place -- we are still an incredibly diverse place. all of these artifacts and stories are part of these collections and help us to understand ourselves better throughout the weekend, american history tv is featuring sacramento, california. our cities toward recently traveled there to learn about its history. learn more about sacramento, and ater stops on our tour c-span.org. you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend, on c-span 3. all persons are admonished to give their attention. he boldly opposed the forced

internment of japanese americans during world war ii. he took his case all the way to the supreme court. c-span'seek on "landmark cases," weevil explore versus the korematsu united states. president roosevelt issued an peopleion order sending of japanese origin to internment camps throughout the united states. >> this is the re-creation of one of the barracks. longarracks were 100 feet and divided into six different rooms. they did not have sheet rock. they did not have feelings -- ceilings. it would have been freezing, even during the daytime. the only heating they would have had was a po potbelly stove.

would not have been able to heat the entire room and a comfortable kind of way. >> challenging the evacuation ther, korematsu defined order and was arrested. his gaze went to the supreme court. find out how the court ruled with our guest, author of "justice at war. karen korematsu, daughter of the plaintiff. we will discuss the mood of america and government policies during world war ii. 's will follow mr. korematsu life. this is coming up next on "landmark cases p ago for background on each case what you watch, order your copy of the companion book. it is available for $8.95 and

shipping at c-span.org /landmarkcases. "reel america" .rings archival films story" shows how the community gradually accepted and integrated refugees during the postwar crisis, when millions were uprooted and homeless. >> i had heard of these refugees at a conference of ministers. they needed a place to live. theve an idea perhaps

refugees could have found a different place to live. undoubtedly, the good people of cummington would have preferred it that way. idea.s what gave me the almost before i had begun my sermon, i heard a commotion in the balcony, and look down to see the refugee filing in. i was moved because i knew they came from many different churches and in nominations. catholic, jewish, protestant. i took it as a gesture to me. -- gan again taking my text the strangers shall be into you born into you, and thou shall love them as thyself. i was sure it helps the lonely feeling of the refugees.

i was not so sure about the townspeople of cummington. only time will tell. about doses visit , it seemscery store he ran smack into the old stoneleigh, the most exclusive club in america. everyone went right on doing what they were doing. the minute his back was turned, he looked up. i've given a lot of thought to , and i'm sure the boys

were just a self-conscious as joseph. was, no one knew how to begin, how to make the first move. >> all weekend long, american history tv is featuring sacramento, california. the railroad was built between 1863 and 1869, when the tracks met the union pacific railroad in utah, completed the transcontinental railroad. together with our partners, c-span cities tour recently visited several sites, exploring the city's rich history. learn more about sacramento this weekend on american history tv. >> we are at sutter's fort, a state historic park.

historicfort is an site that is actually the original adobe buildings constructed by native american workers, workeing for john sutter in the 1840's. a lot of people hear the word, "fort," and think it was a military endeavor. really, sutter looked at this as a fortified hacienda. it was fortified for protection, but it was also an agricultural complex. sutter arrived in 1849. this fashion mexicans had tried to make inroads into the interior, and frequently been repulsed by the california indians, who were not particularly friendly toward them, and did not welcome the

idea of getting forced into the missions on the coast, and really resisted very well for a long time. he got a kind of grant called an empresarial grant, meaning he had to attract settlers. he had to make an agreement that he would give smaller grants of land to settlers, and start to develop the territory. wasfirst settlement here not a fortification at all. wherelt an adobe building the california indians would come in and trade. his goal was to make alliances with the california india people who lived here, and get them to be his labor force. early on, it had to be very much . negotiated relationship later on, as he became stronger, it seemed there was more more

coercion, and people being forced to labor here. there is still a lot of role.tion about his he did have the californian indians, the people who lived here, they talk about being forced to come work for sutter. that part of his legacy is being ,valuated -- reevaluated as aer we view him pioneer, or someone who .xploited people the war between the u.s. and mexico started, and the fort was seized, and used as a base of operation.

more americans started coming to california when it was u.s. territory. to serve thesew american immigrants, and one thing that was a possible, profitable enterprise was to provide lumber for building houses. in order to provide lumber, he was going to need a sawmill. sutter sent him to the mountains to look for a suitable place to build a sawmill. of the sawmill, he was looking if the water would -- he thought this

.ay be a good opportunity people arrived in huge numbers. of course, the x marks the spot markedyone's map sutter. lost hisetty much industries. his forte, he sold it off in

little bits and pieces to businessmen who wanted to sell ners.ies to mi those people were making hand over fist. at some point, his son started city oflots for new .acramento for a long time, we had a romantic view of what happened here. heroic figure. role

the reality is before europeans come to california, this is one populatedt heavily areas of mexico. there estimates that there were 300,000 mexicans living here, speaking as many as 80 different languages. this was a heavily settled land. it was not a matter of pioneers coming in settling the land, it was one people coming and displacing another people. the stories that we tell, and the way that we interpret the history, i think, as we look to the future in california, it is a multicultural state. how do we move forward into the future and have people of

different cultures and backgrounds learning to live together and work together if we can't address the issues we had with those same questions in the past. >> throughout the weekend, american history tv is featuring sacramento california. recentlys tour staff traveled there to learn about its history. learn more about sacramento, and other stops on our tour at .-span.org you are watching american history tv, all weekend, every weekend on c-span 3. c-span has your coverage of the road to the white house 2016, where you will find the candidates, the speeches, the debates, and most importantly, your questions. this year, we taking the coverage into classrooms across the country with our student cam

contest, giving students the opportunity to discuss what they want to hear the most from the candidates. contesthe student cam and the road to the white house 2016 on tv, on the radio, and online at c-span.org. >> for the past few weeks, these fans american history tv has oralairing a selection of histories with african-american community leaders. the project was a collaboration university of virginia professors. next, we hear from civil rights leader and author, angela davis. she talks about her early activism in the south, and her thoughts on leadership. this program is one hour and 45 minutes. >> dr. davis, welcome to expirations in black leadership. ms. davis: it is my pleasure.

>> let me begin with the brown decision. do you remember much about it, meaning anything to you, when you heard about it first. you were quite young. ms. davis: i was about 10 years old. i was intensely conscious of the system of segregation under which we lived. that this thinking probably is going to be the beginning of a new era. i say that because my mother constantly told us that the conditions, under which we were living, with which we were living, were not supposed to be that way. now, of course, i see myself, as an activist, as having been shaved by this fact. as three ors young four, she emphasized that this is not the way things were supposed to be.

it is true that you cannot go to this museum today, but one day you will be able to go. inemember, in my house, and our community, it was a major celebration. werecause your parents schoolteachers, did they put special emphasis on this? .s. davis: absolutely the schools we attended, the elementary school we attended, were not only segregated, but we , that wee, as pupils got the textbooks that were cast off by the white students. we were aware that this was a situation. we were aware of the relations of power there. each time there was a victory --

it was a cause for great celebration in our household, communities, and church. >> everybody was talking about it and what it might mean. therwas there a lot of community discussion about this? ms. davis: absolutely. i remember all kinds of little resistances. , myn remember teachers teachers, being called by their , by the white representatives of the board of education, and some of them feeling very embarrassed, and some of them speaking back, and coming under attack as they dare challenge the right of a white representatives of the board of education to call them by their first name. i have said this many times, but i can remember, as a very young

child, games we used to play that actually challenge the system of segregation. neighborhood -- a neighborhood that was right on the border of a white neighborhood. legally, we were not allowed to cross the street, unless we were working. when we were children, we played games where we dared each other to run across the street to the white neighborhood. sometimes, those who would not only run across the street, but run up on a porch, and ring the bell, and come back, and get to safety in time. that was a normal game that we played. andou were a protester agitator from the first. ms. davis: then, it was fun, but i realize, those were daily resistances.

decisionhe brown occurred, even though you were 10 years old, do you recall in of time, things would change. i know your parent -- your mother would tell you that this would not always be the status quo. you remember predicting to others that things would get better? ms. davis: i don't think i have a specific timeline in mind, but about aw that i thought different moment, a different time. i was able to imagine what it might be like not having to be confined to segregated schools. >> looking back from today's perspective, how has this turned out? what is your feeling about the brown victory of 1954 and the subsequent injuries have played out-- victories have played

in america? ms. davis: that is a very difficult question. indeed, the brown versus the board of education was one of the most important legal victories, and the desegregation of the schools, however, as it has played out, has been important, but there is a piece missing. i think we tend to assume that civil rights, or legal rights, will accomplish all that needs to be accomplished in the quest for freedom. we do not always think about the political, economic, larger social dimension. inhabit aurse, we society where schools are more segregated than ever before, in the south.

we inhabit a society where schools, for young, poor people poor, blackcularly kids, are basically prep schools for prison. eachi would say is that win, whether it be a legal victory, or victory, a political victory, or in the a newf ideology, create terrain for us to create possibilities for the future. i see the brown victory as impacting the train of our quest for freedom.

>> the army of justice knows another fight is ahead. ms. davis: absolutely. sometimes, we cannot imagine the struggle until we have achieved victory in one area resting, we than must ask yourself, how does this change the possibilities of the future, and what do we now know that we did not know then, and what can we now imagine a struggle for. that is not always immediately apparent. i think i can remember when decided, the discussion in my family, and the assumption that over time, these away, andld be swept we would live in a better, and

different world -- well, let me ask you another question. how has brown, in retrospect, affected you? what is different for you because of brown in 1954? ms. davis: i would say that there are differences that are both positive and negative. not that i want to emphasize the negative, but, i will begin by , in the process of desegregating the schools in birmingham, alabama, great damage was done to the existing structures of education. that is to say that there was a tendency -- i know this because my mother complained a great deal about the racial inte configuration of the schoolsl. the best black teachers were sent to the white schools, and the worst white teachers were

.ent to be black schools . the predominantly black schools, of course. in the final analysis, it was very difficult to recoup, in that respect. think i'veidual, i benefited greatly from this decision. although, i'm not sure it was meant to benefit individuals, per se, but lived up communities. attendthe opportunity to a predominantly white high school. i do not know whether i would have considered that possibility. i do not know whether the program, which allowed me to live in new york, with a white,

progressive family, and attend a private high school there -- i do not think that program would have been set in place during era.pre-brown a program established by the american friends service committee, and i'm sure that program was motivated to create a program that brought black students from the south to study by all theh developments that surrounded brown. in your autobiography, you write that you felt restless in birmingham, and by the age of 14, you are a recipient of this program, and you find yourself in your, going to a progressive school in york, a predominantly white school. was this an adventure to you? ms. davis: of course it was an adventure. i should also point out that i had been admitted in the early

entrance program to assist isk university at the same time. , orhoice was to go to fisk go to high school in york. that was a difficult decision. at that point, i wanted to be a doctor. i had my life all plotted out. i would graduate from fisk when across9, or 18, and go the street, and so forth. it was my father who actually persuaded me that i was not ready, that was not socially w mature enough. >> it turned out well, you think? ms. davis: absolutely. >> do you have regrets of not being a doctor? ms. davis: not really. i wonder, sometimes, where i would be today, if i had chosen that trajectory.

i had been to new york several times. my mother attended graduate school at nyu during the summers . i had been to new york three or four times and had friends that. -- there. it was not an entirely new experience. at, yes, once i arrived elizabeth irwin high school, i was the negro girl from the south. trying tord time figure out how to understand all of the attention that was focused on me. students asking me to come to dinner, to come to their country houses, and so forth. ,ome of them had black servants and felt compelled to bring the

servant to the table. conceptualhave the apparatus at that time to understand the extent to which racism -- so, yeah. it was evident to you at that age that the new school you were in was so superior, in many ways, to the school he left behind, i'm guessing? ms. davis: absolutely. i learned a lot and segregated schools in birmingham. i learned things i would have never learned. >> like what? ms. davis: black history. i can remember from the time i was very young, first grade, celebrating black history -- negro history week. and, using that time to think about the extent to which the black people have made major contributions.

that, i think i would have never received. >> you would not have gotten that at elizabeth irwin? ms. davis: absolutely not. g the time we san national anthem, we also sa ng the negro national anthem. inhink that my teachers elementary school and high school all gave us a sense of pride, and gave us the tools, to resist the imposition of racial inferiority. let me switch and talk about the people who have been significant in helping you develop your talents, and who you are, beginning with your parents. what role did your parents play in shaping you? you talked earlier about your

mother explaining to you that things would not always be this way, but what else do you recall? ms. davis: it has taken me a long time to recognize the walked down ah i path that was carved out for me by my mother. i always saw myself resisting my parents. as children often do. my mother was an activist. she was a member of the southern congress.th she was actually an officer of the southern negro youth congress. she was involved in the naacp. she was involved in the campaign .o free the scottsboro nine as a child, i had the opportunity to spend time with black communists, who had come

to birmingham to help organize the southern negro youth congress. people that later, when i joined the communist party, it was a difficult decision. i always considered the communist party to be so conservative -- it was my parents friends. i wanted to do something more interesting and radical. i do think that both, in terms of my career as an educator, and in terms of my life as an activist, i am following in my mother's footsteps. i'm wondering if your mother's political activity engaged you in some way, stuffing envelopes, the of organizing campaigns like that. did that happen? ms. davis: yeah. , a lot of things i don't necessarily remember, but

i remember the stories that got about bill connor, and my parents friends being run out of town. this is pre-civil rights. i don't think i got a sense of the work that was done during that period. think organizations like the southern negro youth congress really paved the way for the civil rights movement. a really created that terrain. i often talk to students today about the film, "the great debaters," and the character that in the washington place -- plays.nzel washington a friend of my mother asked me, angela, do you know what

organization that was? i said, no. there are these mysterious scenes where you see him organizing these black-and-white tenant farmers. i don't think i got that sense early on because of anti-communism, and the sense towhich people were forced go underground. at six years old, i remember being followed by the fbi. they were looking for someone, who my parents knew, who was a member of the communist party, and was underground. i remember the sphere of the fbi -- this fear of the fbi, and learning that you never talk to the fbi, when i was six years old. if they ask me any questions,

don't answer at all. >> where their particular people, teachers, particularly, who had influence on you, and she do in one way or the other? ms. davis: i suppose, during my mostr, the teacher who influenced me with herbert user. >> what about earlier, in birmingham? ms. davis: absolutely. , the mother of the president of the wrist in maryland -- university of maryland. >> we have done him in the series. that she, i remember and other teachers, pushed us.

what i remember most about my , an in birmingham elementary school, and the first three years of high school was how exciting it was to learn. gave us a passion for learning. not just the mechanics of reading and writing, but they of course, mys -- mother is a teacher, so i have to count my mother as a part of the influence, in terms of education. they taught us how to love the whole process of acquiring knowledge. that, i will be forever grateful for. >> what about other members of the community -- neighbors, ministers, people you knew as

political activists, what about them? ms. davis: yeah, ministers -- i can remember reverend long, a young minister who encouraged us interracialed in discussion groups, for example. i was part of a relatively short-lived integrated discussion group for young people that took place at the church. >> who were the white children in this? ms. davis: you know, i don't remember their names. fromume that they came homes -- i assume they came from one.h homes, for from my memory, it was jewish

people in birmingham who first expressed solidarity with the quest for black equality. i know my mother had a number of , which was, up -- theycertain point were clandestine relationships. they were relationships that weren't supposed to exist, but occasionally, there would be white people in our home. once, this was a person who came to new york, a friend from new my mothery mother's -- had to have her lie down in the back seat of the car when she drove because you are not supposed to have a black person driving a white person, unless you are a chauffeur. moments.ember those

>> talk about your father for a minute. you wrote that you'd never seen your father afraid, even when a white policeman pulled him over and tennessee in the middle of the night. he must've held a standard of behavior for you? ms. davis: i think so. my father was quiet. that i inherited that sense of calm and quiet, even though, of course, i have had to speak out in ways i never imagined i would have. figure, whos a spoke rarely, but when he did speak, it was important, and he

listened. which i wast, in convinced that we were going to be killed. i was convinced that we were going to be one of those stories in the newspaper -- you know, black people disappearing in the deep south. the story in my autobiography, my father liked to drink -- i think it was canadian whiskey, but you cannot buy it in birmingham. he had bought a case of this somewhere along the route from new york to alabama. we were nearing alabama, one we we wentough -- when through this dry county, and were stopped by the sheriff who said, when he saw the whiskey,

illegal, and the judges out of town, so i have no choice but put you in jail until the judge comes back, and i've no idea when the judge is coming back. finally, he said, i will tell you what, i will treat you like i treat my boys, follow me. my father followed him to this old warehouse, an area of town that we were absolutely unfamiliar with. , and asked my father to come into the warehouse. my mother and i were sitting in the car. we were driving back from thedeis, we were sitting in car, trembley. finally, he came out laughing. he said, all he wanted was the whiskey and a hundred dollars.

that was a very frightening moment. i appreciated how my father dealt with that situation. your sisterbout pretending you are from martinique, and going into a downtown shoe store in birmingham. ms. davis: you know, we were so the segregated character of the city. you go and tissue store, and immediately, if you are black, you know you have to go to the back, and hope somebody will wait on you. they may not even wait on you. both my sister and i have learned french by this time. away for a while. we decided to walk into the store, pretending that i could not speak english at all.

my sister spoke some english, but she would have to translate for me. impressedople were so that they asked us to take a seat at the front of the store, and brought out all issues we wanted, and of course, at the end, we revealed -- what was the reaction of the people in the store when you revealed who you were? ms. davis: they were so angry. they realized that they had been had. [laughter] store.out of the we realize that once we did that, we were deathly not going to go in the back of the store. >> you mentioned herman mark cusse. you met him at brandeis.

what affected he have on you? he had a profound effect on my life and work. courseded his lecture when i was a first-year student, freshman. he wasrawn by the way able to put history and philosophy together in a context that allowed us to think about the future as history. him from afar for a while. i can actually remember him speaking during the cuban missile crisis. james bolland was also on the campus. in my second year, he spent in

europe teaching. my third year, i spent in europe at the sorbonne. when i came back for my fourth year, i was ready to move from to philosophy.re french literature was my major. i went to him, and told him that i was really interested in didn'tg philosophy, by know where to begin, and i didn't have any formal training. i had read sartre and camu s, and a lot of french philosophers in connection with my study. he did not know me from whoever, but said, ok, let's spend the first semester doing an independent study, which will be an intensive engagement of the history of western philosophy. we started with the

pre-classics. i started with him a few times a week and managed to get a sense of the history of western philosophy. in one semester. [laughter] at the end of that semester, he told me that i had to take his graduate course on the critique of pure reason. give the first paper. first of all, i was an undergraduate. he was teaching graduate who had a great deal of preparation and training. by the time i finished, i was hooked. it was because of his influence that i started to go to germany, and study with former colleagues of his. i kept in touch with him during

in period i was studying germany. fired from he was his position at brandeis because he was considered to be too radical. it was a little more, located any event, he in was offered a position at university of california san diego. i spent two years in germany, and then i returned to this country, and study with him and san diego.- in i would say, what influenced me in which he way very closehis engagement with philosophical texts. he was an incredible reader of texts. in which he engaged

with those texts, and made connections with possibilities in the real social world. many him -- i took but i alsoth him, saw him speak out at rallies, inc. against the war, support the black struggle, support the student movement. in that way, it was an inspiration for me. watching him made it apparent to me that they didn't have to be a contradiction between academic research and social activism. used on example of someone saw anld be both -- you example of someone who could be both. ms. davis: absolutely. >> why did you choose brandeis?

you are one of two students at this predominantly jewish school. ms. davis: i think there were only two black students in my class. re a handful. elizabeth irwinith her g high school. everybody was jewish. everybody wanted to go to brandeis. scholarship. i know i wanted to go to college in the east. i had thought about western reserve, mount holyoke, and other places. brandeis seem ted to be the best fit after visiting b-schools. it seemed to be the right choice. >> let me back up a bit in time and ask you about two people. you mentioned one of them.

bettina.and what has the relationship done to you? ms. davis: margaret brenham i have known all my life. i like to say we first met each other when we were in our wombs because our mothers were pregnant together. we have pictures of each other at birthday parties. there is a wonderful picture at margaret's first birthday party. are i should say that they -- margaret's family were literally chased out of birmingham because of the work they were doing. to in when my mother went

school,o graduate she took her children each summer, and we stayed with margaret's family. this boggles my mind, how my mother was able to get all the work done and a house where there were six children at first, and eight children by the time she was finishing. up in terms of had because the burnham's four children, and we were all about the same age. we each had our counterpart in the other family. then, of course, margaret was the first person to show up at the jail in new york when i was arrested. attorney -- irst

she was not able to get in because they did not believe she was an attorney, she looked too young. from thewed my case beginning to the end. she was the only attorney who were made with me from the moment of my arrest to the moment of my acquittal. margaret and i have done a lot of political work together. we spent our vacations together. friendshipa lifetime connected through family, but the family connected, in turn, through political activities. ms. davis: yes, that is a good way to put it. >> what about bettina? bettinas: i think i met when i was quite young, probably about. -- about six six.

from my highttina school years when i joined the youthist party's organization. bettina was head of his youth organization. my relationship with bettina has been more of a political relationship. we marched together. >> how did you meet her when you were six? ms. davis: because of the burnham's. i met her in new york. .here was a circle there although, i don't remember much. i remember her most from when i was in high school. , margaret, and woolworth picketed

every saturday because of segregation policies. we marched across the george washington bridge. it was all quite fun. [laughter] >> i bet. ms. davis: i should probably say bettinaangely enough, campuseach on the same of the university of california, and as a matter of fact, are affiliated with the same department, the feminist studies department. it is very interesting how people's lives intersect. >> do you remember particular events that you view as critical to your view of american society -- things that happen in the larger world that had an impact on you and what you understood

as your place in society? i remember the bombing of the 16th street baptist church. of course, many people talked about the impact of that. >> did you know any of those girls? ms. davis: i did. i knew three of them. one of them lived practically next door. carol was the younger sister of one of my very good friends, and one of my sister's friends. my mother was very close with carol's mother. as a matter fact, my mother mother to the church to pick her up after having heard about the bombing.

i was studying in france at that time. i can remember -- and i don't have a lot of really vivid memories from that era, but i remember the telephone booth from which i placed a long-distance call, transcat no ontinental call, to my parents to find out what really happened. i can remember feeling so totally alone and parents -- in paris. this was not an event that was widely reported. beforeened not too long the assassination of kennedy. those two events are kind of

wedded in my mind. surprised this was not more of an event in france. i don't know why, i suppose i have stereotypes about the french. i thought this would have been more of a thing for them. ms. davis: it was reported, i believe, maybe in le monde. impossiblet made it for me not to lead a life that would be dedicated to social justice. i'm not saying that is what put me on that path because i have always been there, but it reinforced the importance of building communities of struggle. feel at homeed to

who have the same kind of emotional response that i did. . could not find anyone i think i was the only black student in this program, junior year abroad. that was a pretty devastating moment. baldwinrite about james speaking of brandeis, and his speech being cut short by the announcement of the cuban missile crisis, and your own feeling that people were .eacting to this in a bad way they seem to say, the end of the world is coming, i better go out time, rather than seeing how to make things better

in the world. you remember that? ms. davis: i do. my response was what is that going to do? how are you going to be any safer in canada then you are here? it was panic, collective panic that prevented us from talking about what was going on. >> during your college years, you also hear malcolm x and stokely carmichael. ms. davis: not stokely. was later.ly i did hear malcolm x. speaketh brandeis -- speak at brandeis. feltwas an evening when i .o proud to be black there were not that many moments , particularly attending a school that was overwhelmingly

white. period, we had not developed what we might call a raise consciousness. -- race consciousness. malcolm x. was an incredible speaker. he held the whole audience spellbound. good.mber feeling so >> you were talking about the effect of the assassination what about the almost connected in time robert kennedy, martin luther king assassination? what effect did they have on you? angela: by that time, i had finished