Description: Meg Vaillancourt reports on negotiations in court between the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) and the NAACP over compensation for minority families who were victims of the BHA's discriminatory housing policies. Vaillancourt notes that the BHA and the NAACP disagree on the number of families to be compensated and the amount of compensation due to them. Vaillancourt interviews Dianne Wilkerson (NAACP) and Albert Willis (Attorney, City of Boston) about the negotiation. Vaillancourt adds that negotiations will continue until the next court date. Vaillancourt reports that the first African American families moved into a South Boston housing project last month as part of the court-ordered plan to integrate public housing. Vaillancourt's report is accompanied by footage of African American movers at the Mary Ellen McCormack Housing Development and by footage of white residents of South Boston housing projects.
1:00:07: Visual: Footage of white children outside of a housing project building in South Boston. The children are keeping cool with a garden hose and a wading pool. Shots of two white women outside of the housing project building; of a baby playing in a wading pool. Meg Vaillancourt reports on the court case concerning the Boston Housing Authority's public housing placement policy. Vaillancourt reports that federal authorities have charged the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) with discriminatory practices; that the BHA has agreed to reorganize its policy of assigning tenants to public housing. Vaillancourt reports that the first African American families moved into a South Boston Housing Project last month; that the BHA has not decided how to compensate African American families who had been passed over in favor of whites on the waiting list. V: Shots of African American movers moving furniture and boxes from a moving truck into the McCormack Housing Development in South Boston. Vaillancourt reports that the city calls the African American families "disadvantaged." Vaillancourt notes that the city estimates that about 100 families have been "disadvantaged" by the policy. V: Shots of African American adults and children outside of a public housing project building. Vaillancourt reports that the NAACP has estimated that more than 2,000 African American families were passed over on the BHA waiting list; that the NAACP has brought a lawsuit against the city to gain compensation for those families. V: Footage of Dianne Wilkerson (attorney for the NAACP) speaking to reporters. Wilkerson says that the NAACP has always believed that the number of victims is approximately 2,000 families; that the BHA will end up finding that the NAACP's estimate is correct. Footage of Albert Willis (Attorney, City of Boston) being interviewed by Vaillancourt. Willis says that he does not know where the NAACP has gotten its numbers. Willis says that the BHA will discuss compensation beyond 100 families if the NAACP can provide evidence to back up its estimate. Shots of African American children playing outside of a public housing project. Vaillancourt reports that the NAACP and the city of Boston disagree on the amount of compensation for the "disadvantaged" families. V: Shot of a Boston Globe newspaper article with a headline reading, "1,200 said to be victims of BHA racial practices." Vaillancourt notes that the Boston Globe newspaper reported that the BHA would pay $750 to each family. Vaillancourt adds that the NAACP wants each family to receive between $3,000 and $5,000. V: Shots of the exterior of the NAACP offices in Roxbury; of NAACP employees and volunteers in the NAACP offices. Footage of Willis saying that the money issue has been discusses by the city and the NAACP; that the discussions were productive. Vaillancourt reports that both sides said that the negotiations were productive. Vaillancourt notes that no issues were actually resolved; that the negotiations will continue until the next court date on Wednesday. Vaillancourt adds that the court will decide if the integration plan can continue if the two sides fail to reach an agreement.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 08/09/1988
Description: Carmen Fields interviews Dr. Kenneth Clark (psychologist). Fields reports that Clark and his Mamie Phipps Clark (psychologist) performed studies using dolls to gauge ego and self-esteem in young African American children. Fields notes that the Clarks' research influenced the Supreme Court's 1953 landmark decision on school desegregation. Clark talks about his research, saying that African American children rejected the brown dolls because they had internalized society's negative stereotypes of African Americans. Clark discusses the use of the study by NAACP lawyers in the 1953 school desegregation case. Clark talks about the importance of school desegregation and the need for white and African American children to grow up with self-respect and respect for others. He says that children must be taught to act humanely toward others. Fields' report includes footage from the 1959 film Imitation of Life and footage from Eyes on the Prize. Fields' report also includes footage of school desegregation in South Boston and shots of dolls. Sound cuts out at the very end of the video.
1:00:10: Visual: Shot of a display of dolls and toys. Carmen Fields reports that Dr. Kenneth Clark (psychologist) and the late Mamie Phipps Clark (psychologist) used dolls in a 1939 psychological experiment; that the Clarks used dolls to gauge ego and self esteem in young African American children. Fields notes that the results of the experiments shocked the nation. V: Shots of Kenneth Clark being interviewed by Fields. Shots of a white doll; of an African American doll. Footage of Clark talking about how African American children internalize society's negative stereotypes of African Americans. Clark says that two out of three African American children rejected the brown dolls. Footage from the 1959 film, Imitation of Life. Footage of Clark saying that the children were forced to identify with the brown dolls they had rejected. Fields reports that the Supreme Court's 1953 decision on school desegregation was influenced by the Clarks' research. V: Shot of the exterior of the Supreme Court Building in Washington D.C. Footage of Clark saying that NAACP lawyers were interested in the study; that NAACP found parallels between the results of the study and the effects of segregated schools on African American chiildren. Fields reports that school desegregation has been accomplished in both southern and northern cities. V: Black and white footage from Eyes On the Prize. Shots of an African American girl being accompanied into a school; of the National Guard running in formation; of African American students entering a school; of an African American female student in a classroom; of an African American man walking with two white men. Shots of school buses pulling up to the front of South Boston High School in 1974; of South Boston residents jeering at the buses. Shots of police officers lined up on a streeet outside of a Charlestown Housing Project. Fields notes that Clark blames low self-esteem for many of today's educational problems including high drop-out rates and violence. V: Footage of Clark being interviewed by Fields. Clark says that society's problems cannot be solved by laws and court cases; that churches have not influenced people to act more humanely toward others. Clark says that children must be educated to act in a humane manner. Fields asks Clark how he responds to people who believe that desegregation did not work. Clark says that desegregation has never really been tried; that schools are still organized along racial lines. Clark says that schools are not set up to teach children to respect others. Fields asks if the doll study is still relevant today. Clark says that both white African American children need help in developing positive self-images in today's society. Shots of students in an integrated classroom; of white students in the classroom. Footage of Clark saying that racism is indicative of a lack of self-respect. Clark says that dolls can be used to communicate a sense of humanity and decency. Shots of white and African American dolls. Footage of Clark saying that some African American children in his doll study had good role models; that those children did not reject the brown dolls. Clark says that children can be taught to respect themselves and others.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 10/18/1988