WEBVTT 00:03.903 --> 00:09.943 align:left position:47.5% line:89% size:42.5% ♪ ♪ 00:15.915 --> 00:18.184 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% PHYLLIS ELLISON-FEASTER: The first day of school, 00:18.184 --> 00:20.553 align:left position:25% line:5% size:65% my brother and I had our bus assignments, 00:20.553 --> 00:24.257 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% and we collected students and other buses 00:24.257 --> 00:26.226 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% to drive up to South Boston High School. 00:26.226 --> 00:29.763 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% L Street Annex, right over here-- first two buses, please. 00:32.999 --> 00:35.969 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% BOB MONAHAN: I went up to Southie High. 00:35.969 --> 00:39.339 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% There was staging for the television cameras. 00:39.339 --> 00:43.109 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% And the first one I noticed was the BBC. 00:43.109 --> 00:47.013 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% We all knew something was going to happen. 00:47.013 --> 00:49.916 align:left position:37.5% line:77% size:52.5% LEON ROCK: As the kids were getting out the buses, 00:49.916 --> 00:53.453 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% there was a line of police 00:53.453 --> 00:58.291 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% holding back residents from South Boston 00:58.291 --> 01:02.162 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% screaming at the Black students. 01:02.162 --> 01:04.564 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% We were fearful for our lives. 01:04.564 --> 01:09.035 align:left position:35% line:77% size:55% RUTH BATSON: We were not pushing for desegregation 01:09.035 --> 01:12.439 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% because of the brotherhood of man concept. 01:12.439 --> 01:16.142 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Where there were White students, that's where the money went. 01:16.142 --> 01:20.246 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% MONAHAN: How adults in Boston could not have come up with a better plan, 01:20.246 --> 01:22.816 align:left position:25% line:89% size:65% it still baffles me. 01:22.816 --> 01:24.717 align:left position:42.5% line:83% size:47.5% WOMAN: I'm not for this. 01:24.717 --> 01:26.820 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% I don't care, my one will not go to school. 01:26.820 --> 01:29.756 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% But it's tearing them apart. 01:29.756 --> 01:31.691 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% I wouldn't care if they were green or purple. 01:31.691 --> 01:33.793 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% It's the idea of putting my kid on a bus when I have a school 01:33.793 --> 01:35.395 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% right across the street from where they should go. 01:35.395 --> 01:38.198 align:left position:37.5% line:77% size:52.5% JIM VRABEL: White families and even some Black families 01:38.198 --> 01:41.301 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% felt that the decision of where their children 01:41.301 --> 01:44.104 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% should go to school should be up to them. 01:44.104 --> 01:48.108 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% First of all, busing will never work in this city-- never. 01:48.108 --> 01:50.877 align:left position:15% line:5% size:75% They will not take the rights away from these people. 01:50.877 --> 01:54.747 align:left position:45% line:5% size:45% ROCK: Many Black parents were saying, "This is crazy. 01:54.747 --> 01:58.718 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% No, we can't send our kids into the lion's den." 01:58.718 --> 02:00.286 align:left position:42.5% line:83% size:47.5% WOMAN: I don't want to bus my child 02:00.286 --> 02:01.821 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% to any school. 02:01.821 --> 02:04.023 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% I want to have a good school in my community where my child 02:04.023 --> 02:07.627 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% can go and get just as much good education as anybody else. 02:07.627 --> 02:10.330 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% MATTHEW DELMONT: The battle over busing in Boston 02:10.330 --> 02:11.764 align:left position:17.5% line:5% size:72.5% exposed an important truth, 02:11.764 --> 02:13.566 align:left position:30% line:5% size:60% that the majority of White Americans 02:13.566 --> 02:15.568 align:left position:22.5% line:5% size:67.5% didn't actually support civil rights if it meant 02:15.568 --> 02:17.237 align:left position:25% line:5% size:65% they had to actually address racial inequality 02:17.237 --> 02:18.705 align:left position:25% line:5% size:65% in their own cities. 02:18.705 --> 02:21.040 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% The people of Boston elected people 02:21.040 --> 02:23.042 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% to public office who campaigned 02:23.042 --> 02:26.012 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% on deliberately racist platforms. 02:26.012 --> 02:27.480 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% LOUISE DAY HICKS: If you ask me, 02:27.480 --> 02:30.783 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% "Do you know where I stand?", you know where I stand. 02:30.783 --> 02:31.985 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% Shoot all the niggers. 02:31.985 --> 02:33.520 align:left position:80% line:83% size:10% MAN: Why? 02:33.520 --> 02:35.555 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% Because why should they move over here and wreck this city? 02:35.555 --> 02:37.390 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% IRA JACKSON: It was the ugliest 02:37.390 --> 02:40.160 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% that I've ever experienced human nature, 02:40.160 --> 02:43.263 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% and the most fraught with danger 02:43.263 --> 02:47.033 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and concern that we were at the precipice 02:47.033 --> 02:51.137 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% of anarchy, civil war-- a race riot. 02:51.137 --> 02:52.372 align:left position:27.5% line:5% size:62.5% It's not a question 02:52.372 --> 02:57.143 align:left position:17.5% line:5% size:72.5% of whether the Constitution can be enforced. 02:57.143 --> 02:59.479 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% It's only a question of at what cost. 02:59.479 --> 03:01.514 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (people shouting) 03:05.351 --> 03:08.421 align:left position:47.5% line:89% size:42.5% ♪ ♪ 03:08.421 --> 03:13.026 align:left position:12.5% line:5% size:77.5% (people talking in background) 03:17.263 --> 03:22.468 align:left position:27.5% line:5% size:62.5% (shutters clicking) 03:27.674 --> 03:30.877 align:left position:27.5% line:89% size:62.5% (static crackling) 03:30.877 --> 03:33.446 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% Good evening, my fellow citizens. 03:33.446 --> 03:36.349 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% BRYANT ROLLINS: On June 11, 1963, 03:36.349 --> 03:40.220 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% President John Kennedy calls for a national press conference 03:40.220 --> 03:42.855 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and all three networks broadcast it. 03:42.855 --> 03:45.925 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% It rivets the attention of the country. 03:45.925 --> 03:48.494 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% The Negro baby born in America today, 03:48.494 --> 03:52.165 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% regardless of the section or the state in which he is born, 03:52.165 --> 03:55.501 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% has about one-half as much chance 03:55.501 --> 03:57.804 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of completing a high school as a White baby 03:57.804 --> 04:01.608 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% born in the same place on the same day. 04:01.608 --> 04:04.911 align:left position:17.5% line:5% size:72.5% I was at home watching him on TV. 04:04.911 --> 04:06.946 align:left position:22.5% line:5% size:67.5% And to hear a president of the United States 04:06.946 --> 04:11.017 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% acknowledge the depth of the racial challenges 04:11.017 --> 04:15.355 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% was just remarkable and uplifting. 04:15.355 --> 04:20.126 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% In the middle of the struggles that are going on in the South, 04:20.126 --> 04:22.562 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to take a side like that, on our side, 04:22.562 --> 04:24.897 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% it was, like, revolutionary. 04:24.897 --> 04:26.966 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% There can be no submission to the theory 04:26.966 --> 04:28.201 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% that the central government... 04:28.201 --> 04:30.036 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% ROLLINS: Earlier in the day, 04:30.036 --> 04:32.405 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Governor George Wallace stood in the schoolhouse door and said, 04:32.405 --> 04:35.408 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% "In my tenure as governor here, 04:35.408 --> 04:40.480 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Negroes will never attend the University of Alabama." 04:40.480 --> 04:44.217 align:left position:32.5% line:71% size:57.5% I am asking from you an unequivocal assurance 04:44.217 --> 04:46.786 align:left position:15% line:71% size:75% that you will not bar entry to these students, 04:46.786 --> 04:48.688 align:left position:40% line:71% size:50% to Vivian Malone and to James Hood. 04:48.688 --> 04:52.525 align:left position:40% line:71% size:50%   ROLLINS: Kennedy finally saw how rigid 04:52.525 --> 04:56.863 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% and devastating the racism in the South had become, 04:56.863 --> 04:59.766 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% that it was no longer possible to stay on the sidelines. 04:59.766 --> 05:02.935 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% This is not a sectional issue. 05:02.935 --> 05:05.738 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% Difficulties over segregation and discrimination 05:05.738 --> 05:10.176 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% exist in every city in every state of the Union. 05:10.176 --> 05:12.945 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% Part of the irony of Kennedy's speech was that in Boston, 05:12.945 --> 05:17.850 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% the NAACP is appearing before the Boston School Committee, 05:17.850 --> 05:21.421 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% in an equally dramatic moment, at the same time. 05:21.421 --> 05:25.425 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% It was a very hot night, there was no air conditioning. 