Black History Speaks: Julian Bond

Georgia state legislator Julian Bond discusses the life of the black man in America’s southern cities with program host Dr. Kenneth B. Clark. Bond and Clark cover a wide range of topics, including black attitudes in the South concerning integration versus those in the North; Atlanta as the South’s more progressive city; Bond’s effectiveness as a black lawmaker in a white legislature along with his role as a community leader among black people; Bond’s estimation of Georgia Governor Lester Maddox; and Bond’s assessment of his political future. Some highlights of the program follow. The desire for integration is very much alive among black people in the Southern cities, says Bond, in contrast to the cynical mood of the black populations of the North, where large-scale disorders have occurred and the tendency is toward separatism. An obvious reason for the disparity, according to Bond, is that the North has the big sprawling slums. Possibly another reason, he adds, is that while social conditi