Eyes on the Prize. I've been re-watching the aforementioned PBS documentary about the struggle for racial equality in the US.
Once I reacquainted myself with the idea that PBS was airing documentaries back when Ken Burns was flipping burgers at Rax (technically Eyes on the Prize first ran only three years before The Civil War, but wev), a few things stood out.
To me it's clear that in the past sixty years the US has moved a long ways towards racial equality, yet we still have a long ways to go.
More than that, Eyes on the Prize contains an amazing array of primary sources, and it is awesome. It turns out that back in the day:
Activists made surprisingly moderate demands.
Bigots and naysayers made familiar excuses.
Politicians and other powerful leaders often displayed a healthy dose of cynicism. (Ooops, your phone negotiations have been recorded for posterity!)
None of that was a surprise to me, mind you. However, in light of the past couple of years, OMFG is the stuff in that documentary familiar to me. It's like history contains lessons for the present or some shit.
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