05:25.425 --> 05:29.128 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% The windows were wide open in search of air. 05:29.128 --> 05:31.297 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% PEOPLE (in distance): ♪ We shall overcome ♪ 05:31.297 --> 05:33.800 align:left position:42.5% line:77% size:47.5% JONES: You could hear, downstairs, demonstrators 05:33.800 --> 05:38.271 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% chanting and singing freedom songs. 05:38.271 --> 05:42.108 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% Inside the school committee headquarters, 05:42.108 --> 05:44.544 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% Ruth Batson presented her case 05:44.544 --> 05:47.380 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% to the all-White school committee. 05:47.380 --> 05:49.682 align:left position:32.5% line:77% size:57.5% FARAH STOCKMAN: Ruth Batson really is on a mission to get 05:49.682 --> 05:52.919 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the Boston School Committee to admit 05:52.919 --> 05:57.290 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% that there was de facto segregation 05:57.290 --> 06:01.661 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% in the schools and to do something about it. 06:01.661 --> 06:05.565 align:left position:42.5% line:77% size:47.5% JONES: Louise Day Hicks, South Boston lawyer, 06:05.565 --> 06:09.102 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% chairperson of the school committee, said to Mrs. Batson, 06:09.102 --> 06:14.273 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% "Mrs. Batson, we don't segregate the schools. 06:14.273 --> 06:16.743 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% "We only assign students to schools closest 06:16.743 --> 06:19.779 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% "to where they live, so we're not accepting this notion 06:19.779 --> 06:21.914 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% "and we are not going to do anything 06:21.914 --> 06:24.050 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% about what you're talking about." 06:24.050 --> 06:28.388 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% We made our presentation, and everything broke loose. 06:28.388 --> 06:32.759 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% We were completely rejected that night, 06:32.759 --> 06:36.195 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% and we left battle-scarred. 06:38.898 --> 06:42.368 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% If an American, because his skin is dark, 06:42.368 --> 06:46.305 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% cannot eat lunch in a restaurant open to the public, 06:46.305 --> 06:48.608 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% if he cannot send his children 06:48.608 --> 06:51.411 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to the best public school available, 06:51.411 --> 06:53.713 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% if he cannot vote, 06:53.713 --> 06:56.048 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% who among us would then be content 06:56.048 --> 06:59.285 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% with the counsels of patience and delay? 06:59.285 --> 07:03.923 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% So here you've got President Kennedy making 07:03.923 --> 07:06.259 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% an impassioned speech to the nation, 07:06.259 --> 07:10.029 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% in this morally rich position that he's taking, 07:10.029 --> 07:13.132 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% juxtaposed with the Boston School Committee, 07:13.132 --> 07:15.568 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% which is presented with this opportunity, 07:15.568 --> 07:19.605 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% and it does exactly the opposite: dug its heels in. 07:19.605 --> 07:22.008 align:left position:42.5% line:83% size:47.5% JONES: This meeting is a turning point. 07:22.008 --> 07:24.544 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% It ignited a movement. 07:24.544 --> 07:29.649 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% The Civil Rights Movement came to Boston 07:29.649 --> 07:33.753 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% on June 11, 1963. 07:33.753 --> 07:38.391 align:left position:32.5% line:89% size:57.5% (crowd singing) 07:41.027 --> 07:46.833 align:left position:47.5% line:89% size:42.5% ♪ ♪ 07:51.437 --> 07:54.207 align:left position:42.5% line:83% size:47.5% VRABEL: In the 1960s, 07:54.207 --> 07:58.177 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% Boston was a rundown has-been of a city. 07:58.177 --> 08:02.815 align:left position:25% line:83% size:65% The middle class was on its way out. 08:02.815 --> 08:07.620 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% It was left as a place for the poor and working class. 08:07.620 --> 08:11.958 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% It was a city of Waldorf and Hayes-Bickford cafeterias, 08:11.958 --> 08:13.960 align:left position:27.5% line:89% size:62.5% and bookie joints, 08:13.960 --> 08:17.063 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% and newspapers blowing down the streets. 08:17.063 --> 08:18.531 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% BILL JOY: Boston is sort of like 08:18.531 --> 08:20.700 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% the palm of your hand. 08:20.700 --> 08:21.934 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% You have the little peninsulas 08:21.934 --> 08:23.536 align:left position:10% line:5% size:80% going out into the harbor, 08:23.536 --> 08:28.007 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% whether it's Dorchester, South Boston, 08:28.007 --> 08:33.379 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% East Boston, North End, Charlestown. 