more optimistic, Watters reports. The gradual enfranchisement of blacks (the number of black voters in the South has more than tripled since 1965), spurred by voter registration campaigns such as Lewis Voter Registration Project, has resulted in some solid gains. Thirteen blacks have been elected to the Georgia legislature. Blacks have controlled the Hancock Co., GA., government since 1966. Noting the change in the political climate, one-time arch-segregationist James W. (Taxi) Smith, who served as appointment secretary under the late Governor Eugene Talmadge, says we dont have the courthouse organizations that used to govern the counties . If Eugene Talmadge were alive today, hed turn over in his grave. If he knew about this giveaway program that the federal government has I think hed die of apoplexy at just the thought of it. Some politicians, especially in the suburbs of Atlanta, still court certain votes by pandering to white fears of the blacks. Roy Harris, an Augusta lawyer who was once a kingmaker in Georgia politics, asserts at least 90 percent of the blacks hate the white people. The white people, most I have talked to, are scared to death. Ive never seen so many people buying so many guns in all my life. Watters also explores the plight of the poor white, who, like the poor black, has fled to the city because of the decline in agriculture. An unemployed white man in the Cabbagetown ghetto are of Atlanta remarks, Ive had it tough, but lately it seems to be getting worse. Grady Abrams, a black city councilman in Augusta comments, Until we can get a coalition of poor whites and blacks, well never get anything done in this city or anywhere in the United States. Watters notes that the late Tom Watson, a Populist leader at the turn of the century, had the same dream. The growth of large cities such as Atlanta and of industrial plants has created many problems similar to those of the North. Watters visits the owner of a shrimp boat company in Thunderbolt, GA, who laments the decline of his business due to pollution of the Savannah River. Turning to schools, Watters finds integration progressing satisfactorily with few harmful repercussions. A black boy attending a recently-integrated high school in Atlanta remarks, I found it wasnt like what everyone said. I really enjoy it. As far as integration problems, we dont have any problems here Theres no conflict whatsoever. One black high school girl sums up the feelings of most of the students interviewed when she remarks, if the older generation left it to the younger people, theyd straighten this thing out. Realities If Eugene Talmadge were alive today, hed turn over in his grave is a production of NET Division, Educational Broadcasting. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Other Description
Realities consists of 40 episodes produced in 1970 by various producers.
Broadcast Date
1970-12-07
Asset type
Episode
Genres
Documentary
Topics
Social Issues
Race and Ethnicity
Public Affairs
Politics and Government
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:59:01
Embed Code
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Credits
Interviewee: Harris, Roy
Interviewee: Bond, Julian
Interviewee: Lewis, John
Interviewee: Sherrod, Charles
Interviewee: Blackburn, Ben
Interviewee: Compton, J. D.
Interviewee: Smith, James W.
Interviewee: LaRue, Leon
Interviewee: McGown, John
Interviewee: Cheek, Bessie
Interviewee: Abrams, Grady
Interviewee: Ingram, Edith
Interviewee: Folds, Milton
Producer: McCarthy, Harry
Producing Organization: Educational Broadcasting Corporation. NET Division
Reporter: Watters, Pat
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2007976-4 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 1 inch videotape: SMPTE Type C
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Duration: 0:58:48
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2007976-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 2 inch videotape: Quad
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Duration: 0:58:48
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2007976-5 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: U-matic
Generation: Master
Color: B&W
Duration: 0:58:48
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2007976-3 (MAVIS Item ID)
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: Color
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2007976-2 (MAVIS Item ID)
Generation: Master
Color: Color
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Citations
Chicago: “Realities; 8; If Eugene Talmadge Were Alive Today, He'd Turn Over in His Grave,” 1970-12-07, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed September 8, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-ks6j09x31h.
MLA: “Realities; 8; If Eugene Talmadge Were Alive Today, He'd Turn Over in His Grave.” 1970-12-07. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. September 8, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-ks6j09x31h>.
APA: Realities; 8; If Eugene Talmadge Were Alive Today, He'd Turn Over in His Grave. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-ks6j09x31h