My Grandfather (God rest his Precious soul) was returning home to South Carolina from the Korean War. When his plane landed in the States, he got on the train. He and several other Black Soldiers were sitting in a Train car when all of a sudden the Train started to slow down and stopped in Virginia. The Conductor came to tell them that The Klan was was waiting to get any Blk Soldiers they saw in Uniform who exited the Train and he was going to pass through SC and GA, and drop them off at the Train Station in Tennessee instead. My Grandfather said he was more worried for his Brother who he knew was going to meet him at the Train Station to give him a ride back home. When he got to the TN Station he was able to use the phone to call his Brother who luckily totally forgot about picking him up and later met him in TN. You serve your Country only to return home to the Jim Crow South.
Our kids need to have education from parents enough to know not to join or have your heart in anything with these people. Think about how evil and comfortable they are. I’m a retired vet and I see them. Now, when you get what you get from doing their awful work, they hate you because they’re system is an actual joke or they’ve become so low quality in their entitlement that they live without when they are told they are the best. They hate you for doing good with intense hate when you have a nice car to ride home to a nice house. Our people need to know, you can’t escape their hate around them. If you join, get what you gonna get, meet at a secret train station then stay away and watch.
It matters for them as the devil makes you comfortable with something then makes you subject. How was the police and surveillance state built again, on the backs of whose freedoms? Now who is the mose yeeted by police and the most surveilled now?
I totally agree with you. I happen to be a Floridian and unfortunately learning about black history as it relates to, and so intertwined with American history is under attack. I’m pretty sure you’ve probably heard about Ron DeSantis shenanigans here in the state of Florida. so I am definitely an individual who is grateful for platforms like this who seek to teach us vital lessons through stories like this. It has pretty much gotten to the point now where we all need to do as much as we can in fact more than ever before. we need to teach our children and make sure that someone who shouldn’t have the right can suppress knowledge and attempt to sweep history under the rug. to hide things from them it is a personal affront to me that the government can ban books.
Not when white nationalism is rearing its hideous head, led by Donald Trump. A heroic soldier is beaten to inches of his life, while people are ready to dismantle our entire system of government for one man, to show everyone that white people are above the law.
Yes! The oppressors call black history, CRT, (CRITICAL RACE THEORY). Now the subject of a hypothetical situation, and not documentation of a period of the pass for blacks.
I believe racism is used as an excuse to carry out egregious crimes that a normal mentally stable moral person would never commit. These men choose evil and hide their cowardice behind masks and authoritative positions.
They didn't teach me this in history class. There is a very powerful minority in this country who are bound and determined *to this very day* that stories like these *not* be taught. How, then, do we understand our world if we are *denied* the knowledge of what lies beneath? How do we understand each other; to heal society's wounds rather than simply pushing them down in the hope that they never resurface? @AmericanExperiencePBS , I was moved to the point of tears several times during this film. I believe the work you do is vital to understanding who we are, who we've been, and where we need to go. With extraordinary films like this one, you go a step further, providing an immeasurable service to humanity. Thank you. ☮💙
I agree. But we should also be talking about the number of people in the Black community TODAY that are victims of police violence. What’s going on in America right now makes the 40’s and 50’s pale in comparison. And what’s more disturbing, is that of all cases of reported police violence, only 3% are ever prosecuted. In most cases the offenders are able to keep their jobs, and return to duty. Police reform in America now is impossible.
Isaac Woodard was the pebble tossed into the pond. The ripples from that are still being seen today. Thank you Mr. Woodard for your service and sacrifice.
Black men who fought for the Union were not treated well after the war by the federal government. Many were sent to be worked to death in mines. The one's in the 1600 and 1700 that became hired guns against the colonizers did OK if they weren't lynched. Point is it isn't just points in time, its what's continued within that timeframe. All focus on the damage but the deranged mentality that caused the damage goes unprovoked.
@@anpdm1The same inequalities remain today in the veteran community. There are veterans that receive one hundred percent disability pay for reasons unbeknownst the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Then, there are black men and women who saw way worse that still barely scrape by, all whilst battling some mental trauma.
WW1 and WW2 had nothing to do with the United States of America, and the constitution. So they didn’t go to other countries to fight for the rights of United States citizens.
@cigarsgunsandgasoline8032 You are partially correct, sir. He is just one of the greatest of all time tragedies foisted upon the American people in the form of a Supreme Court Justice.
“Racism (global white supremacy) is the local and global power system dynamic, structured and maintained by those who classify themselves as white; whether consciously or subconsciously determined; this system consists of patterns of perception, logic, symbol formation, thought, speech, action and emotional response, as conducted simultaneously in all areas of people activity: economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, and war. The ultimate purpose of the system is to ensure white genetic survival and to prevent white genetic annihilation on Earth - a planet in which the overwhelming majority of people are classified as non-white, (black, brown, red, and yellow) by white skinned people. All of the non-white people are genetically dominant (in terms of skin coloration) compared to the genetic recessive white skinned people.” - Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
He was not made to give up his eyesight, he was blinded by racist cops. His uniform or sacrifices meant nothing to them. Stop sugar coating this horrible crime.
Well said. I don't always read all the comments. That said, I think had all commentors read your comment, you have had 542 thumbs up from sited commentors.
The fact that they do not name the monster who did it is disgusting. We should be able to identify who did this to the man. Their names should go down in history as who they are.
chief Lynwood Shull. After demanding to see his discharge papers, a number of Batesburg policemen, including Shull, took Woodard to a nearby alleyway, where they beat him repeatedly with nightsticks
@Sachi52: They name him here in this Documentary at the @21:13 minute-mark. Orson Welles can be heard discussing on his radio show that a man by the name of Shull admitted that he was the police officer who beat and blinded Mr. Woodard. At first the NAACP was trying to figure out what town the incident occurred in, and that's when a Black soldier who had been on the bus when the attack occurred wrote them, telling them that it was Batesburg, SC. And from there Thurgood Marshall and crew were able to track down those responsible.
The picture shown at 14:12 is of my family! My grandfather sitting on the left, his father sitting in the middle, and the rest are my uncles. I can’t tell you how surprised I was seeing their picture in this documentary 😁
My granddad returned home from serving in the Navy during WW2. The one story he shared with me still haunts me today. I have to keep smiling to this day knowing how I'm heart broken by the treatment he received while he also was riding on a bus in Virginia. He wouldn't sit in the back of the bus. He was wearing his Navy dress uniform. The drivers told him to get off the bus, he refused. The bus driver just continued to drive the bus. However he drove his bus straight in front of the nearest police station. I'll end my story there. My heart goes out to the descendants of Mr. Issac Woodward 😢🥀 By the way I'm in retirement now don't have to smile at them folks" anymore. ☮️💟
The whole BC needs to stop putting their kids in those uniforms to go do to others what was done to them or work for these banks. We shouldn’t be forced to be a part of this experiment like we chose to be here.
My grandfather was a Vietnam veteran. He came home with a Bronze Star pinned on his chest. He was still a ni===r. He battled PTSD the best he could. Coped with sweets. He died in two-thousand nine…between my first and second deployments to Iraq. I will never forget what he said to me when the family met me in the airport.
Orson Welles informed the nation of this horrific incident of the blinding of this American soldier. His multiple commentaries can be found on youtube.
Orson Welles was such a champion guy!! He gave his great voice to those who needed it most. He was also one of the first defenders of animal "actors" and spoke out about their working conditions and abuse. Nice to know that talented people can also be kind, generous people, especially when we read/hear so many stories to the contrary. I will definitely check out those commentaries. I knew nothing about them, thanks for the tip.
Because most of us alive today had no choice in the matter, we were simply either children ( my parents ) or not even born. We can hate the way things were done but we had zero ability to stop it.
@@thearmourboy3254 But as a adults we can do away with the institutions that reinforce the old order. Even as a child, you can call it out and demand change. The children that integrated schools were just kids. Ruby Bridges was just 6 years old, yet was on the front lines of the desegregation movement. You are never powerless.
@@relaxlibrary4249 Sure she was on the front lines, but she was put there by her parents and the community, she didn't just wake up one day and decide to go. Children can participate in very limited things, but the power belongs to those that can put political and economic pressure on the people and systems holding onto those things. Luckily things seem to get better with time. Each generation lets go more and more of those old ways of thinking and doing things. The difference in my small town in Tennessee from my childhood is insane. It's in no way done, and its not perfect, but I think its just a matter of time.
@@thearmourboy3254 My issue was the "zero ability to change things" part of your statement. Kids aren't going to pass legislation, but they can take a stand for what's right and bring attention to injustice. The people at sit-ins and the lunch counters were teenagers. You can say that they were put up by the NAACP, but they chose to fight the good fight. Leaving things to time is the reason why we are still fighting these battles. Racist institutions don't just erode away over time. Look at the current political climate. Either we actively work together for a better future, or we sit quietly waiting for things to get better. We choose every single day. Act small, think globally.
That Dixiecrats rally reminds me of Trump’s rallies. Confederate flags, open demonization of fellow Americans, outright campaign for disenfranchisement, etc. The hatred never left. It’s still here.
The whole story came together for me in 2012 then I could no longer deny things and I had to reinvent and live in reality. I know for a fact all you did was go do to others what was done to you or support it. You fought for NO ONES freedom. You were fed lies. That’s not talking down. That’s a hard truth that drove me into the ground but I’m much better for it. I was an infantryman and I saw upfront with my own eyes. It was mostly bullying then retaliation then, them folk dressing it up as “hero’s just doing their job being attacked. The Iraqis made a home made rocket and sent it to us because them folks followed school girls(14 or so) around saying “show me your b***s” in their language as we are supposed to be running security at an all girls religious school.
Oh, but the people who say to "get over it" not realizing that it has had lasting effects; Sargent Woodard's experience is one that represents and mirrors many injustices. For each experience is a trauma, both in the conscious and subconscious mind.
When I was a teen, 1960's, the civil rights marches and protests were seen on the nightly news. I could not wrap my brain around what I was watching. People being beaten over the head by police with their night sticks, dogs sicked on them, biting them, fire hoses sprayed on them, while doing nothing more than walking down the sidewalk. Then the white crowds of people hurling all kinds of nasty things coming out of their mouths, faces full of hate. What bothers me now, not realizing just how racist my hometown was. It was quiet racism, such as redlining, employment opportunities, even the local swimming pool was segregated, but as a child I did not see all this. We were 92% white, but the elementary school I attended is where my fellow black classmates attended, they were just kids like me, or so I thought. Found out many years later through these black classmates their experiences were far different from mine, they just never talked about back then. America has much to be ashamed of in it's past, the Indigenous People, and Slavery are the two biggest blights against the "land of the free"
“Racism (global white supremacy) is the local and global power system dynamic, structured and maintained by those who classify themselves as white; whether consciously or subconsciously determined; this system consists of patterns of perception, logic, symbol formation, thought, speech, action and emotional response, as conducted simultaneously in all areas of people activity: economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, and war. The ultimate purpose of the system is to ensure white genetic survival and to prevent white genetic annihilation on Earth - a planet in which the overwhelming majority of people are classified as non-white, (black, brown, red, and yellow) by white skinned people. All of the non-white people are genetically dominant (in terms of skin coloration) compared to the genetic recessive white skinned people.” - Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
Sadly, through the Policing of a people, the underlying control and subjugation of Black people in this country is still going on. Eminent domain and red lining, now "Gentrification" happens day in and day out without any objections. It is always about protecting the established order of being. If we as human beings actually worked towards a harmonious existence based on fairness and survival for all...maybe this world will last. But I doubt it..... no one likes to share....not even power and control.
Imagine if a certain news channel existed back then saying the white mob was the equivalent of black protestors. That both sides were the same. That both sides had fine people. Like how January 6 was no big deal, just tourists. I mean, the insanity used to create and justify such terrible behavior. I wonder, though, how such disinformation was conveyed back then.
I grew up less than an hour from Batesburg and Clarendon County. Isaac Woodard and Harry Briggs where not mentioned a single time in my history classes. I am still a young person. That is absolutely shameful. No wonder South Carolina is as President Harry Truman so aptly said "one of the slowest states".
Just act normal. Nothings been done to your people at all that would handicap them, right? Just slavery and then we were turned over to our own suburbs and nothing else happened until we ruined it, the end.
I have NEVER heard of this story, this man. I learn every day of another injustice against Black people it seems. For instance, yesterday I learned that marriage licenses weren’t required until the 1920’s. They became mandatory to curtail interracial marriages.
You'd be better off learning what caused the great depression, or the origins of the federal reserve, or what caused Japan's economy to collapse in the 90s, or what the civil war was really fought over. But PBS won't tell you that.
@@ThomasFromTN "PBS discusses all of those issues " All of them? Well, in that case I stand corrected. Please link or share the title of those videos. "relatively trivial" Relative to the mass suffering deliberately caused by reductions in the money supply (e.g. great depression) or wars fought over private monetary interests, it is. " .... cultural disparity imprints on a society" Virtue words. I bring those events up because they are the loathsome and antisocial consequences of unchecked usury, which the media treats with both historical amnesia and contemporary blindness. The role of central banking is part of the public record but conveniently omitted from nearly all the media's interpretations of those historical events. "the 2020 election" I did not participate in the election, not as if that has anything to do with my point. " You are a sociopath." If we're going to use ad hominems, then I shall declare that you are either grossly dishonest or clueless, and in any case apparently incapable of making a sound argument.
"PBS discusses all of those issues " All of them? Well, in that case I stand corrected. Please link or share the title of those videos. "relatively trivial" Relative to the mass suffering deliberately caused by reductions in the money supply (e.g. great depression) or wars fought over private monetary interests, it is. " .... cultural disparity imprints on a society" Virtue words. I bring those events up because they are the loathsome and antisocial consequences of unchecked usury, which the media treats with both historical amnesia and contemporary blindness. The role of central banking is part of the public record but conveniently omitted from nearly all the media's interpretations of those historical events. "the 2020 election" I did not participate in the election, not as if that has anything to do with my point.
@@AndrewJackson1841common tactic to muddy the waters, move the goal posts or do what about isms, what about this or that. Instead of you looking at this video and talking about what it made you feel, what you learned or anything you troll PBS about unrelated random topics to derail the uncomfortable truth you refuse to acknowledge. You are as predictable as always. Thanks for stopping by.
So many affronts. Some small, some grotesque. Like when I go to a restaurant with my boyfriend who is white, just the two of us, and after an assessing glance, HE is asked if he wants a table for one or two. Like learning about the despicably racist title of Agatha Christie’s most popular book (Ten Little N-s) and then reading a recent forum with people complaining that the title was ever changed. Like hearing about my mom at age 13 having to dodge the physical advances of the men of a family she worked for and that she could not tell my grandfather knowing there was nothing he could really do and that trying might cost his life. Reflecting on the book, Why Do They Hate Us So Much?, I understand the root of racism is more complex than hate. The expressions of bigotry in today’s world are subtle and insidious. But the world is better than it was for my parents and grandparents, though far from what it should be. I am so thankful for those who endured and worked hard to make it so - black and white. I have never taken their sacrifices for granted or squandered the opportunities afforded me. Once there was once a need for legislation to open doors and the lingering effects have no doubt benefited me, but I wanted all to know I succeeded on merit. Heartfelt thanks to PBS for telling this tragic and impactful story. Never forget. Like someone wise once said nothing disinfects like sunshine. 🤍
I knew about the violent murders perpetuated against Returning Black Soldier's after WWI but Oddily it never occurred too me the same happened in WWII & after WWII. So this took me a back when first watching this documentary!
"if you rule against Shull, then let this South Carolina secede again." ~Defense attorney for Lynwood Shull That's like a child threatening to run away from home, for being held accountable.
What does it tell you about the minds of people who want to make sure every so often that they don’t teach SO MUCH of this stuff then tell you we got this way because this is just how we are?
Uugghhh 💔 😢😭😢😭 Edit: once i came across a property deed that was dated 1940. This was in the 90’s- it stated something to the effect as - “ agree to not being of negro ethnicity and would not sell or rent to negros” I was incredulous. 😮
The Caucacity of the evil on top of evil is coming back bite. Just imagine you stole some folks to do work, played with them for generations so the don’t know who they are and have to even figure out that they are not in there feet, then play with their freedom, destroy their family and do so many things against them being able to live and get a footing that it’s too much to list and finally, you don’t want them living near you in the place you stole. Thats why my argument with migrants is just keeping what I got. People who travel out of the country into those areas know that chickens are just coming home to roost.
As always, this American thanks PBS for an excellent American history documentary👍🏼✌🏼🤟🏼❤WW2 African American soldiers fought/died & bled for our country & came home to Jim Crow, a tremendous slap in the face😡
There were black people in the Revolutionary War under Washington who were carefully placed so as not to offend given that most of them were slaves. In the Civil War, Grant recruited full regimens of black soldiers because he felt, if they were fighting on behalf of the black men, black men ought to be able to join the cause. Black folks have always been there, as mentioned in this documentary, hoping that if they fought and showed loyalty, they'd be given equality.
History affects the present. In many cases it creates the present. How can anyone look at this documentary, which is just a drop in the water of stories of how black people AND their ancestors were attacked, killed, purposely discriminated against and denied opportunities for hundreds of years including this time in history and then say their ancestors (who are alive today) are in no way entitled to some form of reparative action? What happened to this man back then, STILL affects his family today. The fact that most of you never even heard of this man's story is not an accident. It's because it was purposely buried and hidden years ago, which did what? Have an impact on what people either heard or in this case didn't EVER hear TODAY. Imagine telling those who lost family members in the Holocaust that they didn't deserve reparative justice for what occurred to their ancestors? Who do you think received reparations for those people killed in the Holocaust? Their family members and ancestors. The Civil rights movement only happened less than 80 years ago. And that was after nearly 400 years of black people fighting to get to that point, where they could at least be treated civil and given the same rights and freedoms, which had to be enshrined by law. Some in the form of the Voting Rights Act. So at least they finally had some say in their government. This was just in the 1960's! Black men like this one who fought abroad in wars for rights they STILL didn't have when they came back home. This country can't afford the debt it owes to the ancestors of black slaves. The people who literally built this country for free. But it's still owed and the discussion of reparations should be taken seriously, Black slaves built the White House which until very recently was only ever inhabited by white men. It took hundreds of years to finally get a black man as President. Just ONE. No, we are not where we were. But we are still far from where we should be.
Only a small number will put the whole picture together. We needed our own Balfour Amendment and it’s super evident. They made a lost race then just kicked it around. My mind changed to see the tactics used in my deployment then how they turn around and act like those people would be in chaos without them making chaos anyway.
I was in a bar waiting on someone and this guy heard me say I was in the navy and the army. The first instinct is “I would have served but wah wah(Charlie Brown teacher talk) then he tried to work that (if you have any complaints you should leave” garbage. I started to turn, then the bartender told him “we ain’t doing that”. These people don’t have honor about them at all, they have favor. That’s why it’s coming apart at the seems.
While ignorance is involved, pure evil is a bigger part of this story. Different note, One of the guys I grew up with was Japanese. His father was fighting in Europe while his family was a relocation camp.
26:27 Orson Wells said, “…The blind soldier fought for me in this war. It’s the least I can do for him. I have eyes, he hasn’t. I was born a white man, and until a colored man is a full citizen like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it.” True. Equal ownership. Equal wealth…worldwide. We must destroy the wage for true equality, and equal wealth worldwide. It’s God’s whole purpose to destroy oppression on the whole earth. Isaiah 14:24-27, purpose is used 4 times in 4 verses to emphasize it is God’s whole purpose, and it says on the whole earth! That means we must destroy the wage because it is oppression. A false balance is an abomination, because it causes all crimes, and wars, and diseases, and homelessness, and human trafficking, and prostitution, and it’s why not all people are doctors, and nurses, and scientists, and ambulances, and all the newest hospital equipment, and the healthiest food, water, clothing, and safest Tower cities connected to maglev Trains. They’re God’s words, not mine.
@@TheRetroWoman80 , (1) losing my eyesight? Forgetabout it. (2) living with the injustice of being beaten just because of my race? (3) the resentment of serving "my" country & not getting any benefit for it (4) knowing that the "justice" system will not help me...
Thank you to All of the people who fought for Civil Rights. Without you, I could have never married the love of my life! You see, my husband is a black man and I am a white woman. I cannot imagine my life without him, so thank you. Thank you, thank you!!
Something similar to this happen to Hosea Williams after returning from WW2 he was in his uniform too! He survived and went on to fight for civil rights along side Martin Luther king!
I’m here my people. The ancestors spoke to me and sent me here. I will always love, honor and respect my people, even those nameless and forgotten thru deliberate incarceration and lynchings. I will never forget. Your blood runs thru me and your pain is felt. I honor you forever and always ✊🏾
I heard a little bit about his story from a documentary about police brutally, now to hear the full story, this started the first civil rights movement before the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Not until ALL the Marxist communist democrats are completely removed from power! They created the KKK and filibustered ALL the civil rights bills in Congress! 100% FACT I noticed pbs left that important information out of this.
I don’t think Europeans will ever change. The contemporary laws that are on the books have destroyed Black communities in America. Thanks for the history PBS of SC. My father’s sisters were born in Charleston South Carolina.
We are a Constitutional Republic We are not a democracy as often falsely stated. If the government acted as a Constitutional Republic And rule of law This great American Soldier would have to be treated equally and fairly. In a democracy its law of the strongest, law of the jungle, rule by mob. That's why they were able to say separate but equal, which was fully false. God bless the great American Soldier and hero and his family.. I am so very sad and apologies to you as an American of Native Heritage for the horrific torture you suffered by the police acting as thugs, fools, and criminals with a badge and gun. I am also a 44 years retired Chief of Police Who despises bad police. May God grant peace unto you in Jesus Name Brother Daymond Pastor SCOJ MINISTRIES
This is a story of incredible cruelty, hatred and evil. This is a part of the history of America they will have us be ignorant of, and then insist "this is not a racist country."
