WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)

Description

In this WSB newsfilm clip from October 6, 1971, several African Americans, including Atlanta city alderman Henry Dodson and civil rights leader and future U.S. Representative John Lewis comment negatively on a speech recently given by Atlanta mayor Sam Massell.The clip begins with Atlanta city alderman Henry Dodson telling a reporter that "coming from the other side," he is "glad" that Massell "made the speech like he made." Although the mayor may have told him that he had to "think white to get along in this society," he asserts "I can think black and get along in this society." Dodson notes that he represents both black and white people in his district, and insists that, by thinking black, he can serve his constituents just as well as the white politicians that preceded him. He concludes "I'm not going to think white." Next, John Lewis confesses that he is "very disappointed" with Massell's speech, and thinks "it is wrong for the mayor of a city like Atlanta to suggest that black people should not be concerned about their own political destiny." Next, an African American woman disagrees with the mayor "outlining what we as blacks should do" and is skeptical that he has "thought it all through." She opines that Massell has instructed African Americans to "get to work on what he is thinking we should do." Her overall impression of the speech is that African Americans "were still proving ourselves as black people in this city," and she remarks "I...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia