Video Library Beta
ABC video clips sourced for the Australian curriculum in partnership with Education Services Australia
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- Video Clip
- Poverty And Welfare [2:53]
- Network
- ABC Four Corners
- Broadcast
- 19th October 1968
- Summary
- African Americans and 'white man's' welfare, 1968
- Download Clip [9.89 MB]
- Learning Area
- History
- Strand/s
- Historical knowledge and understanding
- Year/s
- 8-12
Keywords
American history, Christianity, Civil rights, Housing, Living standards, Poverty, Social services
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Description
This clip from the 1968 'Four Corners' story 'The Black Mood' highlights the daily struggle faced by African Americans living in poverty. It features the place that 'shopfront' churches occupy in the lives of the under-privileged in Harlem and also shows a deserted mother of three children, Kitty Fernelle, who manages to maintain a household on government subsidies. This clip includes a voice-over featuring statements made by civil rights activists about the dangers certain African Americans encounter if they rely upon 'white man's' welfare. The clip is in black and white.
Educational Value
This clip is a useful resource for historical studies of the US civil rights and Black Power movements in the late 1960s. It is relevant for courses in modern history in years 11 and 12 and as background for the year 10 history depth study focusing on rights and freedoms. This depth study requires an examination of the US civil rights movement and its significance for Australia.
The commentary in this clip presents the views of many educated and activist African Americans who say that religion, along with welfare (social services payments), alcohol and drugs have kept Harlem residents poor, dependent and acquiescent. Many activists assert that this situation 'is what the white man wants'. The Black Power movement strongly opposed all forms of black dependency. It aimed to develop a sense of racial pride and self-esteem in African Americans and achieve black self-determination.
The clip presents a case study of Harlem resident Kitty Fernelle and her children, who are seen in their apartment and in a shopfront church, the Tabernacle Healing Temple. The importance for Fernelle of the church and its style of Christian teaching is shown in the clip's sequences of instruction and singing.
The 'Black Mood' report from which this clip is taken was based on the work of ABC journalist Richard Oxenburgh, who travelled to the USA as part of a 'Four Corners' investigation into civil rights there.
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Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2010 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2010 (except where otherwise indicated). You may view, display, print out, copy and modify this material for non-commercial educational purposes provided you retain all acknowledgements associated with the material.