My dad said when he returned from the war, his flight arrived in New York City and as soon as he got off the plane, he found a clothing store and bought him an outfit and took his decorated uniform off right then and there and threw it in the trash outside where everybody saw. Blacks and whites asked him why he was disrespecting his country by throwing his uniform in the trash and he said because my country I risked my life for have constantly disrespected me and my people over 100's of years and I nor my people have no place in the military fighting for a country that have never fought for us blacks. Years later my oldest sister wanted to go to the military and he forbid her to go. She resented him because of that for years until finally she understood why he made that decision for her not to go. R. I. P. to my dad and sister..
I had never heard about Mr Woodard! I’m in tears watching this!! Thank you for this documentary!! I’ll be watching this with my kids later! This is the history the Red States and GOP is trying to erase.
This is so messed up,too happen to just a normal human never mind someone who serves in a war we just fought to stop this kind of thing happening to others.
It amazes me the patriotism Black men felt even as the USA has hated us for hundreds of years. 🙏🏾 Thank you for your service to those in the past, present, future, my dad, sister, son and uncles. 🙏🏾
Why?....It was the Republicans that fought against slavery, and brought about all those advances for Blacks economically and educationally during reconstruction..
@mstmms7952 3 minutes ago I was floored by this . I had no idea beyond Orson Wells Radio Theater how he was involved in such a powerful social movement. It is refreshing to learn!
Well, isn’t this timely!! 😢💙🙏💙 I always loved Orson Welles! Now I love him even more. I’ve never wanted to go to the South…because of exactly this. I’ve never understood this. I don’t want to understand how people can treat each other like this. 🤦🏼♀️ 🤦🏽♂️ 🤦🏽
in the history of the world the way humans treat other humans is very disheartening. there should be a class in elementary school taught about human equality, and things like slavery in america, the slaughter of the jews in ww2, etc. should be taught. educate about the wrongs we have committed against each other in the hopes our children will learn from our past mistakes instead of burying in them in hopes they will just go away.
So sad...bless his heart....and the very ones who perpetrated these injustices have the audacity to even wonder or ask why they have so much anger? ...
I'm 63 years old. I knew nothing about this. Until I saw this, I didn't know Thurgood Marshall was a lawyer or Black. I thought he was a politician. I grew up in a white town. Until I reached adulthood, I knew only one Black child. Today I discovered the importance of Black history month. Educating myself about Black history is long overdue.
Explore more content related to THE BLINDING OF ISAAC WOODARD: www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/blinding-isaac-woodard/
It’s not ignorance it’s pure evil hearted.
Thank you!!
That's exactly what I thought too
I always say sometimes bestowing the title of ignorance can give someone too much credit
It's absolutely evil!! Ignorance has nothing to do with it
horrible no human being deserves this .
My Grandfather (God rest his Precious soul) was returning home to South Carolina from the Korean War. When his plane landed in the States, he got on the train. He and several other Black Soldiers were sitting in a Train car when all of a sudden the Train started to slow down and stopped in Virginia. The Conductor came to tell them that The Klan was was waiting to get any Blk Soldiers they saw in Uniform who exited the Train and he was going to pass through SC and GA, and drop them off at the Train Station in Tennessee instead. My Grandfather said he was more worried for his Brother who he knew was going to meet him at the Train Station to give him a ride back home. When he got to the TN Station he was able to use the phone to call his Brother who luckily totally forgot about picking him up and later met him in TN. You serve your Country only to return home to the Jim Crow South.
Thanks for sharing. God was looking over you Grand Uncle -May God Bless you.
Our kids need to have education from parents enough to know not to join or have your heart in anything with these people. Think about how evil and comfortable they are. I’m a retired vet and I see them. Now, when you get what you get from doing their awful work, they hate you because they’re system is an actual joke or they’ve become so low quality in their entitlement that they live without when they are told they are the best. They hate you for doing good with intense hate when you have a nice car to ride home to a nice house. Our people need to know, you can’t escape their hate around them. If you join, get what you gonna get, meet at a secret train station then stay away and watch.
@srichey444: Now THAT was a Damn Shame🤐....
Someone, please remind Tim Scott and Byron Donald's about jim crow.
Reality is crazy
This is why REAL AMERICAN HISTORY/BLACK HISTORY MATTERS!!!!
It matters for them as the devil makes you comfortable with something then makes you subject. How was the police and surveillance state built again, on the backs of whose freedoms? Now who is the mose yeeted by police and the most surveilled now?
Yes, not his story but history
This documentary needs to be in the American history classes in high schools
I totally agree with you. I happen to be a Floridian and unfortunately learning about black history as it relates to, and so intertwined with American history is under attack. I’m pretty sure you’ve probably heard about Ron DeSantis shenanigans here in the state of Florida. so I am definitely an individual who is grateful for platforms like this who seek to teach us vital lessons through stories like this. It has pretty much gotten to the point now where we all need to do as much as we can in fact more than ever before. we need to teach our children and make sure that someone who shouldn’t have the right can suppress knowledge and attempt to sweep history under the rug. to hide things from them it is a personal affront to me that the government can ban books.
Not when white nationalism is rearing its hideous head, led by Donald Trump. A heroic soldier is beaten to inches of his life, while people are ready to dismantle our entire system of government for one man, to show everyone that white people are above the law.
You know they can't do the right thing
Yes! The oppressors call black history, CRT, (CRITICAL RACE THEORY). Now the subject of a hypothetical situation, and not documentation of a period of the pass for blacks.
I search my own history and that's how I learned through pbs and Henry Louis Gates Jr thanks for the powerful programs keep it up .
Almost 80 years later… and we are still a country divided by racism… I served my country for 28 years…. It’s still the same…God bless you Mr. Woodard.
I believe racism is used as an excuse to carry out egregious crimes that a normal mentally stable moral person would never commit. These men choose evil and hide their cowardice behind masks and authoritative positions.
And we have MAGA racists like MTG, going on about a black Congresswoman's eye lashes. 😮
Thanks for your service ❤.
Thank you 🙏🏽
We were separated the whole time it’s just that vets work against the community then get benefits from the master.
They didn't teach me this in history class. There is a very powerful minority in this country who are bound and determined *to this very day* that stories like these *not* be taught. How, then, do we understand our world if we are *denied* the knowledge of what lies beneath? How do we understand each other; to heal society's wounds rather than simply pushing them down in the hope that they never resurface? @AmericanExperiencePBS , I was moved to the point of tears several times during this film. I believe the work you do is vital to understanding who we are, who we've been, and where we need to go. With extraordinary films like this one, you go a step further, providing an immeasurable service to humanity. Thank you. ☮💙
Gracefully said,💛❤️❤️💖💗💞
Because it never happened. Wake up you gullible sheep.
This should be 💯 taught in history lessons. It's 💯 history truth.
I agree. But we should also be talking about the number of people in the Black community TODAY that are victims of police violence. What’s going on in America right now makes the 40’s and 50’s pale in comparison. And what’s more disturbing, is that of all cases of reported police violence, only 3% are ever prosecuted. In most cases the offenders are able to keep their jobs, and return to duty. Police reform in America now is impossible.
This was one of many stories. In WW 1 and 2. Black Soldiers were lynched in Uniform
Isaac Woodard was the pebble tossed into the pond. The ripples from that are still being seen today. Thank you Mr. Woodard for your service and sacrifice.
Black men who fought for the Union were not treated well after the war by the federal government. Many were sent to be worked to death in mines. The one's in the 1600 and 1700 that became hired guns against the colonizers did OK if they weren't lynched. Point is it isn't just points in time, its what's continued within that timeframe. All focus on the damage but the deranged mentality that caused the damage goes unprovoked.
