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

Description

In this WSB newsfilm clip from August 28, 1962, Rabbi Richard Israel and Reverend Ralph Lord Roy examine their belongings as they exit the Albany City Hall, and an unidentified reporter interviews Rabbi Israel about his reasons for coming to Albany, Georgia. The clip begins as Rabbi Israel and Rev. Roy, apparently recently released from police custody, walk down the steps of the Albany City Hall carrying small paper bags; each removes his wallet from the bag and examines its contents. Next, an unidentified reporter interviews Rabbi Israel regarding the reason he came to Albany. Rabbi Israel explains that several cornerstones of the Jewish faith include working on behalf of justice and living in remembrance of the enslavement of the ancestral Israelites in Egypt. In doing so, he argues, it is then necessary to speak out against the continued bondage of others whenever possible. He describes his presence in Albany as an effort to help acknowledge the existence of "the evil of segregation" and to promote awareness of that evil. When the reporter asks him if he feels he accomplished anything by coming to Albany, Rabbi Israel responds that while nothing is ever accomplished all at once, "by putting in little building blocks, we ultimately have a whole building." Reverend Ralph Lord Roy of Grace Methodist Church in New York City, and Rabbi Richard Israel, Yale University chaplain, were two of seventy-five ministers, primarily from New York and Chicago, who came to Albany at the request of local leaders and...

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia