Colour War: The History of the Blacks

Duration: 1600

Year Published: 1971

Creator: bbc tv

Complete Record: Produced by David Wheeler for BBC TV. Narrated. Documentary-style film mostly dealing with African history and slavery in the Americas (North, South and Central). Brief clip of police in riot gear. Interviews with African American about civil rights and racism. Clip from a speech by Alabama Governor George Wallace, “segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.” Wallace’s supporters cheer. Black man from Pan-African National Crusade makes an angry speech amidst a largely white audience. Interview with African American man on the street. Black men in the back of a police wagon shout toward the camera. Still photographs of black man covered in blood. CU of African mask. Narrator discusses history of the “black African” race. Shots of male and female Africans in tribal dress dancing. CUs of ancient African cave paintings. Interview with scholar Gabriel O’Day (?). CUs of murals depicting Black men. History of the slave trade routes, illustrated by a map. Paintings of England during the slave trade. Still photographs depicting slaves with heavy chains around their necks and wrists. Other photographs and paintings of slaves from Africa working, being whipped, bound in chain gangs. Paintings and diagrams of slave ships narrated by a history of slavery. CU of newspaper ads and documents about the sale of slaves, paintings and drawings depicting slave trade markets and slaves working on plantations. Brief discussion of South American colonization and slavery illustrated by paintings, diagrams, footage of buildings. Emancipation proclamation and the American Civil War illustrated by paintings, drawings and some photographs from the era. Graphic wartime images of wounded or dead civil war soldiers. Images from black regiments in the civil war. Interview with African American man about black contributions to revolutionary and civil wars. Photographs and paintings of families of slaves or recently freed slaves. Graphic photographs of black men lynched and hanging in trees. CUs on smiling white faces of the lynch mob. Excellent early footage of blacks in the south being stopped by white militia. Photographs of prominent African American man and scholars. Footage from civil rights marches, African American female nurses, military men, parades. Marcus Garvey, black muslims, Muhammad Ali. Footage from race riots, civil war protests. White and black children play together in a schoolyard.