American Experience; Jubilee Singers: Sacrifice and Glory; Interview with John Hope Franklin, Historian

the ss not deserve americans and so but also in support including wages wages are also good though the black subjected to innovation to sing and to resistance and taken to beat them back so speaking to make that impossible and demand that anyone associated with including know when commissioners to leave and some local whites who might have been inclined to support other to protect our businesses they became the optics of the hour and attacked out of the plan to colleagues by any other name so that it became a new risk for whites of in stride of a local bar where from all get real risk for them too

to get into a program or project educate all of that the freedman have a live in the blue dog emma get a crossfire between the opposition from white to an innocence of man be norman that's helped reduce the jews who runs into the lead to some sense of love of fairness and opportunity but it ought to be said to look through that many of the whites were not prepared to go all the way here in terms of elevating blacks or in terms of low outflow of of extending a handful of ship of

equality to place it came down and who are teaching situation where no black teacher who's white teaches somethin summonses did not want to live with a black teaches that one some distinction there and say what i do too compromise their position so that they would not be attacked by the by the local player wherever they didn't want to be seen as fostering social inequality even as they towed the freedom to read and write and whatever else it would teach him so that you get you the distinction here that summer was between the black students and black teachers

and white benefactors and white teachers attention that will make it difficult for them to work together with the end in peace and harmony and this and that but you're all the time i'm at suggestions he did all of that but there were there were there was there were some instances that and there was always that danger that the clamor push the white two measures and teachers into a position to a compromise position this pursuing well aware there were teachers who write teachers who came down full of idealism and full of determination and so deeply committed to the quality of the pain that they would not compromise they would risk their own the well being

to show that they were they believed in equality they believed in the limitless opportunity of the freedom to move to achieve and to work hard and they they was simply not compromise and the us some of them work as a result of us put in harm's way and some of them were less injured and some were incidences offensive is that what's made this is a visit that whole ethic the old visions secretion idealism is social pages and this is

part of what was the occasion genzer way to apologize for the visitors on the way there were various motives for people to them undertake to sue sue friedman was some saw in miss an opportunity to and to project themselves and to the program of success where they might've been successful when they were then there were those who were who sells of this was there were doing god's word wiz was a mission that they must carry florida oh and in every era and in a certain sense a west we must make every sacrifice of the most risk of

themselves are words of mr there were those two who had a more may have less rich religious motivations and more social motivations in believing of this and our democracy you have to have equality and you have to have opportunity for everyone and you had to serve a relationship with your opposites for the blacks will ever know that that that reflected well on glee ally democratic philosophy and you know you wouldn't you wouldn't compromise that you a new widow insists you know if you're secular system but this was the way americans are black veil to have ideals of equality which were

extended to everyone regardless of race ethnicity or what have you there nevertheless those who felt it too there was something of it special duty postal service action war and to explode at them opportunity there which of course meant that they might be able to work to achieve political or economic or social advantage through their activities with the freedom so you get a range of motives and and i think that that one must recognize that their world the benefits is

difficult at these schools like this one book on obstacles that with the school's mission to review the opposition that drew school experience from the klan publication and true to treatment and they also experienced difficult to an economic activity about development example when they could not always secure your local support for something so simple as those provisions getting provisions for the school

oh is that true help in terms of building materials help in terms of our phone i created this help in terms of a full of surprises of it was not always hopeful thing to do businesspeople who appeared to journalists too hopeful these various institutions and they began a pullback it was so of these leung of the repression one supposes political pressure so

that not to be friendly to use to use black school four of these schools were in a higher bid i'll of social equality a hotbed of political activity saloon every if this prison as soon they will be sinking that they are in the position of power and a man might take over now so this was ham and tennessee this was not as serious as it was in some other areas for tennessee did not undergo much in the way of reconstruction it is over a lot of radical reconstruction where blacks voting and holding office and that sort of thing it's not to be compared with which aired in south carolina or mississippi or louisiana or even virginia north carolina

those who've appeared of of love of reconstruction radical restructuring in tennessee is virtually nonexistent there was not a clear you know sort of a long period when when blacks voted in field office and enjoyed political equality there were no black senators for example no black go so taylor goes you see that but that's a privilege of option which was passed up in infancy because the leader the group will take over the idea about the radicals and there was fully realized and you had the intimacy of prancing situation where that where you're most powerful

