What Happened to the Dream?

Title

What Happened to the Dream?

Description

Buffalo civil rights leaders reflect on Dr. Martin Luther King's dream vs. reality. Revisits the urban riots of the turbulent 1960s. The series raises the question: Are Buffalo's African American citizens better off now than they were during those times? Segments feature reflections from William Gaiter, George Arthur, Jim Pitts. There is archival footage of black leaders of the B.U.I.L.D. organization confronting Mayor Frank Sedita about the need to create jobs. Black Buffalo police Lt. John Eberhart says he joined the Buffalo Police Department in the 1960s as an act of self-defense, “to keep myself from the police.” Former Buffalo police officer Ted Kirkland reflects on his federal lawsuit against the city over the lack of black officers on the force. Former Buffalo School Board president Florence Baugh recalls the condition of the schools before desegregation. She calls desegregation “the most exciting social revolution occurring in the City of Buffalo.” School Superintendent Eugene Reville said English and math scores are up, while the drop out rate is down. The suspension rate for black students, however, was twice as high as that of white students.

Originally aired on WIVB-TV.

Date

1987-11

Source

Rich Newberg Reports Collection

Publisher

WIVB (Television Station : Buffalo, N.Y.)
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library (publisher of digital)

Rights

Copyright held by WIVB-TV. Access to this digital version provided by the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Videos or images in this collection are not to be used for any commercial purposes without the expressed written permission of WIVB-TV and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. Users of this website are free to utilize material from this collection for non-commercial and educational purposes.

Relation

Digital Collections of the B&ECPL

Type

Moving Image

Format

video/mp4

Language

Citation

Newberg, Rich (Producer, Writer, Reporter) and Root, Kim (Photographer, Editor), “What Happened to the Dream?,” B&ECPL Digital Collections, accessed November 5, 2024, https://digital.buffalolib.org/document/1841.