“IT WAS AN ISLAND, BUT ALSO A FAULT LINE AND A TESTING GROUND FOR ISSUES OF RACE”
Tuskegee University and an integrated VA hospital created an educated black middle class independent of the white plantation belt ruling minority. Conflict was inevitable. Out of the struggle came landmark Supreme Court decisions on voting rights and school desegregation. With both hope and despair along the way.
Tuskegee University sociology professor Dr. Charles Gomillion was a tireless civil right activist. His persistence resulted in winning the U.S. Supreme Court case Gomillion vs Lightfoot, a major step in insuring voting rights for African Americans.
The Tuskegee Airmen inspired change that met with resistance
State Troopers block school desegregation in 1963
The murder of student activist Sammy Younge was a flashpoint
Tuskegee’s first black mayor, Johnny Ford, has been re-elected often
Tuskegee, Alab
ama: Living Black & White was drawn significantly from Reaping the Whirlwind by Dr. Robert J. Norrell who was instrumental in the production.
Produced for The University of Alabama Center for Public Television
Regional Emmy Winner / National Broadcast on PBS