@@anpdm1The same inequalities remain today in the veteran community. There are veterans that receive one hundred percent disability pay for reasons unbeknownst the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Then, there are black men and women who saw way worse that still barely scrape by, all whilst battling some mental trauma.
What I hate is when people say this was so long ago. When it wasn’t
Most of the Jim Crow laws are still applicable in some Southern Towns and they try to act like it’s nothing smh
Dave Chapelle’s set called “eight minutes and forty-six seconds”, using the numbers, pretty much said the same thing.
And they say Get Over It… our History runs deep Blood Sweat and Tears
And Clarence Thomas sits on the Supreme Court to oversee the undoing of all the efforts of these great people, both men and women!!!
It still fills me with rage that he was the replacement for Thurgood Marshall. Grrrrrr.
@@yvonneplant9434insult to injury, Amy Coney Barrett was shoved down our throats as a replacement for RBG.
WW1 and WW2 had nothing to do with the United States of America, and the constitution. So they didn’t go to other countries to fight for the rights of United States citizens.
cry more... Clarence Thomas is the GOAT
@cigarsgunsandgasoline8032 You are partially correct, sir. He is just one of the greatest of all time tragedies foisted upon the American people in the form of a Supreme Court Justice.
Mr. Woodard was made to give up his eyes so that others could see. Thank you for your service, Sir.
“Racism (global white supremacy) is the local and global power system dynamic, structured and maintained by those who classify themselves as white; whether consciously or subconsciously determined; this system consists of patterns of perception, logic, symbol formation, thought, speech, action and emotional response, as conducted simultaneously in all areas of people activity: economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, and war. The ultimate purpose of the system is to ensure white genetic survival and to prevent white genetic annihilation on Earth - a planet in which the overwhelming majority of people are classified as non-white, (black, brown, red, and yellow) by white skinned people. All of the non-white people are genetically dominant (in terms of skin coloration) compared to the genetic recessive white skinned people.”
- Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
He was not made to give up his eyesight, he was blinded by racist cops. His uniform or sacrifices meant nothing to them. Stop sugar coating this horrible crime.
Sounds fucked up 💯
Both of your posts are true.😢
Well said. I don't always read all the comments. That said, I think had all commentors read your comment, you have had 542 thumbs up from sited commentors.
An American tradition to commits crimes and blame the victim
You are soo right and God hate this too proverb 17:15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent- the LORD detests them both.
PBS programs should still be shown in schools today I remember having teachers that watched their programs throughout my childhood ❤.
These programs should be shown "in the Black home".
@@gabriellew.4847 Why are you here?
@@andre1987eph Why are you here?
😊
The fact that they do not name the monster who did it is disgusting. We should be able to identify who did this to the man. Their names should go down in history as who they are.
chief Lynwood Shull. After demanding to see his discharge papers, a number of Batesburg policemen, including Shull, took Woodard to a nearby alleyway, where they beat him repeatedly with nightsticks
@@chenas1982thank you 🙏🏾
@Sachi52: They name him here in this Documentary at the @21:13 minute-mark. Orson Welles can be heard discussing on his radio show that a man by the name of Shull admitted that he was the police officer who beat and blinded Mr. Woodard. At first the NAACP was trying to figure out what town the incident occurred in, and that's when a Black soldier who had been on the bus when the attack occurred wrote them, telling them that it was Batesburg, SC. And from there Thurgood Marshall and crew were able to track down those responsible.
My entire maternal side of my family is from Winnsboro, S.C. and they have stories to tell. Sad and heartbreaking.
The picture shown at 14:12 is of my family! My grandfather sitting on the left, his father sitting in the middle, and the rest are my uncles. I can’t tell you how surprised I was seeing their picture in this documentary 😁
We spotted our family running and playing at a block club party in Northwest Detroit in the 70s...I feel you.
@@dgf6275 especially if it was footage/picture we never laid eyes on before. It was a pleasant surprise.
This reminds us of the recent killing of Senior Airman, Roger Fortson.
I was wondering if anyone was going to mention this!
Terrible..Terrible😢😢
@2TexasTuff more like typical, typical
...and it was all pitiful, pitiful. I want to know how the officer took the complaint of a loud sound, to have him so ready for deadly force.
@@jayste9334THAT PART!!
Thank you for the splendid job you do for the United States of America, PBS.
Thanks so much for watching!
Be aware that Trump and Republicans will end PBS and NPR.
My granddad returned home from serving in the Navy during WW2. The one story he shared with me still haunts me today. I have to keep smiling to this day knowing how I'm heart broken by the treatment he received while he also was riding on a bus in Virginia. He wouldn't sit in the back of the bus. He was wearing his Navy dress uniform. The drivers told him to get off the bus, he refused. The bus driver just continued to drive the bus. However he drove his bus straight in front of the nearest police station. I'll end my story there. My heart goes out to the descendants of Mr. Issac Woodward 😢🥀 By the way I'm in retirement now don't have to smile at them folks" anymore. ☮️💟
I grew up in New England and moved to L.A. to get away from them folks only to discover Latinos and Asians act even worse towards us!
The whole BC needs to stop putting their kids in those uniforms to go do to others what was done to them or work for these banks. We shouldn’t be forced to be a part of this experiment like we chose to be here.
My grandfather was a Vietnam veteran. He came home with a Bronze Star pinned on his chest. He was still a ni===r. He battled PTSD the best he could. Coped with sweets. He died in two-thousand nine…between my first and second deployments to Iraq. I will never forget what he said to me when the family met me in the airport.
Orson Welles informed the nation of this horrific incident of the blinding of this American soldier.
His multiple commentaries can be found on youtube.
Orson Welles was such a champion guy!! He gave his great voice to those who needed it most. He was also one of the first defenders of animal "actors" and spoke out about their working conditions and abuse. Nice to know that talented people can also be kind, generous people, especially when we read/hear so many stories to the contrary. I will definitely check out those commentaries. I knew nothing about them, thanks for the tip.
Looking at him now I can see he's got some black blood in him.
Orson Welles was definitely an ally!! You could tell in his voice and in his statements that he was not going to sit by and let this bs go on!!
How does America live with itself?
Because most of us alive today had no choice in the matter, we were simply either children ( my parents ) or not even born. We can hate the way things were done but we had zero ability to stop it.
@@thearmourboy3254 But as a adults we can do away with the institutions that reinforce the old order. Even as a child, you can call it out and demand change. The children that integrated schools were just kids. Ruby Bridges was just 6 years old, yet was on the front lines of the desegregation movement. You are never powerless.
@@relaxlibrary4249 Sure she was on the front lines, but she was put there by her parents and the community, she didn't just wake up one day and decide to go. Children can participate in very limited things, but the power belongs to those that can put political and economic pressure on the people and systems holding onto those things. Luckily things seem to get better with time. Each generation lets go more and more of those old ways of thinking and doing things. The difference in my small town in Tennessee from my childhood is insane. It's in no way done, and its not perfect, but I think its just a matter of time.
It’s not right to cast blame on the entire population in every area of the country for such atrocities.
@@thearmourboy3254 My issue was the "zero ability to change things" part of your statement. Kids aren't going to pass legislation, but they can take a stand for what's right and bring attention to injustice. The people at sit-ins and the lunch counters were teenagers. You can say that they were put up by the NAACP, but they chose to fight the good fight. Leaving things to time is the reason why we are still fighting these battles. Racist institutions don't just erode away over time. Look at the current political climate. Either we actively work together for a better future, or we sit quietly waiting for things to get better. We choose every single day. Act small, think globally.
