Date: 30 Sep 91 15:15 PDT From: lwilliams@igc.org Subject: PBS Series Advance Warning! Message-ID: <1563600030@igc.org> September 30, 1991 To: All persons working around the Quincentenary From: Loretta J. Williams, Racial Justice Working Group Natl Council of Churches I had the opportunity to preview the opening and closing (20 minutes each) and three out of the seven hours of programming that will be broadcast worldwide by PBS as Christopher Columbus and the Age of Discovery beginning October 6th. I share my impressions so that we can better prepare ourselves to shape public discussion of this major tele-event. I'll do the positives first: 1) it's a humungous undertaking; 2) with great cinematography; 3) and haunting music; 4) various stories are told along with that of Columbus, and indigenous people in Latin America today are shown as actively resisting some of the inroads; 5) there's useful footage and text on the horrors of the silver mines and sugar cane plantations; 6)it comes across that different things happened to different folks; and 7) it's gossipy enough (ex: the captain of the Pinta, was the real hero, yet he lived in Columbus's shadow) to hold the average viewer's attention. There are some good and truthful sections which will make it difficult for some of the public to notice that it's all cast ideologically to say it was all worth it. And in the closing minutes of the series, the wise white scholar says 'yes, there's some protest out and about, but, folks, let us go out and celebrate the great man, Christopher Columbus'. It is important that we help people sort this through. Overall, the series is a glorification of white males. Disproportionate time is spent romanticizing about what happened for the white invaders. Yes, some voices and what comes across most vividly, due to choices made in this age and time by the producers, is the message that wise white males, courageously playful while young, erudite when older, really do know best. Mauricio Obregon, establishment Columbian historian, subtly transmits this message. He is abundantly aided by the long sequences in the three shows where we watch today's crew of muscle-bound sailors joyfully pour buckets of water over each other, push each other off the replica of Columbus's ship, cook and eat supper together, sleep in sleeping bags on the deck -- aren't we having fun, boys! All this in the context of telling us that a small fleet of brave men were the vanguard bringing European society - culture, values and religion - to the "new world". Prof. Obregon does tell us how the King and Queen of Spain forced the citizens of Palos, Spain, to provide Columbus with two ships to make his initial voyage. We see the church. We hear the words imposing the penalty for misdeeds. And we are told how by the fourth voyage Columbus has become persona non grata to the imperial rulers. Some of the warts-and-all of Columbus are signalled. But some of this is done in throw-away-lines. While a map is on screen, the narrator does say that Columbus sailed south initially because he knew the route from earlier voyages of Africa. That strand is not adequately followed up. Yes, there is a line in setting up the love story about the Canary Island's being Spain's outermost territory, still being colonized when Columbus arrived. But this line, too, is surrounded with so much fluff that it's quickly gone from mind. The problem is the proportion of the good to the bad, and the juxtapositioning of visual images which lionize Spain.. To mention some of the latter: the Muslims did it Why did Columbus sail? Because the Muslims were pushing the Church in Constantinoble. (I oversimplify - but so does the series, and that's what comes across.) the Iron John syndrome: paeans to male bonding We see an awful lot of men playing at being adventurous. The ex-submarine commander who choses to command one of replica ships, the sun-bronzed guitar player, the hardy males relearning the fine art of rigging, the veterinarian cooking for "the animals": the laughing boys being boys. We have a lengthy discursion into Columbus' reputed liaison with the widow who ruled the Canary Islands. This is preceded, by the way, by the salacious ribbing of a young crewman today on the boat crossing in 1990 the route that Columbus took. Surprise, surprise -- the girlfriend of one of the new Columbus's sails out to meet him on a modern craft, he and she swim out to meet each other, Esther Williams style, between the old and the new boats, as the crewmen whistle, hoot and fantasize. Speaking of women, can't they talk? During the three hours, no woman spoke. All the analysts were male. And then there are the sequences showing men in pubs... We do see women in folk dress (quaint! quaint!), and as ornamental accompaniments to male elites. Blacks can only talk about black matters Prof. Franklin Knight, the one African-American male, (woman of color? -- heavens, no!) speaks only about Jamaica slavery, not the broader placement of the issues. His segments are good, but.. religion as solace Admittedly, I haven't seen the 5th hour which is titled "The Sword and the Cross", but in the over 50% that I've seen there's little direct analysis of the religious justification for the slaughter, massacres, enslavement, etc. 'The Virgin Mary helps us sail today, just like she did back then..' -- that's the slant in the segments I've seen. the promiscuous horse was the villain Yes, the reintroduction of horses did change ractices, and history. But the horse as the villain in the loss of land by indigenous people, rather than the European settlers and their bequeathal of genocide??? Do watch for the subtleties of language. One narration in this segment speaks of the Indians who lived in an area as "exploiting" the land. What defeated the Indians, by the way? 'More than the battles, it was the extermination of the buffalo.' The language about indigenous folk dying from disease, too, seems to have no human actors. It just happened. the glorification of western white heritage There are words by the narrator which speak of the "disappearance" of the Indian, but little analysis visually or in text that speaks to the destruction of cultures and religions of the people indigenous to the land. Mainly we see contemporary white folk dressed up in quaint, playful folk costumes in various white countries. Thus when the viewer does see people of color a mindset of "costume" has been established, and the contrast of anger, not cute playfulness or patriotic fervor of people of color, will turn some off. The producers of the series could have made other choices. But, then again, the narration in here speaks of today's modern pluralistic America...! yet another contribution to onward and upward Eurocentrism Samir Amin defines Eurocentrism as that which claims imitation of the Western model is the one and only solution to everything. 