which is a reflection of god's grace. that is an incredibly humbling journey to walk. >> i had the bolshevik billionaires, and i have stepped on their toes, who decided i had to go, and i was outspent 10 to one. it might be more than that when we look into it. it is five people worth billions of dollars and you don't even live in california. conversationsch with retiring members of congress on c-span and c-span.org, and listen with the free c-span radio app. exclusive,book tv our cities tour visits memphis, tennessee to learn more about its unique history and literary life. for seven years, we have traveled to u.s. cities come of bringing the book seen to our

viewers. you can watch our visits at c-span.org/citiestour. ♪ >> memphis tennessee is one of the most important music cities in the united states. >> it has always been a black and white city. it has never been a white city into which black people came. >> it is the end of an era. it is also a beginning. it introduces the slogan of black power, but also becomes a tool of empowerment. >> welcome to memphis. this southwestern tennessee city 600 thousand plays a central role in the civil rights movement and provides a window into the culture of the country. , we the next 90 minutes

will learn about the city's history through its local authors. author, with our first who shares the story of the march. ♪ 1968, martin luther king jr. was assassinated here in downtown memphis, tennessee. two years earlier, king met earlier with other civil rights leaders during the meredith march. we explore the impact the march had on the future of the civil rights movement. >> the meredith march against fear is the great last march of the civil rights movement come the last time you see the major organizations come together in this endeavor and create a mass march that attracts national attention come of becomes a logging tool for political change, so in that way it is the can traceera that we with birmingham come selma, the march in washington, and these other iconic events.

is a beginning, introduces the slogan of black power to the nation, ignites a controversy in the national media, but becomes a tool of empowerment for african-americans. simplemes, these two words mean so much in terms of black consciousness, history, that have been a part of the fabric of african-american life. thet is the story of meredith march against fear in june 1966, over three weeks in memphis, tennessee with james meredith. it is the story of an epic civil , detours into the mississippi delta, a story filled with tales of african-american people registering to vote, and define symbols of white supremacy,

staking claims to freedom. the civil rights movement is at a crossroads. martin luther king represents one tactic in terms of his embrace of nonviolence and racial brotherhood, but the march is famous for popularizing isck power, and black power itsical, particularly emphasis on nonviolence and integration. , black powerime springs from southern soil. much of that is key. >> we will have the right to use the terms to decide how our movement is going. they want to use black power. i have news for them. [laughter] [applause] what black was supposed to do was to bring white and black people together under the slogan that everyone understood, but

what it does is organized white people and their nico allies. >> african-americans have seen more political progress than any generation since reconstruction, the civil rights act, the voting rights act, of ticks in terms of black voter registration, black political mobilization in the south and north in ways that are unprecedented in american history, and yet, profound frustration within african-american communities. part of that is signaled through violent outbreaks that have occurred in a number of cities, including the watts district in los angeles. it is a time of political frustration over what african-american see as the slow pace of civil reform. it hasn't shaped life on the ground for black people again. expect time of raised haitians for african-americans that have not been met by life itself. james meredith starts the meredith march and is one of the

most fastening characters in modern african american history. he is born in central mississippi. his father is an independent black landowner who shields his children from the worst aspects of segregation and raises his children to the crowd, independent, and in some ways quite conservative. meredith himself spends time in the air force, 10 years in the air force, a military veteran, spend some time in japan in the 1950's. that frees him from the dictates of jim crow, but he wants to come back to mississippi. he enrolls at jackson state university, but it is his dream and ambition to attend the university of mississippi to allow him to progress the most, courter a back-and-forth case and a lawsuit, he wins the

right to attend, and that sparks a federal crisis. james meredith becomes the first african-american to attend university mississippi, but only after widespread violence, the , the nationalwo guard being called out of violent white supremacist response. he is something of a hero to many african-americans. his march against fear in 1966, he has two stated ambitions. one is to encourage black mississippians to registered to vote. the voting's rights act was passed in a previous year. meredith believes this is a time we can get more blacks registered to vote and the mass political power. the second aspect of his stated aims, he sees it as a walk

against fear. if james meredith can walk from memphis to jackson down highway then heo it safely, will show other african-americans they have less to fear. ,e has a third unstated aim that he desires to run for a political office in mississippi, and believes if he does this, it will raise awareness, build a face, and build alliances. he sets out on sunday, june 5 and marches to the state line over the day, and they face some harassment along the way, particularly as they leave the city, some whites yell racial epithets and so on. , june 6, 1966day monday, relatively uneventful. he comes to the town of fernando in north mississippi.

isre come a meredith enthused. he gets a warm reaction from the town's african-americans. they try to say they support him. across the square, the white people are looking on angrily, frustrated, and disturbed by what they see as african-american mobilization. meredith is in a good move as he marches south. he is going down the stretch of hill in this area south of hernando, and there are a few reporters in cars, a few law enforcement officials, a few marching companions, and then a .hite man emerges from a he says, i only want james meredith. a second time, a third time. meredith is falling on highway 51, his back and neck, hips and

legs covered in blood. meredith is seriously wounded. an ambulance comes and takes him to memphis. there are false reports that he dies, which helps to create more of a media frenzy. to is all thes major civil rights organizations to sending on memphis, determined to carry out james meredith's march. they say we have to follow up and show we will not succumb to this culture of intimidation. that means roy wilkins, whitney young, martin luther king, stokely carmichael are all coming to memphis. with them are coming activists, they, people who decide want to be part of the civil rights movement and participate in this. walkgan as one person's

and turns into a three-week civil rights extravaganza with activists, reporters, leaders debating political strategy what the march will look like. in many ways, they are telling the story of what the future of the civil rights movement is. we are in the civil rights museum, built into the lorraine hotel. the lorraine hotel was the only nice establishment that an african-american could stay in as a visitor and memphis at that time, because of segregation. 1940's, it hads, hosted every major black entertainer or black political figure they came through memphis. in 1966, martin luther king's room, room 307, became the center of a political debate about what the march was going to look like. this is the night after james meredith was shot. there had just been a meeting in

