Collection:LPB

Genre: Newsmagazine

Place Covered: Baton Rouge, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 1987-01-18

Duration: 00:24:56

Subjects: Fields, Cleo | Affirmative Action | Southern University and A & M College | Civil Rights | African Americans | Young, A.Z., 1920-1993

Contributors:

• Masingale, Sonya Host
• Berry, Mary Frances Interviewee
• Young, A.Z. Interviewee
• Fields, Cleo Interviewee

This episode of the series “Folks” from January 18, 1987, features Sonya Masingale’s report on the state of the civil rights movement in the 1980s. First, she interviews Mary Frances Berry, a member of the United States Civil Rights Commission, who discusses: the climate of non-tolerance in the Reagan Administration; the reasons why African Americans are losing ground in the fight for equality; and the need to return to the tradition of non-violent protests. Masingale also conducts an in-studio interview with A.Z. Young of the Governor’s Office of Minority Affairs and Cleo Fields of Young Adults for Positive Action. They discuss: returning to non-violent protests; the lack of economic opportunity for the black community; the need for leadership in bringing people together for a common cause; the improved relationship between white and black people; affirmative action; the importance of voter registration and participation; and the possible elimination of professional programs at Southern University in Baton Rouge.