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

Description

In this WSB-TV newsfilm clip from Atlanta, Georgia on January 31, 1968, Georgia Senator Jack Sells recommends appointment of an African American member to the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. Sells' interview is transcribed in full below.Sells: "Well I basically have written the Governor asking him to appoint a Negro if and when another vacancy becomes available on the Pardon and Parole Board [sic] because when you consider the fact that over one-third of our citizens of Georgia are Negroes and the fact that very few citizens of Georgia they have any confidence in this Board, I think to create an atmosphere of confidence of all the citizens, I think it is almost mandatory that you have at least one member of this Board from this particular group [...] I think that to create a confidence of all the people that one of the members should be a Negro."Whipkey: "Mr. Sells, there'd be, somebody would argue that this would the logical suggestion from a Negro, perhaps even a Democrat, but a Republican making the suggestion, is this a little unusual to your way of things?"Sells: "I don't think so. I don't think the Pardon and Parole Board [sic] is a partisan issue. It's the issue where you're concerning yourself with people, and to me I've never thought in terms of Black and white..." [clip distorts then ends]Reporter: Whipkey, JimTitle supplied by cataloger.

Record Contributed By

Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Georgia