south memphis. the leaders were crowded into king's room debating the future of the civil rights march and what that means for the civil rights movement. in these discussions and martin luther king's room, stokely carmichael and other members essentially drive out roy wilkins of the naacp and whitney young of the urban league and the more established and with alliances with the federal government. that leaves martin luther king as the key moderating force, and shapes the march and what it will be. it frees stokely carmichael to use the march as a vehicle for introducing the notion of black power to the country. marchers had diverted from the original path. meredith thought they would walk down highway 51 to jackson, mississippi, but the marchers decided to detour into the mississippi delta, the most

fertile region in mississippi, and agricultural region, also the region that is most notorious for its racial oppression, but also has the highest black populations. the reason they diverted into moreelta was to reach african-americans and get more african-americans to vote. june 16, 1966 in the second week of the march, halfway through the march, they come to greenwood. greenwood is a small city in the delta where sncc had a long history. greenwood was the center of civil rights organizing. was a keyrmichael figure in greenwood at that time. for was the site selected introducing the slogan of black power. there were advanced organizers -- sncc thathat

were talking to people. tog that day had to go back chicago for another civil rights campaign. that freedom to have an identity rooted around carmichael. the marchers congregated in the heart of greenwood's black district, maybe 1000 people there, carmichael shows up, the rally is in progress on the flatbed of a truck and with a bullhorn. he starts speaking to a crowd about his frustrations and the international situation in vietnam and the problem african-americans face and the need for lack unity and the need for political mobilization. they said what we need is black power. when he says to the crowd, what do we want? black power. the response back is thunderous.

the reasons for that are in some ways twofold. black power is expressing the frustrations of african-americans at that moment , but also the aspirations. black power deals with the frustrations of the slow pace of federal reform, the fact life has not changed for many african-americans over the course of the civil rights , despite the guarantees that are slowly starting to emerge. it is a frustration with the istic of nonviolence, which trying to achieve a basic equality, frustration with white liberals for what they see as their uncertain commitments to the civil rights movement, and federal officials as well. there is an aspirational aspect of black power as well. the notion that black people should control their own communities and take pride in culture, beauty,

all elements of black power. with thee stayed fabric of black power, but part ,f african-american culture magnified since. tensions get high. part of it is the internal dynamic among the marchers themselves. when martin luther king and stokely carmichael are on the march, they have a good, friendly relationship, but also ideological differences. the civil rights movement needs king and carmichael, but they have to deal with the fabric of the march and what it would look like. part of the deal that king gets carmichael and others to agree to is that while people will chantblack power, he -- black power, he's also urging them to not use it in public speeches and tried to defuse some of the controversy that is

rising. that is one element of the tension, but the other is external. march,last week of the the strategy of white mississippi officials is starting to change. early on, they bent over backwards to try to protect the marchers, ensure that when they tried to register to vote that it was done so without too much resistance from local whites, because they did not want anymore incidents. their strategy was let them pass through an week will go back to the way things were. by the third week, they realize the federal government does not won anything to do with the meredith march. unlike selma, which lbj used as a vehicle to pass the voting rights act, more radical groups like sncc are hostile towards johnson and so he doesn't get any political benefits and is less willing to have a

substantial federal presence. canton is the last major stop before jackson, and the marchers decide they want to camp on the grounds of a black elementary school. after a big rally at the courthouse, they march through canton and arrive at that elementary school, and there are no law enforcement officials there, so they take the field and put up their tents. the next thing to happens is these police cars roll up, car after car after car after kirk, and state police emerge and put ear andt here -- riot g shoot tear gas to punish the marchers, shooting in the crowd, shooting every direction, attacking people with tear gas canisters. it is as gruesome as you can imagine. as the smoke clears, the police beat people and kick them, and the federal government's response is nil.

that heightens tensions leading into the final rally in jackson, that on that last weekend, 15,000 people participate, the largest civil rights demonstration in the history of mississippi up until that time. it ends with a final rally at the state capitol in mississippi where all the major civil rights leaders speak. james meredith returns to mississippi at the end and gets the loudest cheers as he speaks. the march as an interesting and important legacy. over three weeks, 4000 people .egistered to vote moreover, black mississippians the five that culture of intimidation and fear. the march is filled with the stories. you arrive in town and black people are waiting and watching and on the other side of the street are the white people, and the white people are convinced

these black people don't want to be part of this march and are happy in their situation, and black people get up and walk alongside martin luther king, stokely carmichael, james meredith, and others. so many of the towns they come through, they either reignite the civil rights movement in that town or start it there. so it is an extraordinary story when you look at the top level and the people on the ground, so pers,ak, porsche aircraft farmers, and other super dissipated in the march. the march powers them in ways that are unique. ideas ofembrace the martin luther king and stokely carmichael. those are not exclusive on the ground. one important lesson of the meredith march, if people are

interested in building coalitions as we move forward, how do we resist the negative trends in our lives today, what is that-- one lesson people of different political orientations can work together. there is a myth during the civil rights movement that everyone share the same goals and ideas. quite contrary, the civil rights movement is still filled with people debating ideas, coming at the movement from different angles. a successful social movement is not everyone believing in one tactic, rather, it is people with different ideologies working together towards a larger common goal. that is something that has lessons for us today. there are those of us who engage in direct activism, and others work through more established channels. those things can work together. ♪

>> memphis, tennessee is one of the most important music cities in the united states, and the history of the music here is in many ways a roadmap of what happened in popular music in the 20th century. certainly this begins with jazz continues through gospel music, to rock 'n roll in the 1950's, sun studios and elsewhere, so music here at stax, really important records coming out of memphis, and memphis gets associated early on in the days of the memphis blues. ♪ >> it is something that has defined the city for a long time. it has had an incalculable effect on the popular culture of

the world. ♪ ismy book "country soul" about this pivotal moment in the 1960's and 1970's when memphis with muscle shoals, alabama, and nashville become three of the industry the recording , specifically because of country music and soul music, and they are hybrids come the overlaps between them. didonly in that period these three cities produce a wealth of classical recordings, huge hits, critically-acclaimed records, but each city sound, distinctive sound, memphis sound, nashville sound, muscle shoals sound, came be associated with authenticity. one thing that defined memphis in this period is not just the overlap between country music working music, but the

relationships between black musicians and white musicians, most famously the integrated , or int places like stax muscle shoals, the way musicians are working together at the moment when civil rights and white backlash are going on outside the studio door. how is it at this moment of such deep overlap between black and white music in black and white is also theat there increasing separation of country music and soul music as markers of political difference and racial difference. ♪ >> the 1960's and 1970's for this pivotal and complicated moment in racial politics in the u.s. civil rights movement, black power movement, and the white reaction to that movement were defining not just the racial politics and relationship between black and white in the

nine it states, but structuring the entire political landscape of the country. there was no more central question in the u.s. during that period than the social, cultural relationships between blacks and whites. richard nixon is elected in part on racial backlash. of alabama in separating a national presidential campaign where he wins the democratic primary and a bunch of northern states. the entire nation is trying to black with this moment of assertion and black celebration of african american history and identity, wow that is being greeted by significant resistance from not just people who are standing in the streets are trying to be violent against civil rights activists, but many of the prominent white politicians in the country. the role of music during this period of racial upheaval was

central and multifaceted. on the one hand, music reflected the conversations that were wayg on, central to the that people were understanding the civil rights movement, permeated civil rights struggles come expressed the discontent felt by african-americans about their second-class citizenship in the u.s. it also came to reflect and express white resistance to that , so the music is a place people could go to to think and feel through this really much was moment. ♪ on the other hand, music was helping to shape that conversation. they become symbols of this change. people are thinking about so music as the assertive and

celebratory voice of politicized blackness, the soundtrack of the black power movement and civil rights movement. aretha franklin, marvin gaye are understanding themselves as having roles not just expressing the movement, but calling out to activists to have this conversation. ,n the other side, of course you have the rise of recordings and the belief that certain artists or kinds of music are reflective of white resistance, white backlash. most obviously country music, which is more complicated than is often simply understood. >> ♪ we don't smoke marijuana in muskogee ♪ >> whether it is a moral haggard country haggard or music used by george wallace or richard nixon, there is this

representingit is part of a conversation of the civil rights revolution, that country music is becoming a voice of white backlash and what nixon famously and effectively called the silent majority. it, which iement to explore in some detail, the musicians themselves are becoming symbols of these changes, whether the integrated or other studios, white soul stars, black country stars like charlie pride, people are thinking about the music as a symbol and mechanism of what is going on and try to think about it as a metaphor for the south. magazine and newspaper journalists are writing extended articles about what is going on inthis building, how it is memphis, tennessee and the

1960's when civil rights demonstrations are going on down the street, how is it that black and white musicians can be in the space working together, producing this music that sounds so revolutionary? franklinabout aretha talk about her as a central figure. country stars like merle haggard are unfairly held up as being not just the voice of this resistance, but also figures within it, so the musicians themselves are trying to work through this moment where the music they are making and the way they are making it is thought of as absolutely part of this broader cultural struggle. the relationships between black and white musicians in this moment are complicated. we should not assume that just because black and white musicians are working together that that automatically means everything was great or this is a sign of racial progress.

for one thing, black and white musicians had worked together before. for another thing, there are examples of racial tensions or conflicts even in these remarkable places like stax, where such great work is going on. racial conflicts did occur in southern studios. they occurred relatively infrequently, at least from what we know about them and have documented them a but they did occur. sometimes they were momentary thingsce -- incidents, that blew up in the moment, slurs being used against african-american musicians, and infamous session in muscle shoals win a aretha franklin comes to town to make her debut single for atlantic records, which becomes "i never loved a you"he way i love and defines her as their queen of so.

it falls apart in the moment because of a fight between franklin's husband and manager, ted white, and a whitehorn player. it is difficult to get to the truth of what happened. everybody who talks about this story and russian and narrativef conflicting versions, everyone forgot how to do their job and it got racially ugly. you also hear it may have gotten ugly because of sexual comments towards aretha franklin. those things did happen. story of these musicians is fundamentally the story of talented professionals, and that meant they were playing on different sessions. they might play a country song, then move on to a soul session, then move on to a pop session, then finished the night with the blues, right? as the music became connected to the movement, that might mean playing on a song with

conservative politics, the liberal politics, or whatever. with the musicians talk about is that this was their job. what they wanted to do was make music with people who were really talented, and that allow them to cross racial lines. stax studios, if nothing else, it is a workplace where a job got done. the musicians came to work. that offered an opportunity for this racial crossover, but also, evennk, reminds us that though it is easy to assume that integrated music meant civil rights progress, and because black and white musicians are working together that that must mean this is a space that just symbolizes good things, it is actually much more complicated. ♪ in the early 1970's, the

staple singers, recording for stax records and very much thought of as dean the literal the literal and figurative voice of the movement. they are signed because they represent the gospel politics and blend of music that bell understood as to how stax could remain relevant and more successful. he signs singers who had performed on the same stage as martin luther king, al of the gospel tradition, and he sends them to record in muscle shoals, alabama, where they make these incredibly harmful examples of the gospel influenced soul music ," "i will yourself. take you there,", this run of hits that continue to be

anthems, incredible recordings. the band on these records is essentially all white, the muscle shoals rhythm section, who had played behind wilson pickett to aretha franklin. hel understood that even as wanted to make these records that were almost intrinsically connected to the civil rights and black power tradition, he also wanted to work with a really good rhythm section that happened to be a bunch of white guys from alabama, so those sessions really indicate the possibility of that crossover, to the point where paul simon at the time had just gone solo and wanted to make his first solo album, and he called bill and said -- bell, and said who are those jamaican musicians playing on the staples record. >> ♪ i will take you there

♪will take you there >> ♪ >> and they are all white guys, right? the addendum to the muscle shoals story is that throughout the 1970's, muscle shoals works with white artists who want a black sound, paul simon, the osmonds, rod stewart, any number of other folks, and muscle of the 1970'send is arguably more associated with white artists than black artists , something black artists understood to be a problem, right? so even as these moments of crossover symbolize how music and blur or the race racial boundaries, they can also unfortunate teaches how they are still reinforced. there are also examples of things that were not necessarily momentary blowups, not

necessarily things that happened that crossings to fall apart, but represented a longer-term discontent, and one example of that that i talked about in the book is that booker t and the mgs become one of the most popular groups in the united states and become a symbol for the integration going on at stax , and for good reason. they are an integrated band. the lineup we think of as the classic lineup is perfectly integrated, two black members and two white members, but initially, booker t and the mg'' first-based player was steinberg. he played with them for the first two years of their existence, including "green onions," so he helps to define the memphis soul sound and booker t and the injuries that booker t and the mgs. by a bass player

that becomes the most famous member of the group. steinberg was not happy about that come in part, he chalked that up to the fact he was black. was discontent he felt reflective of a larger belief among many musicians in this story that ultimately when given the opportunity, white folks were going to support other white folks. that is alternately that thing you hear more black musicians talking about, not having access to the same things that white musicians did, not having access to country started the way white singers did and having says with the r&b sound, how they shifted clientele from mostly black artists to white artists. those of the things that we can understand through this story, give it its fullt

complexity and richness. >> we are overlooking the mississippi river in downtown memphis. up next, the memphis public library of our guys to speak with wayne dowdy. -- library archives to speak with wayne dowdy. >> we are in the central library. in thelection we have shelby county room was created in 1971. the public library system realized there was not a place where people could come and learn about their city and their community, learn their history, so the library began collecting materials from individual donors and city government, building a overction which contains 300 process manuscript collections, collections of letters, photographs, diaries, government reports and other .tems, on either an individual

we also have historical wetographs, maps, and what try to do is tell the story of memphis. forcentral library is named a local civil rights pioneer. appointed tocan the federal communications commission. he was the head of the national naacp, and he was chosen because he was very important in building the new memphis, after the civil rights movement when the quality was a goal for the first time. so he is imperfect representation -- a perfect representation of memphis today. one of the more interesting items in the collection is this map from 1940. at first glance, it looks like

any other map, but looking more closely, you see it shows where memphis people lived, particularly african-americans. you get an idea what parts of town where populated by african-americans, which can tell us a lot. being concentrated in specific parts of town meant other parts of town, other instances, school, were cut off from you. it meant transportation may not exist. there could be businesses located in -- we can get a better idea looking at this map and how difficult it can be for african-americans to be concentrated in specific parts of town. there are heavy concentrations of african-americans in specific places, but you also see african-americans throughout the

city. a lot of them are domestic or yard men who worked outside. they are living in close proximity to the white people they look -- they work for. print from her a 1860's.n the late it shows the memphis skyline which is so different from the way it is today. what is most interesting and significant and shows us how goods were being transported to and from memphis, being an important distribution center for cotton and other industries. we see how crude it was in the 1860's, yet how innovative it was because memphis since i high bluff. in order to get to the river,

you have got to have a way to do that. we see this cut that was made and maintained so goods could flow from the river to the city and vice versa. it is a powerful look at how the city operated. it is one thing to say transportation, but how did that happen? we see that in this photograph inch is, which was taken 1949. it is at the universal life insurance company headquarters. you see a group of african-american secretaries area this is one of our favorites because it shows us so much about the african-american middle-class, which often gets ignored what about history, we tend to think of most of them working on a farm, sharecroppers, that sort of thing or that -- laborers. that is true, but there were

professional african-americans as well. restricted because of segregation, discriminated against, yet these women, strong, powerful, standing proudly. it tells us much about the african-american community in , in theand beyond that united states. got ao this, we have letter from another powerful strong, african-american woman, ts brown. president of the city federation of colored women's clubs. an important aspect of memphis history is african-americans voted in large numbers in memphis. grantede of tennessee african-americans the right to

vote before the 14th amendment took effect. the only impediment ever created .fter the fact was the poll tax in many southern states they were more restrictive to prevent them from voting, but in tennessee, not as much. you have powerful, strong african-americans who are determined to vote, who register their fellows in large numbers. this letter from 1927, from mrs. brown to the political boss of memphis, in 1927, he is, he has a slate of candidates including watkins overton running for mayor. mrs. brown writes and says she is endorsing the overton club, the overton ticket, planning to vote for him and the other sponsored candidate.

the response. , iwrites mrs. brown and says know you are in a position to do a lot of good. make sure your members register to vote and pay their tax. this is 1927. throughout the u.s., most african-americans cannot vote. certainly not in the south, but in memphis you have a white political boss who is corresponding with an african-american woman about voting. that is unique in the south of that time period. memphis is well known that in the 1968 sanitation strike and martin luther king jr.'s murder in 1968. we have in our collections the papers of the police director from 1968, had -- frank

holloman. some of the interesting items we from we have a handbuilt the organization that was called citizens on the move for equality, which was the umbrella organization of civil rights the laborluding union, naacp, southern christian leadership conference and others to coordinate protests during the strike. the strike took place in february 1968 because the men worked under unsafe working conditions. africanre four -- two american workers who were killed when a garbage truck malfunctioned. the men were paid such a low-wage that when they were enough,people have had

and they decided they would strike for better wages and working conditions. it became not just a labor strike but a civil rights struggle as the local civil rights leadership joined forces with the union and the striking workers. eating this. creating this. dr. king was invited to come in march to give a speech. he was so impressed by the unity of the movement in memphis. keep in mind in 1968 dr. king had been criticized as being irrelevant. his philosophy of nonviolence no longer worked, and black power movement was gaining steam. the civil rights movement across the u.s. have fractured.

he comes to memphis and sees a unified civil rights coalition. he is impressed and says i want to come back in later march. they quickly organize -- and lead a march. they make one for 1968. ill handbuilt -- handb tells people where to go, gather, start. it provides the civil rights movement position on the march what they were trying to accomplish and how they were trying to organize the march. there were so many people that showed up for this march, after dr. king arrived, it turned violent. there were young people, black power militants called the invaders and other students involved in breaking windows and that sort of thing. to theg was quickly sent

closest hotel, an upscale white hotel at the time, not the lorraine where he would stay later. he got criticized, but it was the police department who took him there because it was closest to where he was at the time. a the next day, he meets with group of invaders. the police department received a report that says, received information from local fbi charles harrington, charles of kadish and taylor mill with 3:29: 68 for about 30 minutes. king advised the three to keep things cool until he returns tuesday night. cabbage told king they were not getting enough action. they wanted more. note it was martin l king who

asked to speak with the men. they didn't go to him. this begs several questions and where did this information come from? it says local fbi. where they bugging his room? that is possible. when did they have the time to do that? they didn't know before hand he would stay at the river my because it happened quickly. it was possible they had an informant. who was the informant? we don't know, but it gives us a fascinating look not only in what was taking place in the room with dr. king, but also how the information is rather. -- gathered. there is another intelligence report from march 27, the day before the march. this says 12: 10:00 p.m.,

detector -- detective reading, and african-american police officer, called and stated while talking to people in beale personshe learned the who had been seen around clayborn temple wearing the small black hats are supposed to be deacons from los angeles. they are supposed to be karate experts and rifles. as much information as we can. this was an idea of a sort of police department response to .he sanitation strike a collection like this can provide more detail about our history. and we hope people will understand that and what to learn about this, and we hope

memphis people and anyone else who wants to come and learn about the history of this community will come and use these primarily sources and understand the complexity of our past. announcer 1: the peabody memphis hotel was built in 1869 at the corner of main and monro streets . the current hotel was 1923ructed a block away in after the city demolished the original building. today the peabody is known for the ducks that live on the roof and make a daily elevator ride to the building lobby. up next we speak with author ben jordan who explores the origins of the boy scouts of america.

>> the boy scouts of america, they like to say they were a movement as much as they were an organization. they were concerned with what was it like to be a teenager, adolescent boy, to grow up without the kind of normal markers of transitioning to adulthood. less children were working with labor laws, compulsory schooling was in effect, people were doing a lot of different efforts to get kids off the street, but that meant they were not as much interacting with the public. how do you learn to be an adult if you are isolated? the boy scouts tried to step in program,e a bridge things they wouldn't get in school or family to adapt back into a modern urban, rapidly urbanizing, industrializing society. the boy scouts of america we are familiar with started in 1910,

but it is an adaptation of british boy scouting which was the original program 1907, 1908, then transplanted to different countries around the world including the united states. some folks might wonder why the is a goodtown ymca place to film about the boy scouts of america. the first troop in memphis was to -- was sponsored inserted by downtown memphis. 1909.ilding opened in 1910 they sponsored probably the first known boy scout troop in memphis. the notion of institutional sponsors, before there was a local counsel around -- that would take another five or six years -- the ymca was the main partner of the boy scouts. eventually the strong tie, as it spread to other institutions,

they started their own councils and offices in areas that close knit tie wasn't essential and they separated and ran their own show. the ymca has continued to sponsor boy scout troops for decades. they were concerned with adolescents, more or less embedded in the same time. persond to say working in 1880 or 1840. they were working a full-time job. so the 1910s and 1920's, adding middle and high schools, people going to them, not just a rare exception but the majority, requiring children to go to schools, meant they were removing them from the adult communities, the work world, political world. they told children out of those spheres, and programs like boy scouts and girl scouts wanted to try and reintroduce that bridge into adulthood for particularly

urban and town and suburban kids and industrial corporate places like downtown memphis. they were not as concerned with for -- rural farm boys because they thought they work, most of them were working on family farms, and for the boys growing up under their father's tutelage. they didn't feel there was a problem. they would have weekly troop meetings at a place like the ymca and other sponsors. or at a church or chamber of commerce, all these places that sponsored boy scout troops. they ran their own troops. this was the sponsors taking, oh, this is what our boys and -- we are doing this for the broader community, something like the rotary or civic organization, so they would manage these weekly troops. they would try to take a hike. in the summer they would do camping stuff, i week or two

stuff. they would try to teach the teenage boys, adolescent boys, civics, patriotism, community engagement, especially in the 1910s and 1920's, the scouts were everywhere. every big event, learning to contribute to the community, turning -- learning to serve the public. 12, 13-year-olds, they were running the booths. the president would show up, the boy scouts would be the honor guard in a way i don't think is quite as pervasive today. they were right in the thick of things. it wastime period remarkable for writing out -- reaching out to a diverse group of town, urban and suburban youth. ku klux the time of the klan, in a -- immigration restriction. they were concerned about catholics and jewish as much as african-americans. that was one end of the

spectrum. people, they wanted to prevent minorities from getting any right or access, to the good life so to speak. the boy scouts were actively recruiting and sought and achieved alliances with boygrant groups, polish scouts of america, catholic scouts, mormon used to have their own independent scout group. brought them on board, met with labor union leaders, work out a who, like with people eugene debs, led the socialist groups. they said scouting was ok. .t is remarkable and the captains of industry, rockefeller, vanderbilt, they were also sponsors. it is interesting to see a wide religious and economic and ethnic and immigrant outreach

and membership. for the time it was remarkably inclusive i would say. here is a memphis aspect of the boy scout story, that the first memphis boy scout council president was a man named bolton smith, a white banker and prominent man. he donated a camp to the local counsel. he became a vice president of the national council of the boy scouts of america, and he along with a white boy scout professional from chattanooga named stanley harris, and they were joined by the first paid african-american professional national boy scout staff person, paid professional named dave champ, he came to work in memphis, work with memphis african-american scouting. --ig movement, active again there were african-american scouts in the north and west.

most of the south excluded them. three convinced of the national council to ask the rockefeller family for what is about $1 million today to start encouraging the atlantic council, new orleans, memphis, jacksonville, florida to start african-american troops to open scouting. in thes a major shift mid-1920's where scouting could reach into segments of society that had the least opportunity and access and rights. they were teaching in the mid-1920's, teaching african-american voice to stand up and be citizens and how to vote, helping with voter isistration in the 1920's ahead of its time. the boy scouts of america didn't allow what we call cubs, cub scouts, seven through 11-year-olds, they did not want

those groups. the program tot be childish. they wanted the program to be about adolescents or teenage boys and the tradition -- and ,heir transition to teenage modern manhood. so the corporate, not rural farm, they are concerned with tuning -- turning teenage boys , responsible, cynically involved young men. that was their framework. eightidn't want the through 11-year-olds at all. the most rheumatic change, 1920's and 1930's when the cubs change,ng -- dramatic 1920's and 1930's when the cubs are coming online. . it was a major change in the 1930's. 1950's and 1960's, the number of cubs is equal to the number of

scouts, now it is larger. it is a younger oriented organization than what they started out to be. americascouts currently are in a transition. they have decided over the last several years to open doors that have been closed for some decades. in the 1910s and 1920's, there wasn't an exclusion of homosexual or transgender scouts. that was more of a conservative turn of the 1970's and 1980's. the front battle lines of inclusiveness in the 1920's were about immigration, religion and race, not trans-jester -- transgender and homosexuality. that is a big shift, but they have moved back to the center ground to be inclusive of these groups, you can run your own troops, so you get a different variety of scouting depending on troop sponsor and membership and leadership. they become the more

middle-of-the-road, wide spectrum of people can interpret and adopt scouting. in the long road that will be successful in terms of membership and success. there were groups who didn't like that change, but over the long haul, that will do them well. ♪ >> deal street -- beale street was a part of the african-american immunity beginning in the 1930's, 1940's. the cotton carnival was taking place in the white community, the greens, the kings, the carnival itself, celebrate cotton. from the mid-1930's, you also had what starts as the cotton

maker yesterday and becomes the cotton maker jubilee. that is how the two, over the issue of cotton, celebrating how they are coming together. on a personal level what it meant was for my entire growing i knew beale street as the place you went for things like the cotton maker's jubilee, the carnival side of it, or where you went for parades. the white parades were usually on main street. you very seldom had an african-american parade on main street because it was going on real street, the main -- real street -- in order to focus on what it is now, you have to kind of keep in mind it has always been a black and white city. intos never a white city

which black people came. that it has always had these populations trying to figure out how do they coexist in this city . it has always been a part of it. if you step back into history, it is an example of what it was like. you know, who was on beale street, who owned the stores, who had the businesses, and white people did come even when it was the black capital or the black main street. swabs forto shop at the same reasons black people came. they met. the two races were there shopping at the same time. it pops up i would say almost as 20's,as the city does, 18 1830's because this is where you have a dock for the boat. thehe book we talk about

earliest development and organization where beale street was a part of what was called [indiscernible] it was created by, developed by a man by the name of robertson talk. it starts up as areas closest to the river were primarily related to river travel. the docks, where cotton would be loaded onto the riverboats. even the boarding houses were workers in riverboat the earliest times might be able to find somewhere to stay for the brief time they would be here. then as you go up the street further, you start to see the merchandising area. you are going from housing and unload toplaces to dock and unload and load cargo or whatever, to places where

people come to buy goods. then further down, you start to have like residential housing. smoke the wealthiest people in memphis had huge houses on beale street or on linden in this area around beale street. that was it. you had different distinct areas. what changes in the 20th century is there is less of the residential. people begin to move east or to north ander south or create residential housing because the whole area of the city is expanding. beale street becomes more of merchandising. it becomes more of a place where people locate their offices, where you have cafes, and by the 1930's and 1940's, you could

have the stores on the first level than above them you would have liked offices of professionals, usually black professionals. it could be in some cases white professionals. you have entertainment areas. beale street was a red light district for a long time. everything,usic and but they were not places that nice girls hung out. i had an uncle on my father's side who owned a cap company -- cab company. this was in beale street if not on beale street. to the cotton makers jubilee, we would go by and check out what he is doing today. cafe.ang out at his that was as close as we got to illustrate. wild area.etty

in 1967, the city goes through a major strike, the sanitation strike. at that point a lot of the organizing of black workers was taking place at clayborn temple. it is in the beale street area. out as a part and of this demonstration. that is one thing. the other thing is memphis is moving further out. the merchandise that would have been centered on main street and ,eal street -- beale street they have other stores in parts of the city. that is pulling a lot of the traffic from beale street. people who would have only seen, only focused on going downtown to beale street or main street to do shopping, now they are doing shopping in other places.

starts to decline. businesses closing. there are some things that remain even today that kind of go through this time of decline and eventual decisions by the city to undertake urban renewal projects which essentially meant shoveling under this whole area. it looked at points like a combat zone, literally shoveled under with all kind of plans of this new place that would areaop, new entertainment that would be beale street. the only thing is people are not coming back. they do eventually, but they are not coming back in the 1970's. what they see on beale street and in that section that was this great entertainment movies, mostly african-american movie houses,

like the daisy and new daisy. after that they redevelop beale street as an entertainment district. .hat is like what you see today there are all kinds of plans. we know these clubs will be a part of the entertainment district, but what do we do with the places along the river? they are still thinking through that. deal street is a way of attracting people back to that area. it is important people see the historic street and don't come a day -- come away with this idea that it is just an entertainment district, that is where we go to enjoy the clubs and by souvenirs. communityas a part of life, african-american community life in memphis, and to see it bourbonlike people see

street and the french quarter in new orleans, you know it is entertainment district, but you also know you could walk into some very historic places what along -- right along the street, so you get an appreciation of what one part of new orleans life and history was. it is important you are still able to do this with a place like beale street even if -- because a lot of it isn't there anymore. you do it through the images and the book. ♪ >> memphis is in the south center part of the you do it the united dates near the mississippi -- mississippi river. memphis is known for music and food. the blues were perfected in memphis. rock 'n roll was invented here

still defines the city. memphis is 65% african-american. memphis during the civil war was the heart of the confederacy and any city int as america. herelave trade was active in part because of the proximity bit -- proximity to the mississippi river and cotton was driven mostly i slave labor. -- by slave labor. in thew was terrible early 1900s. one of the good things is memphis was one of the first cities to allow african-americans to vote. they could vote in the 1900s. we were not a city of good abode or brotherly love. it was a racist culture. we struggled with that and still

struggle with that. in the 1950's and 1960's, the civil rights movement took off here. the leadership here was very strong and integrated the city facilities. we are much more integrated as a city than we were. we have a long way to go. an example.you fred davis was one of the first african-americans on the city council. he told me 25 years ago that if you had -- if you add up all the business transacted in the city, talking about grocery store, all of thisance, transacted in the city, 1% is transacted with an african-american owned business. that was 25 years ago. twolked to him a year or ago. it is still 1%. in a city 65% african-american. it is not right and also not

sustainable. it is not good for the future of the city. we have to change that number. factors fore of the racism.n number is we are working on that issue in memphis, city government, contracting with african-american owned businesses. we have made it a priority. ton i took office, 12% went minority -- contracts went to minority and women's. we have doubled that. we need to do more. that is one example. educational achievement is much higher with white young people as opposed to black young folks. poverty is much higher. we have a long way to go. we have made tremendous strides in this city, and i am proud of

that fact. i am proud to be a member the , but i want us to do better. 1878, memphis faced a yellow fever epidemic that resulted in 60% of the population evacuated. this park was placed to commemorate the lives of citizens who stayed to help the 17,600 sick and bury the dead. here we spoke with an author to learn more about racial integration in the u.s. >> part of the motivation was to think through what we mean when we say racial integration because we use this term a lot, and people think we have done it. people are aware we used to have racialm of legal segregation called jim crow, and that system failed. it was defeated by the supreme

court in 1954 with brown v. board of education, and then defeated in the 1960's with the civil rights act in 1964, the fair housing act. this legislation was the end of legal segregation. a lot of people assumed it was racial integration. within activist circles and academic circles, there is evidence we never integrated. we got rid of segregation but the landscape is still very much with us. you have been in memphis. if you drive through the city, it is obvious when you are in a black part of town and a white part of town, and parts of the city are relatively more mixed and some more segregated. if you look at a map, you see a strip of white doing through the city and the north and south, you have heavily black parts of

town. those demographics are present in most cities in the u.s., with high rates of segregation according to every measure demographers use, but is not legally imposed. ask whatattempted to immigrate -- integration really means, how we could pursue it, whether we should, but in the book i am trying to the arise what it means for black americans specifically. haven't looked at the difference between desegregation and integration. the see the bare minimum definition, you take the laws off the books that require the separation of black people from white people. isthe least, that desegregation. a slightly more robust definition would be to say it is more than just getting rid of the laws.

you have to meet racial mixing. it would be silly to say a school 100% white was integrated or segregated -- d segregated because it was no longer prohibited there be black citizens. we actually do have black people and white people sharing spaces, going to the same schools, living in the same neighborhoods , pursuing recreation in the interacting with each other. that is a more robust understanding of desegregation and integration. to ask some members of the black community what it means, they will say it is a program of assimilation, that it forces them to abandon cherished black churches, schools, community spots where they can, where they have control of the space and can tell their stories, can be themselves, interact with people who they

feel are part of a community of shared values, history, and they will tell you integration forces them to abandon those things and to remake themselves in a way that is considered respectable by hegemonic white values, and this is not a model of justice or desirable project. what i tried to do in the book is take that criticism seriously and to say, does that mean we have to abandon integration as an ideal, or is there a way to rethink this so we can sort of combining the idea of racial mixing of black people and white people sharing spaces with an idea of genuine transformation of power and sort of eternal transformation, particularly on the part of white people to relinquish their superior citizenship and share power? that is how i conceptualize integration. it is not mixture but sharing of

power and also genuine internal information on the part of citizens to recognize the equal citizenship of people of other racial backgrounds. if you think about the regime of jim crow segregation, it wasn't -- it was a legal regime that said particular spaces are reserved for whites, others for blacks, but it was also psychological. it required to the extent black people and white people did interact, you could not have absolute barriers that prevented interaction. to the extent they did interact, black people were expected to show deference. this had a psychic effect whereby white people constantly wanted and demanded and needed sort of signs of their own superiority. they took i think pleasure and comfort in relief -- in relief in those signs and became enraged when there were signs of

blacks from their perspective insubordination. that psychodynamic doesn't necessarily go away because you have desegregation. you could have a classroom full of black students and white students where the white students expected black students to act in a certain way, not to say anything that makes the white teutons uncomfortable -- --dents once comfortable students uncomfortable. you need not only dismantle the laws but also to dismantle the psychic structure where whites sort of assume their civic superiority and expect blacks will act in a way we affirm. i internal transmission or psychic conversion, it is a general conversion -- acceptance of the equality. white people when i say this to this.aying, we do accept

that was the civil rights movement, that was what we got with civil rights act of 1964, the voting rights act of 1965. if you interview people, white or black, clearly racial attitudes have changed. most white people will say they believe in racial equality, fairness, believe black people should have access to the ballot, should be able to attend school with white people, believe that people should have a-- black people should have fair shot. some people say we have already undergone this. my claim is there is a deeper level that that is not the case. is they recent example outrage amongst a lot of white people to the fact colin kaepernick started these protests during the national anthem against police brutality at nfl games.

my own reading of this is the protests are so offensive to white people not because they really think people are protesting the anthem or the flag, but because it is a display of black insubordination . there is a long history particularly of whites wanting aack athletes to perform gratefulness that they have this opportunity to produce great at this level in professional sports and the white response to black lives matter, all lives matter, outright -- outrage that despiteill going on, explicit claims of commitment to racial equality that white people are still, many are still blacked by displays of demands for genuine equality. there is a couple of different

power manifests itself in this country. there is the power of political power. to literally has the ability determine the content of policies and laws and administrative procedures, and historically until the present, although this is shifting, political power has been held by white men. there is a massive wealth gap, racial wealth gap, it can be traced to historical patterns of racial discrimination, housing and lending discrimination. ofreby given the aftermath the great depression, the housing administration, insuring mortgages made it possible for middle-class americans to underwritings, the rules the federal government used to determine which mortgages should be insured were very racist. it made it difficult for black people to get wealth in the form

of home ownership. it made it easier for white people. in the book i talk about reparations. that is an unpopular policy proposal. even bernie sanders when he was asked about it, said i don't think we need that. of economicogram uplift that reaches everybody. there is a case to be made for racial reparations, black specifically. i wouldn't tie it just to slavery which is often how they are talked about in public discourse, but the more recent history of housing and lending, where you can really trace the economic impact. make a you can sort of fairly convincing claim that were deprivedies of resources and of material wealth because of government