08:33.379 --> 08:35.248 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% They go out into the harbor. 08:35.248 --> 08:38.351 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% And the Downtown area is sort of the back of your hand. 08:38.351 --> 08:40.720 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% So, you don't go through the neighborhoods. 08:40.720 --> 08:43.623 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% The neighborhoods are their own little sort of worlds. 08:43.623 --> 08:47.627 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% ROLLINS: East Boston was the Italian neighborhood. 08:47.627 --> 08:50.963 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% Mattapan was the Jewish neighborhood. 08:50.963 --> 08:54.333 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% South Boston was the Irish neighborhood. 08:54.333 --> 08:58.804 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% The South End was Hispanic, by and large. 08:58.804 --> 09:02.174 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% Right adjacent to the Downtown Boston 09:02.174 --> 09:03.809 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% was the Chinese community. 09:03.809 --> 09:06.646 align:left position:47.5% line:89% size:42.5% ♪ ♪ 09:06.646 --> 09:10.750 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% Roxbury-- Lower Roxbury and Upper Roxbury-- 09:10.750 --> 09:12.585 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% were the Black communities: 09:12.585 --> 09:15.288 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% African Americans who had been there for some 200 years, 09:15.288 --> 09:20.393 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% and Caribbean Americans who came in the 1900s. 09:20.393 --> 09:22.428 align:left position:40% line:83% size:50% STOCKMAN: Ten years earlier, 09:22.428 --> 09:24.797 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% Boston had been a very White city. 09:24.797 --> 09:28.868 align:left position:35% line:83% size:55% In the 1950s, you're seeing people 09:28.868 --> 09:30.603 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% come up from the Deep South. 09:30.603 --> 09:32.638 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% They're crowding into these neighborhoods 09:32.638 --> 09:34.407 align:left position:17.5% line:83% size:72.5% where Blacks are allowed to live-- 09:34.407 --> 09:35.775 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% the South End and Roxbury. 09:35.775 --> 09:40.379 align:left position:27.5% line:83% size:62.5% They can't move out because of racial covenants 09:40.379 --> 09:42.315 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% written into the deeds. 09:42.315 --> 09:44.283 align:left position:32.5% line:83% size:57.5% And outside of those Black neighborhoods, 09:44.283 --> 09:47.053 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% they faced tremendous discrimination. 09:47.053 --> 09:52.291 align:left position:40% line:77% size:50% ROLLINS: The conditions were pretty bad, and they were deteriorating 09:52.291 --> 09:54.594 align:left position:22.5% line:89% size:67.5% as more folks moved in. 09:54.594 --> 09:57.330 align:left position:42.5% line:83% size:47.5% JONES: Boston was like up South. 09:57.330 --> 10:01.267 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% There were patterns of racial discrimination everywhere. 10:01.267 --> 10:04.870 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% Black folks were invisible. 10:04.870 --> 10:08.374 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% It was like they didn't live in the city. 10:08.374 --> 10:12.311 align:left position:20% line:5% size:70% People from South Boston didn't come into Roxbury. 10:12.311 --> 10:14.847 align:left position:27.5% line:5% size:62.5% People from Roxbury didn't go into South Boston. 10:14.847 --> 10:17.850 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% (crowd cheering, drums pounding) 10:17.850 --> 10:20.519 align:left position:37.5% line:83% size:52.5% AL HOLLAND: We used to try to go 10:20.519 --> 10:22.622 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% to the St. Patrick Day parade. 10:24.624 --> 10:27.760 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% Once we got to the South Boston side, we realized that, 10:27.760 --> 10:29.829 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% "Hey, we'd better get out of here," 10:29.829 --> 10:31.664 align:left position:35% line:71% size:55% because people started yelling at us, 10:31.664 --> 10:33.366 align:left position:12.5% line:71% size:77.5% calling us all kinds of names. 10:34.900 --> 10:38.371 align:left position:12.5% line:89% size:77.5% Then people started chasing us. 10:41.273 --> 10:43.776 align:left position:32.5% line:77% size:57.5% JOE BURNIEIKA: The only time I ever saw a Black person 10:43.776 --> 10:46.112 align:left position:12.5% line:83% size:77.5% when I was growing up was when the Black Jehovah Witnesses 10:46.112 --> 10:48.180 align:left position:17.5% line:89% size:72.5% would come down the street. 10:48.180 --> 10:51.250 align:left position:22.5% line:83% size:67.5% My grandmother, who was from County Cork in Ireland... 10:51.250 --> 10:53.219 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% (laughs): When she would see them coming down, 10:53.219 --> 10:54.620 align:left position:27.5% line:71% size:62.5% she would say, "Close the blinds, 10:54.620 --> 10:55.688 align:left position:32.5% line:71% size:57.5% don't answer the door!" 10:55.688 --> 10:57.123 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% And I could never understand 10:57.123 --> 10:58.557 align:left position:15% line:89% size:75% what she was so upset about. 10:58.557 --> 11:02.695 align:left position:15% line:83% size:75% But that was the environment that I grew up in.