News
New Documentary Highlights the Life of Whitney Young
Bruce Poinsette
Of The Skanner News
W
ith partisan politics showing no signs of fading,
some say the time couldn’t be better to highlight
the story of Whitney Young.
“He was a bridge builder between races and economic
groups,” says Bonnie Boswell, Young’s niece. “He was
determined to find common ground. People in the future are
going to need to be able to do this in a multicultural world.”
Boswell has produced the film, “The Power Broker:
Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights,” which will debut
on PBS on Feb. 18. The film highlights the civil rights leg-
end’s ability to negotiate and the lesser acknowledged role
he played in making numerous civil rights advances.
He may not have a household name like Martin Luther
King Jr. and Rosa Parks but Boswell says Young deserves
the same respect. She notes that in addition to being over-
looked in favor of louder public figures, Young was also
derided by some in the Black Power Movement for being an
“Uncle Tom” and part of the “establishment.”
Boswell says that Young’s upbringing helped him deal
with these accusations from people who had similar aspira-
tions as he did. He was raised in Kentucky during Segrega-
tion, which taught him the restraint required for survival,
she says.
“They (his parents) taught him and other young people
how to not get mad and get smart,” she says. “To not let
anybody drive you so low as to hate them.”
Young continued to develop his temperament when he
went to work in a segregated army as an aviator. According
to Boswell, constantly dealing with white officers helped
him in his life’s work to maintain his composure.
Washington D.C. could learn a lot from Young, says
Boswell.
Partisan bickering has been a staple of President Barack
Obama’s tenure in office so far. For example, Senate Minor-
ity Leader Mitch McConnell proclaimed the GOP’s primary
goal was to make Obama a one term President, Standard &
Poor’s downgraded the U.S. credit rating and placed much
of the blame on Republicans’ unwillingness to phase out the
Bush Tax Cuts, and Congress famously received a lower
approval rating than cockroaches, Ghengis Khan and Nick-
leback.
This displays intolerance for dialogue, suggests Boswell.
During his day, Young received heavy criticism from both
sides of the political spectrum.
“He wasn’t concerned about being popular,” says
Boswell. “I think you can learn a lot from the self-control
that he had to have to not get swayed by his emotions. The
kind of confidence he had to not try to play to a crowd.
“In any social movement, you need a complexity of voic-
es at the table. Whitney Young, because of his background,
was able to approach corporate leaders as well as political
leaders.
“There were people who were louder and protested more
but you also needed someone like Whitney Young, after the
protests were over, to go in and negotiate with people who
Civil Rights figure was known for
his ability to negotiate with
people from all over the
political spectrum
had power to be able to provide the kind of access so peo-
ple could get better jobs, get better education, get better
housing. It’s not a one solution kind of situation.”
Boswell says that Young’s lesser known role in the civil
rights movement made it challenging for her to get the film
out. Specifically, she says it was hard to convince people of
Whitney Young at the White House
the validity of the work because of the complexity of the
subject matter. The idea for the film originally came to her
in 2002 and she began fulltime work on it in 2008.
Boswell hopes “The Power Broker” will help encourage
people to look into their own family histories. She says
Young, like many prominent civil rights figures of the day,
gets overlooked because of our insistence on narrowing
down large movements to one or two people. We often
overlook integral figures in our own families because we’re
distracted by entertainers or other people’s stories, she says.
“Everybody is touched by the times they live in,” says
Boswell. “For use to be able to go back, for young people
to go and ask the elders about their stories, is really impor-
tant.
“I think this is a film about hope. While some might be
tempted to look at this in purely historical terms, I think it
really is a guide in terms of the values, all told, to make this
a better world and a peaceful world.”
Guns
continued from page 3
gun laws on the floor with a Smith & Wesson semiauto-
matic jammed into his shoulder holster.
The Kent Republican, who died in 2003, was advocating
a measure to allow gun owners to leave firearms in their
cars.
Pullen later recounted that he told his fellow legislators he
had no choice but to carry his gun until the measure passed.
``I never saw a bill move so fast in my life,’’ he said.
The National Conference of State Legislatures in 2009
studied which state capitols had firearm restrictions.
Of the 42 states that responded to the survey, only Wash-
ington, Texas and Kentucky indicated they had no restric-
tions on carrying weapons at their capitols. Eight states
allowed people with concealed-weapons permits on cam-
pus, and the rest restricted firearms to law-enforcement and
security staff.
No one tracks how many Washington lawmakers carry
guns, and concealed-weapon permits are kept private under
state law.
However, in addition to Taylor, Reps. Mike Hope, R-Lake
Stevens, and Christopher Hurst, D-Enumclaw, recently said
they occasionally carry guns in the statehouse.
Anecdotally, lawmakers say there are many more legisla-
tors who carry concealed weapons.
Hope is a Seattle police officer and Hurst is a retired
police detective.
Rep. Ross Hunter sees no need
for guns at the Capitol given
that armed state troopers patrol
Hurst, who spent 25 years in law enforcement, said he’s
carried a weapon on the floor when ``there were debates
that were going to bring out people with such passions that
there was enough of a concern.’’
State Sen. Pam Roach, R-Auburn, said she has a con-
cealed-weapons permit but does not carry a firearm at the
Capitol. But Roach said she picked a desk on the Senate
floor that’s beside a marble pillar, so she can duck behind it
should anything happen.
Hurst said that legislators who do carry guns should keep
in mind they can become a target if they ever pull out their
weapon in self-defense.
``Any legislator who is carrying a weapon should consid-
er the possibility that displaying that weapon and coming in
contact with a uniformed police officer who does not know
them, might find themselves shot and killed almost imme-
diately,’’ he said.
Hope agreed and said he’d like to see the Legislature ban
guns on campus. ``I would love to see it set up just like a
courthouse, where we have to go through security in order
to get to the chambers,’’ he said.
Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, also sees no need for guns
at the Capitol given that armed state troopers patrol the
campus. He said he’d like to see a statehouse ban, but does
not expect it.
``We have had agonizing discussions about whether we’re
going to allow guns on the Capitol campus many times over
the last 10 years, and we’ve never had enough votes,’’
Hunter said. ``People get all hissy about it. It’s like one of
these: `This is my right.’’’
All that said, Hunter and other lawmakers said this could
be the year the Legislature passes a gun-control measure.
Hunter noted that Hope, who has an A-plus rating from
the NRA, signed onto Pedersen’s bill for universal back-
ground checks.
``Everyone should support the bill,’’ Hope said. ``It will
impact those who are bent on committing crimes.’’
It’s not clear yet if Hope is an exception among lawmak-
ers with high marks from the NRA.
A majority in the chamber — 55 members — have a NRA
rating of B or better, including House Majority Leader Pat
Sullivan, D-Covington.
The NRA characterizes a B rating as ``generally pro gun’’
and an A as ``solidly pro gun.’’
Sullivan has an A rating from the NRA and he embraced
that distinction in an interview, saying he has a ``strong
Second Amendment position.’’
Read the rest of this story online at www.theskanner.com
Page 6 The Seattle Skanner February 13, 2013