City Makers; Julian Bond
Item Information
- Title:
- City Makers; Julian Bond
- Description:
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Georgia state legislator Julian Bond discusses the life of the black man in America's southern cities with program host Dr. Kenneth B. Clark. Bond and Clark cover a wide range of topics, including black attitudes in the South concerning integration versus those in the North; Atlanta as the South's more progressive city; Bond's effectiveness as a black lawmaker in a white legislature along with his role as a community leader among black people; Bond's estimation of Georgia Governor Lester Maddox; and Bond's assessment of his political future. Some highlights of the program follow. The desire for integration is very much alive among black people in the Southern cities, says Bond, in contrast to the cynical mood of the black populations of the North, where large-scale disorders have occurred and the tendency is toward separatism. An obvious reason for the disparity, according to Bond, is that the North has the big sprawling slums. Possibly another reason, he adds, is that while social conditions have remained largely stagnant in the North in recent years, there have been some "visible changes" in the South. These changes have been superficial for the most part, he emphasizes. They include, for example, the abolition of "Negro" and "White" signs, segregated lunch counters, and Negro sections on buses. Nevertheless, Bond concludes, "It seems to me a black person living in the city of Atlanta, Georgia, can say to himself that in the past 10 years of my life I have seen with my own eyes my circumstances chance in a way that can only be assumed by me to be for the better. I may not have lifted my standard of living, it may not mean my children are getting a better education, my house may be in bad shape, but I've seen some visible changes." Bond is asked by Clark what he can hope to achieve for the black man so long as Maddox is governor. This leads bond into a description of Maddox, which Clark says is marked by "Sentimental compassion" and which "transcends the trite racial polarization." Bond recalls Maddox's difficult boyhood when, he says, the future governor was struggling to help support his family and improve himself economically. Maddox as governor says Bond "is a peculiar mixture of two strains in Southern politics, racism and populism. And the populism sometimes is dominant- and when it is, he's rather a decent man." Of Bond's own political goal, he says: "I think I'd like to be in the Congress and that's about as high as I expect to go - the United States Congress." Bond, 28, though a state lawmaker, has been a nationally-known political figure since the controversy that surrounded his election to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1965. The house, at that time, refused to let Bond take his seat because of his outspoken condemnation of America's involvement in Vietnam. Eventually, Bond was seated with the aid of a U.S. Supreme Court Order. Today, Bond is one of the best-known spokesmen for the so-called "new politics" faction of the Democratic Party. At last summer's party convention in Chicago he was entered for the Vice-Presidential Candidacy, although Bond Concedes on this program that this effort was little more than a tactical maneuver by the anti-Humphrey forces. Bond is also one of the Nation's best-known Negro politicians, representing an Atlanta constituency that is mostly black. A Former officer of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which, under the leadership of Stokely Carmichael, spearheaded the black power movement, Bond nevertheless is not generally considered to be in the same camp with Northern "militants." City Makers is produced for National Educational Television by NET's Boston affiliate station, WGBH, on the campus of Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass. Producer: Henry Morgenthau, Associate producer: Nancy Hafkin (Description from NET Microfiche) In City Makers, an 8-part series, Dr. Kenneth Clark conducts half-hour interviews with important figures discussing the troubles plaguing American cities. Dr. Clark was a professor of psychology at City College of the City University of New York, and was also visiting professor at Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., when he hosted this series, which was recorded in color.
- Producer:
- Morgenthau, Henry, 1917-
- Producer:
- Hafkin, Nancy
- Production company:
- WGBH Educational Foundation
- Creator:
- Bond, Julian, 1940-
- Host:
- Clark, Kenneth B.
- Date:
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December 6, 1968
- Format:
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Film/Video
- Genre:
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Talk Show
- Location:
- WGBH
- Collection (local):
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American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection
- Series:
- WGBH > City Makers
- Subjects:
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Social Issues
Race and Ethnicity
Politics and Government
Civil Rights
Civil rights leaders
Urban youth
Bond, Julian, 1940-
- Extent:
- 01:13:12
- Link to Item:
- https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-15-9639k51g
- Terms of Use:
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Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
- Notes:
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Episode Number: 105
