Humankind: Justice Denied

From: David Freudberg
Length: 58:59

How could a nation founded on a Declaration that "all men are created equal" permit slavery? Nowhere was this contradiction more stark than at the Supreme Court, which formally ruled in the Dred Scott case that black people have "no rights" -- a decision Abraham Lincoln adamantly opposed. In this one-hour Humankind special, produced in association with WGBH/Boston, we'll learn about harsh public reaction when federal judges enforced slavery through fugitive slave laws and the Dred Scott ruling. Read the full description.

Piece Audio

Promos

Playing: Humankind: Justice Denied
From: David Freudberg

Abraham-lincoln-281x300_small

Ideal for broadcast around M.L. King Day or Black History Month, this one-hour Humankind special examines the fascinating historical role played by U.S. federal courts in enforcing slavery. Produced in association with WGBH/Boston.

We revisit how a Boston judge's decision to order a runaway slave returned to his Virginia owner provoked the largest abolitionist protest the nation had ever seen. Then an in-depth look at the Supreme Court's famous Dred Scott ruling -- adamantly opposed by Abraham Lincoln -- that blacks "have no rights a white man is bound to respect". To what extent did these and other cases inflame tensions leading to the Civil War and damage the reputation of the federal judiciary? Featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning Lincoln historian Eric Foner, Museum of African-American History director Beverly Morgan-Welch, Duke Univ. law professor Paul Finkelman as well as dramatic readings from Frederick Douglass and others.

More from David Freudberg

Humankind: The Diet-Climate Connection (Hour 2) (58:59)
From: David Freudberg

Understanding the footprint of what we eat is a revelation for many of us who contact our food not in the sunlit fields, but in the fluorescent-lit aisle of the grocery ...

Humankind: The Diet-Climate Connection (Hour 1) (58:59)
From: David Freudberg

What was the carbon footprint of your dinner last night? This special documentary project examines how the foods we eat affect the planet we inhabit. In a period of extreme ...

Humankind: Rubin Carter's Hurricane (59:00)
From: David Freudberg

Memorialized in a Bob Dylan song and an Academy Award nominated Denzel Washington film, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter was a successful prize fighter, who was falsely accused of ...

Caption: Annie Leonard - "The Story of Stuff'"

Reclaiming the Holidays (59:01)
From: David Freudberg

This special profiles people from different backgrounds who seek to get past the consumer frenzy of the December holidays, and to focus more on authentic family connection ...

Humankind: Passengers (Hour Two) (59:00)
From: David Freudberg

With federal support for public transit hanging in the balance, this sound-rich series (two one-hour documentaries) examines how our personal transportation choices - private ...

Humankind: Passengers (Hour One) (59:02)
From: David Freudberg

With transportation jobs on the line, this sound-rich series (two one-hour documentaries) examines how our personal transportation choices - private cars vs. public transit - ...

Humankind: An Informed Republic (59:00)
From: David Freudberg

Ideal for broadcast around July 4th: America's founders knew their democracy required informed citizens, but is quality journalism now threatened by the decline of print ...

Caption: VAN JONES, founder of Green for All, Credit: Courtesy Richard Hume, Experience Life magazine

Humankind: The Green Economy (58:59)
From: David Freudberg

Environmental visionary Van Jones, former White House special adviser for green jobs, is featured

Humankind: Tucker Stilley / Managing Pain (59:59)
From: David Freudberg

This documentary tells the moving story of Tucker Stilley, a remarkable spirit who, in his early forties, was diagnosed with ALS (known as Lou Gehrig's disease), a ...

HUMANKIND: Universal Health Care (01:00:30)
From: David Freudberg

A Cambridge couple, both MDs and Harvard Medical faculty, have devoted their lives to researching and advocating universal health care. Provocative.

Piece Description

Ideal for broadcast around M.L. King Day or Black History Month, this one-hour Humankind special examines the fascinating historical role played by U.S. federal courts in enforcing slavery. Produced in association with WGBH/Boston.

We revisit how a Boston judge's decision to order a runaway slave returned to his Virginia owner provoked the largest abolitionist protest the nation had ever seen. Then an in-depth look at the Supreme Court's famous Dred Scott ruling -- adamantly opposed by Abraham Lincoln -- that blacks "have no rights a white man is bound to respect". To what extent did these and other cases inflame tensions leading to the Civil War and damage the reputation of the federal judiciary? Featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning Lincoln historian Eric Foner, Museum of African-American History director Beverly Morgan-Welch, Duke Univ. law professor Paul Finkelman as well as dramatic readings from Frederick Douglass and others.

Timing and Cues

Broadcast rights open January 15, 2013. This documentary special consists of two 29:00 segments that can be aired as stand-alone programs or as a full-hour broadcast (with midpoint billboard included).

The Incue for each segment is: "This Humankind special..." The Outcue for each segment is: "The Executive Producer is David Freudberg. This is Humankind."

The end of the first segment is followed at 29:00 with a billboard for the second half-hour, concluding with the phrase, "when Humankind continues in a moment." This is followed immediately by a :30 music bed for local ID, etc. The bed begins at 29:30. Second half of the program begins at 30:00 and concludes at 59:00 with: "The Executive Producer is David Freudberg. This is Humankind."