political know most powerful political leaders found himself dressed as vice president and then as president of the united states and then under severe fire from every side of the aisle for a book out of being for being pro summer pro tennis and so andrew johnson to succeed lincoln was president and at sixty five with and you looked up that that was a stray our union man malle film reverses itself and becomes sympathetic to the southern position uses these facilities from tennessee it wasn't their position which is set in a unionist

and that supportive of the program's ideals that we've been talking about do they share programs and education programs and so forth for the freedom he doesn't think the freedman should have these options and he will be very much opposed to all of the political efforts of the of the union and reconstruction leaders to provide opportunities for equality or even optimism education he simply will be opposed to remove lead all the bills and that will of course give to tennessee and embrace used not to do anything about the freedom he has it over the ages

you're a disease prisons a slightly different picture from the other southern states and i think that with a little dose of tennessee had been occupying much earlier than the other states generally and because of there julia do you know official end of course was still vice president lincoln's second term andrew johnson now andrew johnson's position as bruised vice president of them as a prisoner states meant that his influence would be rather considerable and mudge relating the reconstruction program in tennessee and another seven states because he was opposed to the kind of reconstruction

that that the union wanted impose on the south and one would've thought that as a great union leader he would be in favor of what they want to do to the self appointed self and he had spoken of punishing yourself but when it came down to it he was not in favor of it and indeed he vetoed the measure is evident that would have imposed some kind of punishment on the south the veto he wasn't he didn't believe in the quality of a love of freedom with free wifi with the whites to me vito russo writes village in nineteen sixty six and he vetoed all efforts reconstruction bill of eighty six six one at six am a veto them because they didn't believe that the blacks should have

political heat at quality and well it's a little of this will put to put a damper on the reconstruction efforts in tennessee and some of the other southern states the tennessee did not did not even go as far as some of the other other southern states in providing political and it's usually covered optimist four of the friedman and you have a winner bailey opens with live up to do for a political act nothing like you have inside moscow's south carolina newark the mississippi are those in our region and that will be as i said because of the early occupation of tennessee and the andrew and the opposition of the president to in a kind of reconstruction radical reconstruction

in and most states in the fiscal problems back to this and say is this uber has been an economic solution and george were supposed to sixty years ago it's difficult to conceived day of the economic problems at the country's fledgling institutions head there was a promised construction buildings

can move hiring unpaid to choose a problem of providing food and other provisions for the students themselves are probably also of hope of overcoming the joy opposition in missouri we're overcoming political issue with so little local support and so little so few resources of those people who wanted first to move move on up again ask themselves how can we do this whatever resources we hero a weekend so to rejoin public enjoys wyden was one of the teachers and it was close to the students and was training

students and singing and so fourth came up the idea that he could put the other group if you go on the road until the fisk story and on andrea shea himself to draw public support for the school and so he put the students together call them the jubilee singers they saying that polus also jubilee jubilee was a day of freedom to say and they were going to tear this old through northern states so they had been seen as a new teams in antebellum period but not from a level of these young people poor students events in for the moto shoot and begin to sort of

churches carriage and a joint white thought this would be a good idea and he began to take them out on the road and we were successful then a way out of eliminating any kind of reservations that joe public land head to these people and they were not exotic as such but they were attractive and will end and provided a kind of love of of cute of come to me in an end and voice that the general public had not experienced before and the like what they sell and they paid for what they sew and they became jealous and then it says he's in and

providing support for the force grew so what white and the jubilee singers they had really was to seeing if it's going to still going through well sums it into existence but to your existence existed but the stability and they were getting it as they moved into the northern to donors and saying and do europeans jersey and boston and places like that they were excited and i'm and these root these were very resourceful articulate representatives and they represented the endowment fisk but the the freemans position generally and they they were so successful attractive group you

go to these things real surprise especially poor ones we've never seen black people that upholstered couches music in his own mind illinois a fee the average weight whether the picture and his manager at his airmen about slaves or you about excellence that because you did not rise out of experience images of imagination and the

imagination was so crude i know whereas tr in a question of dignity challenge krueger exposing talent pope says even even among those who are most favorable in time to react quinn and two room though they were they would not they could not imagine what these young people could do and would do and so their dignity the carriage the voice

and the art to goodness of these young people surprised that large numbers of northern as many who have never had the opportunity to do so you talk with young black men and women this was a national experience the most unforgettable for large lovely young people also unforgettable experiences do says they have not been not been out in a world where they were free and where they could the respected them and be met on basis of equality or even no respect so that they were aware that they had they had experiences through that were new for them

as experience is the whites written for them and so that there are fewer troops for two groups of people julie says on the one hand and the job robert were meeting for the first time and both seem to like what they sell fb fb