Collection:LPB

Genre: Newsmagazine

Place Covered: Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 1989-01-27

Duration: 00:28:02

Subjects: Race | Racism | JUDGES

Contributors:

• Lormand, Ken Host
• Sockman, Roger Reporter
• Jackson, Lydia Interviewee
• Jack, Frances Baker Interviewee
• English, Larry Interviewee
• Williams, Frank Interviewee
• Weiss, Donald Interviewee
• Mankins, Michelle Interviewee
• White, Erickson Interviewee
• Chrisawn, Jonathan Interviewee
• Wood, Chris Interviewee
• Johnson, Ernest Interviewee
• Tanner, Thomas Interviewee
• Hightower, John Interviewee
• Reilly, Sean Interviewee
• Bankston, Larry Interviewee
• Patin, Charles Interviewee

This episode of the series “Louisiana: The State We’re In” from January 27, 1989, features Ken Lormand and Roger Sockman reporting on race relations in Louisiana. Lormand first reports on the September 20, 1988, riots in the Cedar Grove area of Shreveport following the shooting death of a Black man by a White woman over an alleged drug transaction. He also reports on the role of racial apathy in dividing the Black and White communities in Louisiana. He interviews: Lydia Jackson, Shreveport activist; Frances Baker Jack of the Biracial Commission; Larry English of LSU-Shreveport, the former president of the Shreveport NAACP; Frank Williams, Shreveport businessman; and Donald Weiss, co-chairman of the Biracial Commission. Next, Lormand reports on a group of twelve high school students in Shreveport trying to break down racial barriers. He interviews: Michelle Mankins of Southfield School; Erickson White of Booker T. Washington High School; Jonathan Chrisawn of Caddo Magnet High School; and Chris Wood of Southfield School. Lastly, Sockman reports on the proposed changes to judicial selection in Louisiana following Judge John Parker’s ruling that the current process discriminates against Black voters. He interviews: Ernest Johnson, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit; Judge Thomas Tanner, chairman of the Judicial Task Force appointed by Governor Buddy Roemer; John Hightower of the Louisiana Association for Judicial Excellence; State Representative Sean Reilly; State Senator Larry Bankston; and Charles Patin, vice chairman of the Judicial Task Force.