That Dixiecrats rally reminds me of Trump’s rallies. Confederate flags, open demonization of fellow Americans, outright campaign for disenfranchisement, etc. The hatred never left. It’s still here.
It’s not trumps side baby. It’s the democrats.
But hey, it switched parties so that means something right?
@@alejandronopasanada5302
The difference was one was NON-PROGRESSIVE..
Party titles are NOT how you describe them..
Its the IDEOLOGY that defines them
Agreed!!
My maiden name is Woodard. I never heard about this until now. I am also retired out of the Army.
This is not only sad it’s heartbreaking.
My God
When will a price be paid for those who do things like this.
soon
I be wondering this all of time 😔
A great documentary. Covers much more than the title implies.
Thanks for watching!
Right!! I was pleasantly surprised and learned so much that I should have learned in school.
These stories are REALLY starting to mess with my patriotism and the way I feel about this country. Sometimes I regret that I ever served. SMH
The whole story came together for me in 2012 then I could no longer deny things and I had to reinvent and live in reality. I know for a fact all you did was go do to others what was done to you or support it. You fought for NO ONES freedom. You were fed lies. That’s not talking down. That’s a hard truth that drove me into the ground but I’m much better for it. I was an infantryman and I saw upfront with my own eyes. It was mostly bullying then retaliation then, them folk dressing it up as “hero’s just doing their job being attacked. The Iraqis made a home made rocket and sent it to us because them folks followed school girls(14 or so) around saying “show me your b***s” in their language as we are supposed to be running security at an all girls religious school.
I'm there with you!
Oh, but the people who say to "get over it" not realizing that it has had lasting effects; Sargent Woodard's experience is one that represents and mirrors many injustices. For each experience is a trauma, both in the conscious and subconscious mind.
The book this documentary is based off of is very thought provoking. I suggest people read this book
This is a very good Documentary and I learned a great deal from it. Thank you PBS!!
When I was a teen, 1960's, the civil rights marches and protests were seen on the nightly news. I could not wrap my brain around what I was watching. People being beaten over the head by police with their night sticks, dogs sicked on them, biting them, fire hoses sprayed on them, while doing nothing more than walking down the sidewalk. Then the white crowds of people hurling all kinds of nasty things coming out of their mouths, faces full of hate. What bothers me now, not realizing just how racist my hometown was. It was quiet racism, such as redlining, employment opportunities, even the local swimming pool was segregated, but as a child I did not see all this. We were 92% white, but the elementary school I attended is where my fellow black classmates attended, they were just kids like me, or so I thought. Found out many years later through these black classmates their experiences were far different from mine, they just never talked about back then. America has much to be ashamed of in it's past, the Indigenous People, and Slavery are the two biggest blights against the "land of the free"
“Racism (global white supremacy) is the local and global power system dynamic, structured and maintained by those who classify themselves as white; whether consciously or subconsciously determined; this system consists of patterns of perception, logic, symbol formation, thought, speech, action and emotional response, as conducted simultaneously in all areas of people activity: economics, education, entertainment, labor, law, politics, religion, sex, and war. The ultimate purpose of the system is to ensure white genetic survival and to prevent white genetic annihilation on Earth - a planet in which the overwhelming majority of people are classified as non-white, (black, brown, red, and yellow) by white skinned people. All of the non-white people are genetically dominant (in terms of skin coloration) compared to the genetic recessive white skinned people.”
- Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
Sadly, through the Policing of a people, the underlying control and subjugation of Black people in this country is still going on. Eminent domain and red lining, now "Gentrification" happens day in and day out without any objections.
It is always about protecting the established order of being. If we as human beings actually worked towards a harmonious existence based on fairness and survival for all...maybe this world will last. But I doubt it..... no one likes to share....not even power and control.
I have been to the very places in Birmimgham, AL where those things happened.
Imagine if a certain news channel existed back then saying the white mob was the equivalent of black protestors. That both sides were the same. That both sides had fine people. Like how January 6 was no big deal, just tourists. I mean, the insanity used to create and justify such terrible behavior. I wonder, though, how such disinformation was conveyed back then.
America was never "the land of the free" for the Foundational Black Americans/Descendants of American Slavery that built America and its wealth!!!
Powerful Documentary
Very good documentary. I’ve never heard his story. I’m fortunate to have heard it now. I also learned a bit more about Mr. Wells.
In 1946, the $695 Mr. Woodard was carrying is equivalent to $9,700 today. Certainly enough to get a good start in the world.
BLACK MANS MONEY IS NOT WORTH THE SAME AS A WHITE FOLKS MONEY
❤❤❤❤❤❤ it's only been 60 years
Ll
Never learned about him in school. I wonder why that is 🤔
I’m wondering too…… praise the lord for PBS & U-tube.
Same. I learned about Emmet Till and Rosa Parks... sounds like this man was just as important.
Simple. America has always tried to hide these things but they can’t
I know you're being facetious😂
I grew up less than an hour from Batesburg and Clarendon County. Isaac Woodard and Harry Briggs where not mentioned a single time in my history classes. I am still a young person. That is absolutely shameful. No wonder South Carolina is as President Harry Truman so aptly said "one of the slowest states".
NEVER Forget!😊
There is always evil. They were monsters.
And some still are.
Sadly these demons will always exist. As long as that ignorance and hatred is taught, it’ll never end
Damn. I've never even heard of this man. Another one of those things that we've swept under the rug
Just act normal. Nothings been done to your people at all that would handicap them, right? Just slavery and then we were turned over to our own suburbs and nothing else happened until we ruined it, the end.
He is but a blade of grass in the ever present treatment of black veterans. Those years were gravy because America won.
I have NEVER heard of this story, this man. I learn every day of another injustice against Black people it seems. For instance, yesterday I learned that marriage licenses weren’t required until the 1920’s. They became mandatory to curtail interracial marriages.
You'd be better off learning what caused the great depression, or the origins of the federal reserve, or what caused Japan's economy to collapse in the 90s, or what the civil war was really fought over. But PBS won't tell you that.
Interracial couples was illegal.
@@ThomasFromTN "PBS discusses all of those issues " All of them? Well, in that case I stand corrected. Please link or share the title of those videos.
"relatively trivial" Relative to the mass suffering deliberately caused by reductions in the money supply (e.g. great depression) or wars fought over private monetary interests, it is.
" .... cultural disparity imprints on a society" Virtue words. I bring those events up because they are the loathsome and antisocial consequences of unchecked usury, which the media treats with both historical amnesia and contemporary blindness. The role of central banking is part of the public record but conveniently omitted from nearly all the media's interpretations of those historical events.
"the 2020 election" I did not participate in the election, not as if that has anything to do with my point.
" You are a sociopath." If we're going to use ad hominems, then I shall declare that you are either grossly dishonest or clueless, and in any case apparently incapable of making a sound argument.
"PBS discusses all of those issues " All of them? Well, in that case I stand corrected. Please link or share the title of those videos.
"relatively trivial" Relative to the mass suffering deliberately caused by reductions in the money supply (e.g. great depression) or wars fought over private monetary interests, it is.
" .... cultural disparity imprints on a society" Virtue words. I bring those events up because they are the loathsome and antisocial consequences of unchecked usury, which the media treats with both historical amnesia and contemporary blindness. The role of central banking is part of the public record but conveniently omitted from nearly all the media's interpretations of those historical events.
"the 2020 election" I did not participate in the election, not as if that has anything to do with my point.
@@AndrewJackson1841common tactic to muddy the waters, move the goal posts or do what about isms, what about this or that.