programs that combined -- confined him to places we called ghettos that were drained of resources and had no access. , bycould argue governments tax dollars, should have programs that infuse wealth into communities. do i think this is possible? this is the question of the book, white is called an impossible dream, with a question mark. i don't want to say no. i cannot say for the future. is it possible, sure. i assume under feudalism people could not have imagined there would ever be a different economic system and assumed in 1820, people never imagined abolition, that we wouldn't have slavery. in that sense, it is possible. when i look at conditions on the ground that would have to exist for this to be sort of a viable

program in my life, i don't see those conditions existing. i hope i am wrong of course. but the country just elected donald trump as president. i think he ran on a platform of explicit white racial resentment, and he has high levels of support from white people across the board, white men, women. all different incomes. there was talk after he was elected of the working class, but he was supported by rich white people, middle-class and working class. that is indicative of the extent to which the psychic conversion or internal transformation i am calling for doesn't exist. it hasn't happened. there are individual white people who are exceptions, and there is a basis for coalition politics. there is support amongst the segments for black lives matter. that is important and needs to be built on.

in general there isn't sufficient support in the white community for the kinds of policies and programs we would need to advance a worthwhile kind of racial integration. part of the reason why it is important to maintain what might seem like utopian ideals is because otherwise we are essentially resigning ourselves to the world we inhabit right now. if it is unjust, that means we are accepting the endless continuation of injustice. we have to be realistic when it means to reshape the imaginaries and create new visions of the world, that that is a tiny first step in a very uncertain process. announcer 1: barbecue fans brought to memphis tennessee to take a bite of memphis style barbecue not for its dry rub and

a side of sauce. with the help of our cable partners, we continue our visit with music producer blue mitchell who will take us on a tour around town. you know, memphis was the place of a lot of racial tension, but it was also the place of meant -- racial harmony. musicians in town, nobody cared about your race. musicians always worked together even from the earliest times, so ofre was a strong sense brotherhood amongst musicians no matter what color you were. announcer 1: while in memphis, we took a driving tour of the city with a record producer and owner of royal studios, blue mitchell. >> thank you for agreeing to show us around. >> my pleasure. >> grammy award winner, producer, you have been a lifelong resident of memphis. >> yes, i have been here all my

life and grew up -- i had a crazy childhood growing up with the temptations in the house, the doobie brothers, al green, all these cool people. we will go by the stax museum, see the civil rights museum, lorraine hotel. just some cool memphis places. >> should we go? let's do it. we are going downtown. >> this is the cool part of town that has been kind of under development for the past 10 years. memphis is predominantly black. i think it is maybe 60% african-american. know, i think the race relations today are you know, way cooler than they used to be. memphis is still, you know, we nightclubs and restaurants.

you see black and white, you know, all races, all classes. >> we are driving on beale street. it is kind of known as the main summer away for memphis. thoroughfare for memphis. and allis where bb king of the blues greats came to hone their craft -- get their message out to the world. back in the day it was always -- it was a neighborhood. it wasn't one sheet -- street. there were several streets. this is where elvis came to learn how to dance and do all the things he did. it was a huge influence for blues and rock 'n roll.

beale street, there is a lot of clubs and restaurants today, shops, and there is still music being pumpedbeale out seven daya week. vibrant entertainment district. it is one of the top tourist spots in tennessee. >> outside the national civil rights museum or the lorraine motel. what is noteworthy about what happened here for those who don't know? >> that is the site where dr. king was assassinated in 1968. you know, this is an extraordinary museum. it is a huge piece of american history. >> how did people react to having something like that happen here? thing.as a terrible you know, people were rioting and looting. the city got a lot of the famous

musicians and singers like william bell and others to get on the radio and say hey, guys. let's stop. stop the rioting, stop the destruction. we are all hurt, but now it is time to together and figure out how we can heal and fix these problems. the thing about memphis is, most , the mostular music influential american music came from memphis. blues, rock 'n roll, soul. ville,s what we call souls usa because that is where it started. mile radius, you have two legendary studios. aretha franklin, isaac hayes, booker t and the mg's grew up

around the corner. music academy. the charter schools, the stax museum. >> it was known for being an integrated workplace in the 1960's when there were not many. >> exactly. after dr. king was assassinated, that is when the great albert l -- al bell started doing more stuff. so stax became the second largest employer of african-americans in the country like next to jet magazine. >> give me an example of the music coming out in the civil rights era. successes,he huge 's, the stuffthe mg my dad was doing with the willie

mitchell combo. there were a lot of groups completely integrated. 70'spirit went on into the -- 1970's. there was a lot of stuff going on. the vietnam war was going on in the early 1970's. a lot of the music was people were making songs about the war. how green comes along -- al green comes along and says what about love, happiness? change in the climate of the country. still here and preaching the message of love. >> still here. we are going to see the full gospel tabernacle. also known as the church of [indiscernible] al green was one of the first

black artists to sell millions of albums. he could be the last great of americans. >> he stepped away from recording pop is again and is now a bishop here. still singing in the church. ♪ >> i think he struggled with making soul music but then finally came to terms that there is nothing wrong with singing about love. >> right now we are coming up on graceland. world. is elvis on the right we have the plane he used to fly around. on the left, graceland itself. stuff,g of racism and

people wanted to ban elvis because he was a safe haven for [indiscernible] neighbored want his -- neighbor. [indiscernible] >> we have been all over the city. we have seen stax records, the national civil rights is the them, al green's church, anything else? maybe people have never been here and not heard of it, how would you want your city to be represented? >> the city has a vibe to it experience.come to the memphis vibe, there is a spirit in memphis that lives

here. you feel different here than anywhere else. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer 1: our visit to memphis tennessee -- memphis, tennessee was c-span's cities tour. we have traveled to u.s. cities and you can watch more of our visits on c-span.org. up, a conference examining verbal attacks against the media and courts. jamesike pompeo and mattis on meeting with their canadian counterparts. after that, newsmakers with brock long starting at 10 clock p.m. and the communicators with ajit pai. next, part of a conference on verbal attacks on the judiciary and the media. judges outlined their concerns with the president'