'Sure, there were some bad things that happened, and the soil of the Americas did help Europe out, but it's that brave yet tormented Christopher Columbus... and, after all, how grateful Africans were for the new foodstuffs from the Americas! The narrator talks about the "debt Africa owes to America". I must stop now -- responsibilities and deadlines prevent my going on to other problems with the 50% of the series that I've seen. This series will be broadcast around the globe starting Sunday night, October 6th. Watch it. Record it. Use it to educate, organize and mobilize.. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: cscheiner@igc.org Date: 30 Sep 91 17:40 PDT Subject: Re: PBS Series Advance Warning! Message-ID: <1563600032@igc.org> The current (October 2) issue of the Guardian Newsweekly contains a full- page, highly critical review of the PBS program by Lisa Maya Knauer. She closes by mentioning that Deep Dish TV is preparing an alternative series, focussing "on indigenous viewpoints, the history of resistance, and grass-roots responses." For info, Deep Dish TV (212)473-8933. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: lwilliams@igc.org Date: 01 Oct 91 16:29 PDT Subject: LETTER TO PBS Message-ID: <1563600035@igc.org> AN OPEN LETTER TO PUBLIC BROADCASTING SYSTEM Racial Justice Working Group Prophetic Justice Unit National Council of Churches 475 Riverside Drive New York, NY 10115 Mr. Bruce Christensen, President PBS 1320 Braddock Place Alexandria, VA 22314 Dear Mr. Christensen: We write to share some of our concerns regarding the bias in the COLUMBUS AND THE AGE OF DISCOVERY series which will be broadcast this October, as well as October 1992; and to initiate dialogue and action regarding corrective options to remedy the situation. The Racial Justice Working Group convened by the National Council of Churches is a multiracial and interracial body representing more than 30 denominations, orders, agencies, and over 42 million people. Our research and analyses of the social forces leading to, and flowing from, the invasion of the Americas by European explorers from 1492 on has been extensive. Thus, the May 1990 resolution by the National Council of Churches clearly stating that proposed Quincentennial celebrations of Christopher Columbus represent dangerous and inappropriate legitimation of invasion and genocide (see enclosed). Members of our Working Group have now previewed shows in the series and their report is alarming. While we applaud producer Zvi Dor-Ner's intent to help persons of the global society explore the question of why one man has come to symbolize adventure for some and genocide for others, we can cite numerous specific distortions in the final cuts of the 7 hour series, and in the promotion of the series. Among these: * PBS stations in the US, and the news media, quote Mr. Dor-Ner as saying the series presents the voices of many regarding the controversy, yet takes no stand on any side. That is patently false. The conclusing statement, seventh hour close, presents Dr. Mauricio Obregon urging "let us celebrate Columbus." * Yes, there are different voices. However, it is striking that the contemporary voices of scholars and activists are disproportionately male and white. * While the story of the voyages is one that needs to be told, the romanticization of male bonding is offensive, as is the failure to deal adquately with the rape of women spoken of by Christopher Columbus himself in his logs. * The series continues, as well as reflects, the prevailing oppression and repression of all racial/ethnic constiutencies today by disproportionate focus on the evolution of the folk culture of white settlers. * Increasingly racial and ethnic populations in this country are evolving from a stance of rejection of the idea of federal, state and corporate "celebrations" of the 500th anniversary of the armed invasion of this hemisphere to a mood of open outrage. These are but a few of our concerns about the continuing glorification of white power/Europe-American exceptionalism presented in what, we are certain, started out as a well-intentioned telehistory. "America" was not "discovered", but invented. We would be happy to meet with you to continue the critical analysis of the flaws in what has been a remarkable effort by the producers of the series. We suspect that PBS does not wish to contribute to a scandalous state idolatry. We hereby request, yea demand, that PBS immediately convene a multiracial body of scholars and leaders to develop an equal time response to the COLUMBUS AND THE AGE OF DISCOVERY series. It could be conceived as a complement, and follow-through, by a responsible and responsive PBS network. It might also, we suggest, staunch the inevitable withdrawal of financial support to local stations by people of color, and people of faith, nation-wide. We stand ready to assist in expeditiously locating resource persons for this fllow-through such as noted journalist Anne Braden, white American; Native American scholar Vine DeLoria; Dr. Rita Dixin, African American scholar; journalist Tim Giago, LAKOTA TIMES; New Testatment scholar Dr. Justus Gonsalves, Latino; Prof. Vincent Harding, African American social historian and ethicist; Dr. Clara Sue Kitwell, Interim Dean and historian, University of California-Berkeley, American Indian; Prof. Emeritus Gary MacEown, Roman Catholic scholar, white American; Scott Momaday, Pulitzer Prize winning American Indian scholar; Prof. Luis Rivera-Pagan, Puerto Rican historian; Dr. Loretta Williams, sociologist, African American; and the like. Again, we state our readiness to dialogue and to act. Sincerely The Rev. Emory Searcy Convenor Ms. Carol Hampton Co-Convenor cc: Mr. Zvi Dor-Ner WGBH 125 Western Avenue Boston, MA 02134 ================================================================ Note: Feel free to circulate, imitate, use in any many to help prepare more people how not to get caught up in the glitz telehistory which starts Sunday night, October 6th. The cinematography and music is wonderful. Some useful facts are in there. But the message remains the same: Euro-American male triumphalism. Deep Dish TV is preparing a counter to the series. That's great. As an organizing tool, though, we want to demand that PBS bear the cost of preparing an equal time response. Loretta Williams