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To: H-1960S@H-NET.MSU.EDU Subject: Hustwit Reviews Classen's _Watching Jim Crow_ H-NET BOOK REVIEW Published by H-List @ h-net.msu.edu (December 2004) Steven D. Classen. _Watching Jim Crow: The Struggles over Mississippi TV, 1955-1969_. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004. ix + 275 pp. Appendix, notes, bibliography, index. $21.95 (paper), ISBN 0-8223-3341-4. Reviewed for H-List by William P. Hustwit, Department of History, University of Mississippi A Civil Rights Bonanza In _Watching Jim Crow_, Steven Classen, a professor of Communication Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, examines the efforts of African Americans and integrationists to gain access to Jackson, Mississippi television programming. During the 1950s and 1960s, Jackson television stations, WLBT and WJTV, joined with radio, the press, and segregationist organizations to fight voices that departed from approved white beliefs. When national television shows discussed or promoted integration, Jackson’s local television stations announced broadcast difficulties and cut away. _Watching Jim Crow_ investigates the years between 1955 and 1969 and documents the end of Jackson television’s discriminatory communications policies. Classen affords readers a social and cultural history of media activism and segregationist broadcasting during Mississippi’s civil rights struggle. Civil rights scholarship has expanded into new areas of interest that involve communications and race. Several recent authors have pursued a range of media-related topics. Alison Graham examines television, movies, and civil rights in _Framing the South_, and Brian Ward focuses on radio in _Radio and the Struggle for Civil Rights in the South_. In _Changing Channels_, journalist Kay Mills chronicles the legal controversy surrounding the programming policies of WLBT, a television station which also features prominently in Classen’s account.[1] _Watching Jim Crow_ forms part of the “Console-ing Passions” series, which pays special attention to the role of the media within American society. For Classen, television has a singular importance as a social institution. It informs viewers about gender, race, identity, and power relationships. They not only watch television, they find identity and gain an understanding of their society through it. Television, Classen argues, “is something that people do” (p. 195). Classen relies on forty interviews with black and white activists to survey the impact of discriminatory television policies in the Jackson viewing area. The first chapter provides a brief overview of white supremacist organizations like the Citizens’ Council and the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission. It then notes the early petitions that challenged the programming policies at local stations. The second chapter details the legal battle that resulted in a 1969 U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that denied WLBT renewal of its operating license. The third chapter documents the civil rights movement in Jackson and the effect of television shows on popular culture. An examination of the way in which African Americans watched white supremacy follows in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter describes black memories of WLBT programs. A final chapter surveys the changes in local broadcasting and race relations since 1970. The book contains a number of interesting anecdotes. In 1964, stars of the network television show Bonanza, for example, refused to appear at the segregated state fair. Classen also provides information on prominent Jackson African Americans like Frank Melton, who became the nation’s first black television station general manager and owner of WLBT. The station eventually had the country’s first black and white anchor team, and by the 1980s it had a predominantly African American staff as well. Classen’s work suffers, however, from four problems. First, he uses interviews with an uncritical eye. His conversations with activists often have little to do with watching television. Rarely do their memories of childhood, job experiences, and sixties activism relate directly to television station protest. Frequently the stories of student protests, consumer boycotts, voter registration, and organizational meetings sidetrack the reader. Second, Classen ignores the response of white citizens to television programming and makes no attempt to interview the original owners and programmers of the television stations. Third, he writes to correct past and present political wrongs. Classen states that “this history is motivated by a desire for a reinvigorated democracy that truly engages more citizens and stimulates progressive change, particularly in the sphere of American race relations” (p. 10). Scholars should use caution when their motivation for writing history becomes an extension of the movement. Finally, the introduction does not fully assess the national impact of discriminatory television policies – or their end. Instead, it devotes excessive attention to the author’s oral history methodology. Television has clearly influenced American culture in crucial ways. Civil rights historians should continue to evaluate television’s function in reshaping people’s behaviors and mindsets. Continued input from scholars of disciplines other than history will also benefit our historical understanding of the freedom struggle. Classen’s work begins the historical process of examining television’s significance and represents the increasing interest in civil rights outside the historical profession. _Watching Jim Crow_ adds another perspective on the role of the media during the civil rights era and encourages students of the movement to continue to record the influence of television on American behavior. As such, it is a worthwhile addition to the literature in this field. Notes [1]. Allison Graham, _Framing the South: Hollywood, Television, and Race during the Civil Rights Struggle_ (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001). Brian Ward, _Radio and the Struggle for Civil Rights in the South_ (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2004). Kay Mills, _Changing Channels: The Civil Rights Case That Transformed Television_ (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2004). Copyright © 2004 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H- Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at hbooks@mail.h-net.msu.edu.
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