Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies Commons^™

Editor [Submitted To A Boston Daily], Mary Helen Washington

Trotter Review

Many people in the black community (I among them) strongly object to the "Frontline" documentary, "Street Cop," which was shown on Channel 2 on March 31. But I have even stronger objections to Ed Siegel's review of "Street Cop," which commends the show as "street smart" and dismisses all the serious criticisms of the show from the black community as "not convincing." I am not exactly sure why "street smart" has such a sterling quality for Siegel, but it is disturbing that such a criterion would take precedent over the criticisms that the program stereotypes blacks and Hispanics and misrepresents …

"Street Cop" Is Not Street-Smart, Kirk A. Johnson

Trotter Review

"Frontline," the award-winnnng WGBH-TV series, is airing a nationally televised special on the war against street drugs. The show, called "Street Cop," takes viewers to Boston's inner city for fifty minutes of heart-pumping violence. We see the police take a sledgehammer to an apartment door in search of drugs as the women and children inside scream in wide-eyed terror. We watch police officers wrestle a young man to the pavement over a suspected drug deal, and we feel the tension mount during a domestic argument until in the confusion a woman is arrested for throwing what an officer thought was …

Newspapers And Their Relationship To The Black Agenda, Dexter D. Eure Sr.

Trotter Review

The news media, by print or electronics, influences and shapes society's attitudes; it is essential then, if not vital, that the media accurately reflect every aspect of our society - including the good, the bad, and the ugly. By keeping this nation - as well as the world - in its proper context, we can better understand - and thus better solve - the problems that envelop us, such as racism, sexism, unemployment, hazardous waste, and the consequences of a nuclear meltdown.

To help present an accurate picture of who we are and what's happening around us, the news media …

Commentary: Trotter Review, Vol. 1, Issue 2, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

This issue of the Trotter Institute Review is devoted to the portrayal of blacks in the media. The mass media can be a positive or negative force in the struggle for racial progress. Unfortunately, the black community faces media that provide many negative influences. Consequently, there is a continuing need to address this issue.

The mass media is a major instrument of socialization in the American society. As such, it helps to determine how an individual sees the world. The prevailing definitions of social reality and social problems, as well as the characterization of groups of individuals, are learned through …

Media Images And Racial Stereotyping, Kirk A. Johnson

Trotter Review

To better understand how the local media portray Boston's black community, I monitored news reports from a sample of newspapers and radio and television stations for one month during the summer of 1986. I noted the roles blacks played, the activities blacks were shown to be engaged in, and the events that brought blacks into the news. By comparing the portrayal of blacks in Boston's major media with portrayals in the black media, I sought to understand the criteria that reporters and editors use to judge the newsworthiness of items relating to the black community, and to determine whether (and …

Boston School Desegregation: The Fallowness Of Common Ground, Robert A. Dentler

Trotter Review

This essay scrutinizes the book by J Anthony Lukas, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families, to assess whether it presents a valid and reliable account of the issues, people, and events it chronicles. The substantive core of the book is shown to be the politics of Boston public school desegregation. The parts played by the three families in this event are dramatically portrayed but cannot be corroborated and are not interpreted. The parts played by five major policy leaders, when tested against other evidence, are found to be distorted, questionable legends woven in …

Reel Blacks: Blacks In Disguise, Patricia A. Turner

Trotter Review

Gremlins and Little Shop of Horrors are very likeable films. The former is rather charming, and the latter is one of the most originally-rendered musicals ever produced. Indeed, it is the positive surface of the films that makes their underlying message so insidious. Fortunately, the final twist common to both films can give solace to the viewer who would like to see the disguised blacks triumph. At the end of Gremlins the original Mogwi is still alive, albeit back in the capable hands of the mysterious Chinese man, and Little Shop closes as the camera follows Seymour and Audrey into …

Preliminary Report On A Comparative Analysis Of The Underlying Dimensions Of Unemployment Among Blacks, Hispanics, And Whites In Boston, Jeremiah Cotton

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

There are four major objectives of this research. The first objective is to determine whether and to what extent differences in unemployment rates in Boston among black, Hispanic, and white workers are due to the following: (1) the differences in the percentage of individuals in each group who experience a spell of unemployment at one time or another during the year, that is the incidence of unemployment; or (2) the differences in the average number of spells of unemployment during the year, that is the frequency of unemployment; or (3) the differences in the average length of time a spell …

Fire At The Door: The Black Student Union Movement At Boston English High School, 1968-1971, Michael T. Tierney

