Of People and Politics; The Negro Voter

Item Information

Title:
Of People and Politics; The Negro Voter
Description:
In 1944, when the "whites only" primaries in the South were abolished, American Negroes began to vote in large numbers for the first time. Now [1964], two decades later, the Negro vote is becoming an important element in local, state, and national elections. The questions that arise in this 1964 Presidential election year are: How will the Negro vote? Will he go Democratic or Republican? What does the Negro vote want? Negro voting influence, however, varies with the regions of the country. Three large areas represent three stages of Negro development and voting power - the Deep South, the North, and the Border States. In Mississippi, Negroes still have difficulty in exercising their right to vote. In the North, the Negro vote is bringing about changes in the political structure. In the Border States and parts of the South, the Negroes have the rights of those in the North, but within the racial conditions of the South. In Mississippi, forty-two percent of the population is Negro, yet only six percent of the Negro population votes. In the North, Negroes are found to be falling into a pattern common to ethnic groups; they tend to vote Democratic because they think that party is more responsive to their needs. John Kennedy got more than seventy percent of the Negro vote in the 1960 election and Lyndon Johnson is expected to do as well or better. The Democrats' hold on the Negro vote was solidified in the 1948 national convention when Senator Hubert Humphrey led a fight for a strong civil rights platform, and later when President Truman ran on a pro-civil rights stand. Since 1960, nearly 600,000 Negroes have been added to the voter rolls in the South. Now, in the eleven southern states, there are more than two million voting Negroes - a fact that could have an enormous effect on the political structure of the southern communities. This episode examines the three areas of Negro development and voting power - South, North and Border States. Among the topics it deals with are the progress of Negro voter registration in the South, the race issue as a part of Southern politics, the impact of the Negro vote in the North, the politicians' appeal to the Negro voter, the voting patterns of Negros in the Border States, the direction the Negro's political power may take, and the possibility of Negroes voting as a bloc. To document the study, NET camera teams roam through Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Washington, DC and New York City. The episode also includes statements from white and Negro spokesmen in the representative regions, and form journalists, politicians, state and national political figures, and Negroes voters themselves. The Reverend Martin Luther King, leading Negro integrationist, sums up what he believes will be the effect of Negro voting. "I think on the national scene," he says, "we will liberalize the total political climate, and I think it will bring an end to the coalition of right-wing Northern Republicans and Southern Dixiecrats." Charles Evers, brother of the assassinated Negro leader Medgar Evers, who now heads the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People chapter in Jackson, Mississippi, observes the difficulty in getting Negroes to register to vote in Jackson. Hodding Carter, Pulitzer-prize winning newspaper publisher of Greenwood, Mississippi contends that in his county the Negro vote would not be based strictly on racial matters. Jim Wood, former aid to Martin Luther King and now news director of an Atlanta radio station, summarizes the reasons for the drop off in Negro voting in areas where Negroes constitute a large percentage of the population. He says, "Traditionally, the Negro has never been a part of the community". Negros have been excluded by segregation and fear from participation in the local things, and for this reason there is this low level of interests." Bill Winters, state treasurer of Mississippi, says that racism is a part of his state's politics and adds that "a certain amount of bitterness - is expected of a candidate for governor on certain issues." Edward R. Dudley, President of New York City's Borough of Manhattan, observes what Negro voting power has done in New York City politics. Mr. Dudley says, "It would be impossible for a man to run on a segregation platform here, or anywhere near here, and get any votes." Mrs. Fanny Lou Hamer, Freedom Tickets candidate for US House of Representatives in the second congressional district of Mississippi, claims that fear has kept most Negro ministers in her state from supporting voter registration drives. The first Negro to run for office in that state since Reconstruction, Mrs. Hamer anticipates strong white opposition to the younger generation of Negroes who are "ready for a change." US Senator John Sparkman (D- Ala.) defends his home state of Alabama as "pretty forward in Negro voter registration." He adds, "I can recall Negroes registering in my county without any restrictions, without any hold back - registering just like white people." Eugene Patterson, editor of The Atlanta Constitution, elaborates on the Georgia politician's awareness of the importance of the Negro vote in that state - now a "sizeable one." Georgia State Senator LeRoy Johnson, the first Negro to be elected to a Deep South state legislature since Reconstruction, tells about the change of relationship between him and his colleagues during his first two years of office - a change from formal to informal acceptance. AT Walden, prominent Atlanta Negro leader, affirms that Negroes who live in states where they have the right to vote within the racial conditions of the South can be most effective. He says that segregationist politicians realizing that the Negro vote is sufficient to affect their election, will sometimes "change overnight." James A Farley, former US Postmaster General, recalls President Franklin Roosevelt's efforts to aid the Negroes and the tendency of Negroes to affiliate with the Democratic Party. "In the first administration," says Mr. Farley, "he made appointments (of Negroes) and he gave every evidence that he looked upon the Negro people as being overlooked, so to speak." Ivan Allen Jr., mayor of Atlanta, observes that the Negro voter in Atlanta doesn't innately vote in a bloc but often is driven into bloc voting. Margaret Jones Moore, Negro school teacher of Selma, Alabama, tells how she has been hindered in the past ten years in her efforts to register to vote. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) This series is an effort to show in a comprehensive and exciting manner what's involved in US politics and what those politics are about. The series follows the progress of campaigns in the 1964 presidential election year, appraises the importance of campaign developments, and probes such matters as voter apathy, minority blocs, public opinion polls, the presidency, and campaign financing. To capture the complete scope of the nation's political system, NET's camera crews traveled across the United States to probe the views of government leaders, politicians, candidates, senior citizens, urban and rural voters, party workers, political analysts, and students. NET's unit also documented on-the-spot coverage of political events and developments relevant to the 1964 presidential election year. Of People and Politics was based upon research supplied by Operations and Policy Research Inc., of Washington, DC, headed by Dr. Evron Kirkpatrick, and including Richard Scammon, director of the US Census Bureau; Donald Herzberg, director of the Eagleton Institute at Rutgers University; Max Kampelman, a Washington attorney; and Mrs. Kirkpatrick, a political scientist. Series host Richard D. Heffner, a well-known broadcaster and educator, is former general manager of WNDT, New York City's educational television station. He directed special projects and public affairs programs for television starting in 1956 and previously taught history and political science. Mr. Heffner is the author-editor of several books, including A Documentary History of the United States and Democracy in America. Of People and Politics is a 1964 National Educational Television production. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Production company:
National Educational Television and Radio Center
Producer:
Pickard, Larry
Director:
Rigsby, Gordon
Producer:
Pels, Pat
Producer:
Krosney, Herbert
Author:
Krosney, Herbert
Creator:
Evers, Charles
Creator:
King, Martin Luther, Jr
Creator:
Carter, Hodding
Creator:
Patterson, Eugene
Creator:
Farley, James A.
Host:
Heffner, Richard D.
Creator:
Sparkman, John
Creator:
Moore, Margaret Jones
Creator:
Dudley, Edward R.
Creator:
Johnson, LeRoy
Creator:
Hamer, Fanny Lou
Creator:
Wood, Jim
Creator:
Walden, A. T.
Creator:
Winters, Bill
Creator:
Allen, Ivan, Jr
Date:
July 12, 1964
Format:
Film/Video
Location:
Library of Congress
Collection (local):
American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection
Series:
Library of Congress > Of People and Politics
Subjects:
Race and Ethnicity
Public Affairs
Politics and Government
Extent:
00:30:52
Link to Item:
https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-7659c6sw5t
Terms of Use:
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
Notes:
Episode Number: 5