Instead of you looking at this video and talking about what it made you feel, what you learned or anything you troll PBS about unrelated random topics to derail the uncomfortable truth you refuse to acknowledge.
You are as predictable as always. Thanks for stopping by.
So many affronts. Some small, some grotesque. Like when I go to a restaurant with my boyfriend who is white, just the two of us, and after an assessing glance, HE is asked if he wants a table for one or two. Like learning about the despicably racist title of Agatha Christie’s most popular book (Ten Little N-s) and then reading a recent forum with people complaining that the title was ever changed. Like hearing about my mom at age 13 having to dodge the physical advances of the men of a family she worked for and that she could not tell my grandfather knowing there was nothing he could really do and that trying might cost his life. Reflecting on the book, Why Do They Hate Us So Much?, I understand the root of racism is more complex than hate. The expressions of bigotry in today’s world are subtle and insidious. But the world is better than it was for my parents and grandparents, though far from what it should be. I am so thankful for those who endured and worked hard to make it so - black and white. I have never taken their sacrifices for granted or squandered the opportunities afforded me. Once there was once a need for legislation to open doors and the lingering effects have no doubt benefited me, but I wanted all to know I succeeded on merit. Heartfelt thanks to PBS for telling this tragic and impactful story. Never forget. Like someone wise once said nothing disinfects like sunshine. 🤍
Evil is what evil does.
I knew about the violent murders perpetuated against Returning Black Soldier's after WWI but Oddily it never occurred too me the same happened in WWII & after WWII.
So this took me a back when first watching this documentary!
Stupid bot
"if you rule against Shull, then let this South Carolina secede again." ~Defense attorney for Lynwood Shull
That's like a child threatening to run away from home, for being held accountable.
I bet that officer went to church the next day just as happy as the day before.
That's not important, god said or did nothing about it
You can count crucifixes in all their photos hanging us.
This sickens me.
Absolutely amazing. I went to college 15 miles away from where the event happened. Never knew about this...
This would make anyone with a sound mind furious
What does it tell you about the minds of people who want to make sure every so often that they don’t teach SO MUCH of this stuff then tell you we got this way because this is just how we are?
These are the stories we did not hear about in school. We did not learn the nuances of post civil war, post WW2, post Vietnam.
Every man, woman, child needs to watch today's history of America for Memorial Weekend.
So.help.us.God.
Thank you for this. These are stories that when the past is forgotten, it will repeat itself.
Uugghhh 💔 😢😭😢😭
Edit: once i came across a property deed that was dated 1940. This was in the 90’s- it stated something to the effect as - “ agree to not being of negro ethnicity and would not sell or rent to negros” I was incredulous. 😮
The Caucacity of the evil on top of evil is coming back bite. Just imagine you stole some folks to do work, played with them for generations so the don’t know who they are and have to even figure out that they are not in there feet, then play with their freedom, destroy their family and do so many things against them being able to live and get a footing that it’s too much to list and finally, you don’t want them living near you in the place you stole. Thats why my argument with migrants is just keeping what I got. People who travel out of the country into those areas know that chickens are just coming home to roost.
Yep, those disgusting "covenants."
This happened after WW1 too in the south. This is so horrible.
After WW2, it was easy for white veterans to receive loans to buy houses and settle their families. Black veterans were not afforded that benefit.
This was good. Really good,! Highly informative! Gotta be heard!!!
I do think its shocking to hear Orson Wells relate his story i never thought for that era anyone in hollywood would!
He was a rebel in the beginning of his career. In the best sense of the word. Long before Paul Masson ads!
He was always a very racial equitable person. He directed an all-Black theater production of Macbeth in 1936.
Bravo for producing and distributing this documentary in the face of those that want to eliminate CRT!
This isn’t CRT. This is Black History.
As always, this American thanks PBS for an excellent American history documentary👍🏼✌🏼🤟🏼❤WW2 African American soldiers fought/died & bled for our country & came home to Jim Crow, a tremendous slap in the face😡
Never again! VOTE BLUE!
There were black people in the Revolutionary War under Washington who were carefully placed so as not to offend given that most of them were slaves. In the Civil War, Grant recruited full regimens of black soldiers because he felt, if they were fighting on behalf of the black men, black men ought to be able to join the cause. Black folks have always been there, as mentioned in this documentary, hoping that if they fought and showed loyalty, they'd be given equality.
Black with a capital B.
God this makes me so angry.
Turn that into proactive energy.
History affects the present. In many cases it creates the present. How can anyone look at this documentary, which is just a drop in the water of stories of how black people AND their ancestors were attacked, killed, purposely discriminated against and denied opportunities for hundreds of years including this time in history and then say their ancestors (who are alive today) are in no way entitled to some form of reparative action? What happened to this man back then, STILL affects his family today. The fact that most of you never even heard of this man's story is not an accident. It's because it was purposely buried and hidden years ago, which did what? Have an impact on what people either heard or in this case didn't EVER hear TODAY.
Imagine telling those who lost family members in the Holocaust that they didn't deserve reparative justice for what occurred to their ancestors? Who do you think received reparations for those people killed in the Holocaust? Their family members and ancestors. The Civil rights movement only happened less than 80 years ago. And that was after nearly 400 years of black people fighting to get to that point, where they could at least be treated civil and given the same rights and freedoms, which had to be enshrined by law. Some in the form of the Voting Rights Act. So at least they finally had some say in their government. This was just in the 1960's! Black men like this one who fought abroad in wars for rights they STILL didn't have when they came back home.
This country can't afford the debt it owes to the ancestors of black slaves. The people who literally built this country for free. But it's still owed and the discussion of reparations should be taken seriously, Black slaves built the White House which until very recently was only ever inhabited by white men. It took hundreds of years to finally get a black man as President. Just ONE.
No, we are not where we were. But we are still far from where we should be.
Only a small number will put the whole picture together. We needed our own Balfour Amendment and it’s super evident. They made a lost race then just kicked it around. My mind changed to see the tactics used in my deployment then how they turn around and act like those people would be in chaos without them making chaos anyway.
God will judge every one in this world for what each one of us do
Amen, absolutely
And it still doesn’t matter. Happened to an army guy in full uniform in 2022.
I was in a bar waiting on someone and this guy heard me say I was in the navy and the army. The first instinct is “I would have served but wah wah(Charlie Brown teacher talk) then he tried to work that (if you have any complaints you should leave” garbage. I started to turn, then the bartender told him “we ain’t doing that”. These people don’t have honor about them at all, they have favor. That’s why it’s coming apart at the seems.
Roger Fortson✊🏾❤️
Gentleman: How can u gouge somebody's eyes out
Me: How? Because they didn't see black ppl as human or of any worth😢😢
Not today either!
Wow! This is the history we need to be teaching the raw and real life history.
They are not going to teach this in school. You have to research it for yourself.
@@Imissyoulou we shouldn’t have too.
@@bipolarmomandnowwhat Why not?
And still living the same history.
@@ImissyoulouTeach it in the Black homes!
While ignorance is involved, pure evil is a bigger part of this story.
Different note, One of the guys I grew up with was Japanese. His father was fighting in Europe while his family was a relocation camp.
😥
Remember, they got reparations for that.
26:27 Orson Wells said, “…The blind soldier fought for me in this war. It’s the least I can do for him. I have eyes, he hasn’t. I was born a white man, and until a colored man is a full citizen like me, I haven’t the leisure to enjoy the freedom that colored man risked his life to maintain for me. I don’t own what I have until he owns an equal share of it.”
True. Equal ownership. Equal wealth…worldwide.