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

Rickie Thompson and his friends were surprised by the mob as they cut through the Harvard Medical Complex from Brigham Circle to Louis Pasteur Avenue on their way to Boston English High School. The three black youths, earnest sophomores in the college engineering track of the 1,100-student, all-male high school, had expected a typical day. Rickie had even stayed up past eleven finishing geometry homework that now lay, apparently useless, in his briefcase. To be sure, there had been rumors of a walkout the day before-something to do with the seniors who had been suspended for wearing dashikis. But Rickie …

Affirmative Action: Problems And Prospects, James Farmer

Trotter Review

We live in complicated times today, and one of the sparks that flies off from such complicated times involving difficult issues is that words have all kinds of meanings, and they tend to confuse. I was astonished to hear our president, Ronald Reagan, say that if Dr. King were alive he would agree with him in opposing affirmative action, because King was color-blind and so is Ronald Reagan. This was a stopper, really, a real stopper. Affirmative action has had an interesting history. I, with no attempted modesty, claim to have proposed the idea to Lyndon Johnson, in either late …

Editor's Note: Trotter Review, Vol. 1, Issue 1, Wornie L. Reed

Trotter Review

This edition of The Trotter Institute Review addresses issues in economics and the entertainment media. Topics include employment, affirmative action, income, and the black experience as presented in movies. The articles address these concerns at what may be a critical point in race relations in the United States. At a time when the national mood suggests that civil rights and economic opportunities have been provided sufficiently to blacks and that nothing further needs to be done, these articles suggest how far we have to go before that is a reality.

Some Observations On Closing The Gap, Jeremiah Cotton

Trotter Review

James P. Smith and Finis R. Welch, along with fellow economist Richard B. Freeman, have been primarily responsible for the much accepted notion that there have been “dramatic” advances in the economic situation of blacks in the recent past. Closing The Gap: 40 Years of Economic Progress for Blacks (CTG) is just the latest installment and reworking of this optimism. Freeman attributed the alleged progress to a “collapse” of labor market discrimination caused by “governmental and related antidiscrimination activity associated with the 1964 Civil Rights Act.” Smith and Welch, on the other hand, have always been somewhat agnostic about the …

Reel Blacks: Everything Is Not Satisfactual, Patricia A. Turner

Trotter Review

An unaccompanied black adult female at a matinee performance of Song of the South is about as out of place as Big Bird at a cockfight. However, having encouraged the students in my course on black media images to see the film during its fortieth anniversary run, I felt obligated to reexamine it myself. So there I sat, surrounded by exuberant white pre-schoolers and their parents, watching as animation and live action seamlessly interchanged on the screen in Walt Disney’s adaptation for Joel Chandler Harris’ classic collection of Afro-American folktales.

The Economic Status Of Blacks In Boston, James E. Blackwell

Trotter Review

In recent years, special attention has been given to problems of racism in Boston. Without question, highly publicized steps have been taken by civic, business, religious, and neighborhood groups to combat racism, bigotry and discrimination. Frequently, these initiatives have also been supported by municipal and state governments or administrations. Strategies for improving the racial climate in Boston, initiated by the Covenant for Racial Justice, the Boston Committee, the Coalition for a Better Boston, and now, the newly created PARTNERSHIP, as well as some pronouncements of Mayor Flynn and Governor Dukakis administrations must be applauded. However, despite such courses of actions, …

Affirmative Action: Problems And Prospects, James Farmer

William Monroe Trotter Institute Publications

Affirmative action has had an interesting history. I, with no attempted modesty, claim to have proposed the idea to Lyndon Johnson in either late 1962 or early 1963 when he was vice president. The only person I known who would disagree with me on that is the late Whitney Young, and he is not present to voice his disagreement now. When I reported to the Council on United Civil Rights Leadership, the group that was called the "Big Six" or the "Big Four" by the media, that I had had such a meeting with Vice President Lyndon Johnson and had …

Black And White Perceptions Of Quality Of Life In Boston, Floyd J. Fowler Jr.

Center for Survey Research Publications

It is difficult, probably impossible, to compare objectively the seriousness of racial problems and tensions in Boston with those in other cities. However, there can be little doubt that there is a widespread perception that relationships between blacks and whites in Boston constitute a serious problem. Specifically, one image is that Boston is a community in which blacks are not welcome and in which they are treated with unusual hostility and abuse. Another image is that whites in Boston are unfairly maligned as racists and bigots.

In 1980, following several race-related incidents, The Boston Committee was formed. The purpose of …