- Collection:
- WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection
- Title:
- WSB-TV newsfilm clip of reporter Jim Whipkey interviewing entertainer James Brown following riots in Augusta, Georgia, 1970 May 13
- Creator:
- WSB-TV (Television station : Atlanta, Ga.)
- Contributor to Resource:
- Whipkey, Jim
- Date of Original:
- 1970-05-13
- Subject:
- Race relations
Race riots--Georgia--Augusta
Police--Georgia--Augusta
African American men--Violence against--Georgia--Augusta
Fires--Georgia--Augusta
Buildings--Fire and fire prevention--Georgia--Augusta
African American entertainers--Georgia--Augusta
Reporters and reporting--Georgia--Augusta
Interviews--Georgia--Augusta
Police, State--Georgia
Curfews--Georgia--Augusta
Criminal justice, Administration of--Georgia--Augusta
Augusta (Ga.)--Race relations--History--20th century
Georgia. National Guard - People:
- Whipkey, Jim
Brown, James, 1933-2006 - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Richmond County, Augusta, 33.47097, -81.97484
- Medium:
- news
unedited footage - Type:
- Moving Image
- Description:
- Reporter: Whipkey, Jim.
In this WSB newsfilm clip from May 13, 1970, reporter Jim Whipkey interviews entertainer James Brown following Brown's attempts to help end a race riot in Augusta, Georgia.
The clip begins showing a night scene and reporter Jim Whipkey standing outside of a store. Whipkey indicates that a curfew in Augusta has worked to prevent further rioting in the city. Whipkey explains that on Monday, May 11, 1971, "these streets were filled with rioters, looters, and burners." In response to the riot, Whipkey continues, the Georgia National Guard and local police patrolled the business district and white neighborhoods while local white and African American leaders "tried to work out their differences." Whipkey reports that the following night, Tuesday, May 12, saw more fires set and crowds dispersed. He explains that African American entertainer James Brown came to his hometown to encourage people to calm down and stop rioting. Whipkey indicates that Brown had a calming influence on the community.
Next, Whipkey interviews James Brown. Brown encourages leaders and residents to show respect for each other and to try to work for a solution. He believes that people can find "a medium of reason where we can understand each other" and stresses the importance of cooperation, especially in a situation in which people are dying. The clip concludes with Whipkey again commenting on the situation. He reports that Brown has left the city and that the African American citizens have "cooled it." He reports the stark facts that "six men are dead, fifty-one businesses have been burned," and Augusta is still under curfew.
On Saturday, May 9, 1970, Charles Oatman, a sixteen-year-old African American, died in the Richmond County jail. Although his death was initially blamed on a fall from his cell bunk, the coroner and Oatman's father found signs of torture when they examined the body. The African American community in Augusta had repeatedly endured police brutality, wrongful arrest, and mistreatment in the county and city jails. Oatman's death outraged the community; that anger grew when instead of pursuing an investigation, Sheriff E.R. Atkins charged two of Oatman's cellmates, also black teenagers, in his death. On Monday, May 11, 1970, several local African American leaders marched to the Municipal Building and met with county officials. When Sheriff Atkins announced his charges, the large crowd of African Americans who waited outside during the meeting became angry. They tore down the Georgia flag, which at the time incorporated the Confederate battle flag, and burned it. The crowd moved downtown and the violence escalated from overturning garbage cans to throwing rocks at passing cars to pulling people out of cars and beating them. That afternoon and evening, more than fifty fires were set in businesses owned by white and Chinese merchants in the African American district. At about one o'clock in the morning Governor Maddox sent Georgia National Guardsmen and state highway patrolmen to Augusta. During the rioting that night, six African American men were shot in the back by policemen. Although there were claims of snipers during the rioting, no policemen, National Guardsmen, or patrolmen were shot by African Americans during the rioting. The next day, Augusta mayor Millard Beckum instituted a 9 pm to 5 am curfew that remained in place the rest of the week as guardsmen continued to patrol the street. There were fewer incidents. Elsewhere in the country, students and demonstrators had been shot and killed at Kent State in Ohio a week earlier and in Jackson, Mississippi three days later.
Title supplied by cataloger.
The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for digital conversion and description of the WSB-TV Newsfilm Collection. - Local Identifier:
- Clip number: wsbn59632
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://crdl.usg.edu/id:ugabma_wsbn_wsbn59632
- Digital Object URL:
- https://crdl.usg.edu/do:ugabma_wsbn_wsbn59632
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/ugabma_wsbn_wsbn59632/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: wsbn59632, WSB-TV newsfilm clip of reporter Jim Whipkey interviewing entertainer James Brown following riots in Augusta, Georgia, 1970 May 13, wsbnWalter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection, The University of Georgia Libraries, Athens, Georgia
- Extent:
- 1 clip (about 3 min.): color, sound ; 16 mm.
- Original Collection:
- Original found in the WSB-TV newsfilm collection.
- Holding Institution:
- Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection
- Rights:
-
