- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Title:
- WSB-TV newsfilm clip of governor Jimmy Carter commenting on recent racial unrest in Columbus, Georgia, 1971 June 24
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Contributor to Resource:
- Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
- Date of Original:
- 1971-06-24
- Subject:
- Governors--Georgia
Civil rights demonstration--Georgia--Columbus
Race riots--Georgia--Columbus
Race relations
Police--Georgia--Columbus
African Americans--Georgia--Columbus
Public safety--Georgia
Public safety--Georgia--Columbus
Municipal government--Georgia--Columbus
Municipal officials and employees--Georgia--Columbus
Negotiation--Georgia--Columbus
Communication--Georgia--Columbus
African Americans--Communication
Whites--Communication
Civic leaders--Georgia--Columbus
African American civic leaders--Georgia--Columbus
Political activists--Georgia
African American political activists--Georgia
Communities--Georgia--Columbus
Community leadership--Georgia--Columbus
Community activists--Georgia--Columbus
Violence--Georgia--Columbus
Social conflict--Georgia--Columbus
Polarization (Social Sciences)--Georgia--Columbus
African Americans--Violence against--Georgia--Columbus
First aid in illness and injury--Georgia--Columbus
Bandages and bandaging
Whites--Georgia--Columbus
African Americans--Georgia--Columbus--Social conditions--20th century
African Americans--Georgia--Columbus--Social conditions--1964-1975
Whites--Georgia--Columbus--Social conditions--20th century
Whites--Georgia--Columbus--Social conditions--1964-1975
Fires--Georgia--Columbus
Riots--Georgia--Columbus
Riots--Georgia--Columbus--History--20th century
Race riots--United States--History--20th century
African Americans--Civil rights--Georgia
African Americans--Civil rights--Georgia--Columbus
Civil rights--Georgia--Columbus
Press conferences--Georgia--Atlanta
Press--Georgia--Atlanta
Microphone
Columbus (Ga.)--Race relations--History--20th century
Georgia--Politics and government
Columbus (Ga.)--Politics and government
Georgia--Politics and government--1951-
Columbus (Ga.)--Politics and government--1951-
United States--Race relations
Georgia--Race relations
Columbus (Ga.)--Race relations
Georgia--Social conditions--1960-1980
Columbus (Ga.)--Social conditions--20th century - People:
- Carter, Jimmy, 1924-
Pope, Ray, 1918-1983 - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
United States, Georgia, Muscogee County, Columbus, 32.46098, -84.98771 - Medium:
- moving images
news
unedited footage - Type:
- MovingImage
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- In this WSB newsfilm clip from June 24, 1971, Georgia governor Jimmy Carter addresses a news conference, where he updates reporters on conditions in Columbus, Georgia, recently impacted by rioting; and several injured African American men demonstrate to the camera that they have been wounded.
The clip is divided into two parts. The first part begins at a press conference, where Governor Carter speaks to reporters from a series of microphones arranged at his desk. Carter announces that he has spoken to Colonel Ray Pope, director of the Georgia Department of Public Safety, who has appraised him of the situation in Columbus. He has been informed that nine fires broke out the previous night in Columbus; he notes that this number "sounds bad, but it's quite a reduction over previous nights." Pope has indicated to him that "the situation is obviously calming down," that talks have finally begun between "dissident groups" and Columbus community representatives, and that he "has every expectation that the major problem has finally been alleviated."
The second part of the clip is silent. Here, three young unidentified African American men have gathered in front of the camera, presumably to demonstrate that they have been injured. One man, on the left, has a bandaged head. Another man, on the right, is prompted to turn around by a pair of hands belonging to someone off-camera. He also appears to have a head wound. It is unclear if the man at the center of the shot has sustained any injuries.
During the summer of 1971, violence broke out in Columbus, Georgia, a response to a series of racially motivated suspensions and firings in the Columbus police department, and the city's subsequent failure to address the grievances of black police officers. To demonstrate support for Columbus' African American policemen, members of the Atlanta-based Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) helped organize several nonviolent protest activities in Columbus, including a march and rally that drew a crowd of five hundred people. Even though these events were peaceful, surmounting racial tension gave way to violence, and waves of looting, brick-throwing, and firebombing erupted throughout the city. Rioting escalated on June 21, 1971, when a white officer, L. A. Jacks, shot and killed a twenty-year old African American youth named Willie J. Osborne after an alleged armed robbery. Arson attacks and riots continued for days, prompting the Columbus City Council to invoke an emergency ordinance, and Columbus mayor J. R. Allen to declare a citywide state of emergency, which included the imposition of an evening curfew, and the cessation of liquor and firearms sales. State involvement in the crisis, under the authority of Governor Carter, included the dispatch of riot-trained Georgia state patrolmen to Columbus and a request to Governor George Wallace of Alabama to halt liquor sales in neighboring Phenix City.
Title supplied by cataloger. - Local Identifier:
- Clip number: wsbn58204
- Metadata URL:
- https://crdl.usg.edu/id:ugabma_wsbn_wsbn58204
- Digital Object URL:
- https://crdl.usg.edu/do:ugabma_wsbn_wsbn58204
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn58204/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: wsbn58204, WSB-TV newsfilm clip of governor Jimmy Carter commenting on recent racial unrest in Columbus, Georgia, 1971 June 24, WSB-TV newsfilm collection, reel 1598, 49:00/49:28, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 clip (about 28 secs.): color, sound ; 16 mm.
1 clip (b-roll): color, 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:
-
