At Issue; Quiet Conflict, Brunswick, GA
Item Information
- Title:
- At Issue; Quiet Conflict, Brunswick, GA
- Description:
-
This month At Issue examines the racial attitude of a traditional Southern city, six months after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Brunswick, GA., a city of 23,200, has a Negro population numbering 41 percent. Like many other cities and towns in the South, some degree of desegregation has been achieved in Brunswick. The difference in this Georgia city is that the civil rights progress made to date has been conspicuous by its lack of violence. Produced entirely on location, At Issue: Brunswick, GA - The Quiet Conflict, probes the factors responsible for Brunswicks peaceful desegregation methods and considers the prospects for its continuance in the future. Probably, the most important factor cited to date is economics. Tourism and big industry are major livelihoods in Brunswick, and the people are well aware that outbreaks of racial violence would only serve to destroy the tourist trade, and to drive industry from the region. Significant as well have been the efforts of local officials working together with members of the local NAACP Chapter to keep open the lines of communication s between the two races. Notable in this regard is the bi-racial committee now operating in Brunswick, composed of members of the citys white and Negro chambers of commerce. To say that Brunswicks attempts at peaceful desegregation have gone unopposed would be incorrect. The Glynn County Citizens Council, a white citizens group, has fought federal intervention and other civil rights attempts every step of the way. However, most of Brunswicks Caucasians, though not necessarily favoring desegregation, are slowly accepting the fact that it must come, and while progress toward integration has not been spectacular, it has been achieved quietly, with dignity, and without publicity. To put into perspective the effects of desegregation efforts in Brunswick, At Issue focuses its cameras on the people and places in the city that have felt the greatest impact on the Quiet Conflict. Among those interviewed on the spot are Brunswicks City Manager Bruce Lovvern and Mayor Joseph Mercer, two white moderates; the Reverend Julius Caesar Hope, the president of the Brunswick NAACP chapter; Bill Williams, a member of the Glynn County Citizens Council; Catherine Gibbs, a Negro woman who helped found the local NAACP chapter 35 years ago; Dr. and Mrs. J. C. Wilkes, a Negro couple who live at Jekyll Island, a previously all-white community, and whose baby was the first Negro born in the white section of Brunswicks hospital. Running Time: 59:57 (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) Six months after passage of the Civil Rights Act, At Issue candidly evaluates the peaceful manner in which one Southern city is copy with the Negros struggle for desegregation on Brunswick, GA Quiet Conflict. Like many other Southern communities, Brunswick, GA, has taken steps toward desegregation. Though much still remains to be done, what makes Brunswicks approach to racial problems unique is that it is being conducted through peaceful means. N.E.T. executive producer, Alvin Perlmutter, crystallizes the story of Brunswick by taking his cameras and microphones into every part of the Georgia city to learn first-hand how a city, steeped in the tradition of the South, could achieve even partial desegregation without violence and without publicity. One of the major factors focused on by the producer in the videotape documentary is the economic status of Brunswick. The Negro community numbers nearly fifty percent of the total population, giving them considerable economic influence. In addition, the white people of Brunswick, though not necessarily favoring integration, are fully aware that tourism and big industry, the citys business mainstays, would be driven away should racial violence break out. Another factor considered on the N.E.T. program is the joint effort being made by local government officials and the citys Negro leaders to maintain open lines of racial communication. As an example, a bi-racial committee, composed of members of Brunswicks white and Negro chambers of commerce, has been set up to deal with the desegregation issue. Rounding out the study of the Brunswick racial picture, At Issue takes a close look at the opposition to the civil rights movement the Glynn County Citizens Council. The Council, a white citizens group, contends that the federal government has no role in Brunswicks desegregation efforts, and that the community should be left to deal with the matter as it sees fit. Among those presenting the views of Brunswicks major factions on the program are City Manager Bruce Lovvern and Mayor Joseph Mercer, white moderates instrumental in the peaceful integration process; the Reverend Julius Caesar Hope, the leading Negro spokesman and the president of the local NAACP chapter; Bill Williams, a member of the Glynn County Citizens Council; Catherine Gibbs, a co-founder of the Brunswick NAACP, and Dr. and Mrs. J. C. Wilkes, a Negro couple who now live in one of Brunswicks previously all-white areas, and whose baby was the first Negro born in the city hospitals white section. At Issue: Brunswick, GA Quiet Conflict is being broadcast across the country on National Educational Televisions network of 89 affiliated non-commercial stations. The producer is Andrew Stern, and the associate producers are Lois Shaw and Robert Squier. The director is Robert Squier. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche) 1 hour piece, produced by NET and initially distributed by NET in 1965. At Issue consists of 69 half-hour and hour-long episodes produced in 1963-1966 by NET, which were originally shot on videotape in black and white and color.
- Production company:
- National Educational Television and Radio Center
- Producer:
- Perlmutter, Alvin H.
- Director:
- Squier, Robert D.
- Producer:
- Squier, Robert D.
- Producer:
- Shaw, Lois
- Producer:
- Stern, Andrew A.
- Interviewee:
- Hope, Julius Caesar
- Interviewee:
- Mercer, Joseph
- Interviewee:
- Gibbs, Catherine
- Interviewee:
- Lovvern, Bruce
- Interviewee:
- Wilkes, J. C.
- Interviewee:
- Williams, Bill
- Date:
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January 1965
- Format:
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Film/Video
- Genre:
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Talk Show
News
- Location:
- Library of Congress
- Collection (local):
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American Archive of Public Broadcasting Collection
- Series:
- Library of Congress > At Issue
- Subjects:
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Economics
News
Social Issues
Local Communities
Race and Ethnicity
- Extent:
- 00:59:37
- Link to Item:
- https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-rx93776z41
- Terms of Use:
-
Rights status not evaluated.
Contact host institution for more information.
- Notes:
-
Episode Number: 51
