- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Title:
- WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking about recent race riots in New York State as well as the 1964 presidential election, New York, New York, 1964 July 27
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Contributor to Resource:
- King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
- Date of Original:
- 1964-07-27
- Subject:
- Race riots--New York (State)--New York
Race riots--New York (State)--Rochester
African American civil rights workers--New York (State)
Civil rights workers--New York (State)
Press conferences--New York (State)--New York
Violence--Press coverage--New York (State)
Violence--New York (State)
Demonstrations--New York (State)
Nonviolence--New York (State)
Passive resistance--New York (State)
Direct action--New York (State)
Social surveys--New York (State)
Discrimination--New York (State)
Reporters and reporting--New York (State)
Mayors--New York (State)--New York
Communism--New York (State)
Subversive activities--New York (State)
Police--Complaints against--New York (State)--New York
Police brutality--New York (State)--New York
Presidents--United States--Election--1964
Legislators--United States
Civil rights demonstrations--New York (State)
New York (State)--Race relations--History--20th century
Harlem (New York, N.Y.)--Race relations--History--20th century
Bedford-Stuyvesant (New York, N.Y.)--Race relations--History--20th century
Rochester (N.Y.)--Race relations--History--20th century - People:
- King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968--Interviews
Wagner, Robert F. (Robert Ferdinand), 1910-1991
Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
Goldwater, Barry M. (Barry Morris), 1909-1998 - Location:
- United States, New York, 43.00035, -75.4999
United States, New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant New York, 40.687218, -73.941774
United States, New York, Kings County, 40.63439, -73.95027
United States, New York, Monroe County, Rochester, 43.15478, -77.61556
United States, New York, New York County, Harlem, 40.80789, -73.94542
United States, New York, New York County, New York, 40.7142691, -74.0059729 - Medium:
- moving images
news
unedited footage - Type:
- MovingImage
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- In this WSB-TV newsfilm clip from July 27, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks about recent race riots in New York City and Rochester, New York and comments on the role of race relations in the 1964 presidential election. Dr. King, sitting at a desk with microphones in front of him, answers questions from an unidentified off-screen reporter indicating that New York City mayor Robert F. Warner reached him July 24 while he was in Mississippi to ask him to come to New York to try and help curb racial tensions in the city. Commenting on reports of "strong subversive and Communist elements identified" in rioting in the neighborhoods of Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant, King suggests that while Communist groups may take advantage of African American discontent, he believes the rioting in New York is a result of a white, off-duty policeman shooting an African American boy. On July 10 an off-duty policeman shot and killed an African American young man the officer said was carrying a knife. The killing sparked rioting in Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Another unidentified reporter asks King if continued civil rights demonstrations will hurt president Lyndon B. Johnson's campaign for reelection. King recognizes that violent demonstrations do more to help Republican candidate senator Barry M. Goldwater, who he accuses of capitalizing "on the so-called white backlash whether he admits it publicly or not." He calls upon demonstrations before the election to be "well-disciplined and dignified." After a July 30 meeting with leaders from several prominent civil rights organizations including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), civil rights leaders issued a resolution calling for a "broad curtailment if not total moratorium" on all demonstrations before the election.
After a break in the clip, King asserts the importance of civil rights as the "chief domestic issue" in the presidential campaign and expresses his hope for a national call for compliance with the 1964 Civil Rights Act and removing "conditions of injustice that still pervade our nation and all of the other things which can only deepen the racial crisis." King later proposes that civil rights demonstrations in the South may more easily remain nonviolent because of clear goals rather than general protests. The clip breaks again and King concludes the New York City riots are an anti-police revolt stemming from a concern among the African American community regarding the police force and in particular police brutality. He recommends hiring more African American police officers.
After rioting in New York City began on July 10, one local African American newspaper editor blamed "leftist civil rights agitators" including King, James Farmer of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and James Forman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) among other civil rights leaders; many African Americans in New York discounted the alleged Communist role in the rioting. A report by the Federal Bureau of Investigation eventually indicated the riots were independent and not started or influenced by Communist groups.
Title supplied by cataloger.
IMLS Grant, 2008.
Digibeta Center Cut (4 x 3) downconvert from HDD5 1080/23.98PsF film transfer. - Local Identifier:
- Clip number: wsbn46952
- Metadata URL:
- https://crdl.usg.edu/id:ugabma_wsbn_wsbn46952
- Digital Object URL:
- https://crdl.usg.edu/do:ugabma_wsbn_wsbn46952
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn46952/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: wsbn46952, WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking about recent race riots in New York State as well as the 1964 presidential election, New York, New York, 1964 July 27, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1188, 00:00/05:28, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 clip (about 5 mins., 28 secs.): black-and-white, sound ; 16 mm.
- Original Collection:
- Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
- Contributing Institution:
- Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection
- Rights:
-