We must destroy the wage for true equality, and equal wealth worldwide.
It’s God’s whole purpose to destroy oppression on the whole earth. Isaiah 14:24-27, purpose is used 4 times in 4 verses to emphasize it is God’s whole purpose, and it says on the whole earth! That means we must destroy the wage because it is oppression. A false balance is an abomination, because it causes all crimes, and wars, and diseases, and homelessness, and human trafficking, and prostitution, and it’s why not all people are doctors, and nurses, and scientists, and ambulances, and all the newest hospital equipment, and the healthiest food, water, clothing, and safest Tower cities connected to maglev Trains.
They’re God’s words, not mine.
Isaac Woodard is much more brave than me.
If I were to lose my eyesight I'd cry myself off of a cliff.
I was thinking about this throughout the entire doc. What fortitude he had to not just cave in.
@@TheRetroWoman80 , (1) losing my eyesight? Forgetabout it. (2) living with the injustice of being beaten just because of my race? (3) the resentment of serving "my" country & not getting any benefit for it (4) knowing that the "justice" system will not help me...
@@PaliAha808 I know right😔
Thank you to All of the people who fought for Civil Rights. Without you, I could have never married the love of my life! You see, my husband is a black man and I am a white woman. I cannot imagine my life without him, so thank you. Thank you, thank you!!
Something similar to this happen to Hosea Williams after returning from WW2 he was in his uniform too! He survived and went on to fight for civil rights along side Martin Luther king!
Williams was a great man, endowed with a strength few come to know.
I’m here my people. The ancestors spoke to me and sent me here.
I will always love, honor and respect my people, even those nameless and forgotten thru deliberate incarceration and lynchings. I will never forget. Your blood runs thru me and your pain is felt. I honor you forever and always ✊🏾
I heard a little bit about his story from a documentary about police brutally, now to hear the full story, this started the first civil rights movement before the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Long live Isaac Woodard & Judge Warring.
Oh Walter, how I ache for thee.
RIP Roger Fortson….
HUA! 🫡💪🏾
This is the true America !!
Nothing has changed and it will never will !!!
Not until ALL the Marxist communist democrats are completely removed from power! They created the KKK and filibustered ALL the civil rights bills in Congress! 100% FACT I noticed pbs left that important information out of this.
Well said, Orsen Welles
Amazing! I live in SC but we were never taught about this.
This is by far one of the best documentaries I’ve seen on any platform. As always, well done PBS
Thanks so much for watching! We're glad you found it interesting!
I don’t think Europeans will ever change. The contemporary laws that are on the books have destroyed Black communities in America. Thanks for the history PBS of SC. My father’s sisters were born in Charleston South Carolina.
They don’t understand that they are the foot soldiers of the matrix that gets them too.
We are a Constitutional Republic
We are not a democracy as often falsely stated.
If the government acted as a Constitutional Republic
And rule of law
This great American Soldier would have to be treated equally and fairly.
In a democracy its law of the strongest, law of the jungle, rule by mob.
That's why they were able to say separate but equal, which was fully false.
God bless the great American Soldier and hero and his family..
I am so very sad and apologies to you as an American of Native Heritage for the horrific torture you suffered by the police acting as thugs, fools, and criminals with a badge and gun.
I am also a 44 years retired Chief of Police
Who despises bad police.
May God grant peace unto you in Jesus Name
Brother Daymond
Pastor SCOJ MINISTRIES
This is a story of incredible cruelty, hatred and evil. This is a part of the history of America they will have us be ignorant of, and then insist "this is not a racist country."
This story is horrific. Makes me think what if they never returned from service and stayed in Europe. Would they have been better off?
Many did stay or return to Europe as they realized they could live a happy and meaningful life there
Yes they would have
Another great documentary!
My dad said when he returned from the war, his flight arrived in New York City and as soon as he got off the plane, he found a clothing store and bought him an outfit and took his decorated uniform off right then and there and threw it in the trash outside where everybody saw. Blacks and whites asked him why he was disrespecting his country by throwing his uniform in the trash and he said because my country I risked my life for have constantly disrespected me and my people over 100's of years and I nor my people have no place in the military fighting for a country that have never fought for us blacks. Years later my oldest sister wanted to go to the military and he forbid her to go. She resented him because of that for years until finally she understood why he made that decision for her not to go. R. I. P. to my dad and sister..
Very little to nothing has changed
I had never heard about Mr Woodard! I’m in tears watching this!! Thank you for this documentary!! I’ll be watching this with my kids later! This is the history the Red States and GOP is trying to erase.
This is so messed up,too happen to just a normal human never mind someone who serves in a war we just fought to stop this kind of thing happening to others.
ROGER FORTSON RIM❤
SEMPER FI
How long have been in America! Do you live under a rock!😮
@@Marilyn-tk3jl correct your grammar
Obviously you’re weren’t born in 🇺🇸🫢🤐👍
AIMMING HIGH
SEMPER FI
It amazes me the patriotism Black men felt even as the USA has hated us for hundreds of years. 🙏🏾 Thank you for your service to those in the past, present, future, my dad, sister, son and uncles. 🙏🏾
Knowledge is power. Knowledge pain. Knowledge is something more than data in the brain. 😎🎭✌️
This documentary should be shown to every republican in congress
Why?....It was the Republicans that fought against slavery, and brought about all those advances for Blacks economically and educationally during reconstruction..
They won’t care. They want to go back to these times.
They already know what they have done. And, this is what they are trying to get back to .MAGA…..
I can hear the talking point now: Just tell them we are the party of Lincoln. We freed the slaves.
@mstmms7952
3 minutes ago
I was floored by this . I had no idea beyond Orson Wells Radio Theater how he was involved in such a powerful social movement. It is refreshing to learn!
That was a fantastic fact to learn.
Well, isn’t this timely!! 😢💙🙏💙
I always loved Orson Welles! Now I love him even more.
I’ve never wanted to go to the South…because of exactly this. I’ve never understood this. I don’t want to understand how people can treat each other like this.
🤦🏼♀️ 🤦🏽♂️ 🤦🏽
This documentary needs to be in every school and every classroom from Pre K to College
hurts the depths of my soul 😕
No tolerance of any discussion in that day, barely any in this day either.
I have to look @this later. My heart hurts.
.
I am right there with you.
Tears rolling🥹🥹🥹
in the history of the world the way humans treat other humans is very disheartening. there should be a class in elementary school taught about human equality, and things like slavery in america, the slaughter of the jews in ww2, etc. should be taught. educate about the wrongs we have committed against each other in the hopes our children will learn from our past mistakes instead of burying in them in hopes they will just go away.
Evidently you don't understand racism! Racism is a system not just someone not liking you! Dr. Francis cress Wesling!
So sad...bless his heart....and the very ones who perpetrated these injustices have the audacity to even wonder or ask why they have so much anger? ...
I'm 63 years old. I knew nothing about this. Until I saw this, I didn't know Thurgood Marshall was a lawyer or Black. I thought he was a politician. I grew up in a white town. Until I reached adulthood, I knew only one Black child. Today I discovered the importance of Black history month. Educating myself about Black history is long overdue.
Now I TRULY UNDERSTAND WHY 911 happened & WHERE it happened. What I don’t understand is what is Thanksgiving?
The gleeful tale of American imperialism
Huh?
Thank you PBS for posting these important stories.
Thanks for watching!
Welcome back to the USA 🇺🇸
Thanks for your services!!!!
Why is it that we are different? Why can't they be the different ones?
We are the originals! They are the different ones!😂