| Description | Bob Jackson, director of a community centre in Washington DC, talks to Dilip Hiro.
Track 1: Bob Jackson talks about the aims of the community centre and describes some of the programmes run by the centre, including adult and teenage programmes. He describes how he would like to change the centre's approach - he would like to go beyond a paternalistic approach and encourage people to help themselves. He talks about his life and his hopes for the future of the community which include involving poor members of the community. Dilip Hiro asks him about the history of the black community in Washington DC. He says that racist attitudes have not changed, but have become more sophisticated and gives examples of this. He talks about white families leaving an area when a black family moves in. He says that the black community has become aware of what is happening to them; people in the professions have become more militant and young kids have become more aware of racism, 6.55 mins
Track 2: He describes his daughter looking in a magazine and asking why Santa Claus is always white. Dilip Hiro asks how his awareness came and he talks about not being able to get a job after he left high school. He talks about the limited choices available to black people, 3.42 mins
Track 3: He talks about doing military service, and finding that some bars in Germany would not serve black people. He says he prefers Mississippi to Germany because he knows it's safe where black people are, 1.52 mins
Track 4: He says that after his military service he began to pay attention to what goes on in the community, and says he was still not able to get a job after military service. He talks about training as an X-Ray technician and hospitals not hiring black men as X-Ray technicians, 2.33 mins
Track 5: Silence, 0.54 mins
Track 6: He talks about reporting discrimination to the authorities and says we need vigilante laws. He talks about not being able to get a job in Washington even though other states would give him a job. He talks about getting his job at the community centre, 3.56 mins
Track 7: He talks about the poverty programme in Washington - he says it was a facade to keep people's mouths shut. He says that people in the community asserted their rights and politicians couldn't control it. He talks about politicians deliberately underfunding the programme. He talks about a new feeling of pride and dignity in the black community because of their campaigning work, 5.07 mins
Track 8: He says that the poverty programme has now been made difficult and people now have to 'move on their own' and strike out against the establishment. He says that his father has become more militant recently and talks about black leaders who should be heroes. He says that the issue now is how change is created, 3.36 mins
Track 9: He says that he thinks there cannot be a harmonious relationship between the races because white America does not consider black America to be human. He says that Congress only responds when there is a threat to white people. He talks about conflict in the future and says that this is an international issue, 3.18 mins
Total: 31.58 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF571E0103680 |