WGBH Openvault
Ten O'Clock News; Willie Sanders
10/21/1980
Sharon Stevens interviews Willie Sanders (Boston resident), after his acquittal on rape and assault charges. Sanders discusses his bitterness at being wrongly accused and prosecuted for raping a white woman and compares his ordeal to the Scottsboro rape cases in 1932. Sanders says he met Clarence Norris (Scottsboro defendant); says that little has changed since that case; says that African Americans need to get organized to prevent the recurrence of these cases. Sanders describes his ordeal; accuses the police officers in District 14 of engineering the rape accusation; says that the officers involved in his case have been revealed as "devils." Sanders says that he is writing a book about his experience with the legal system and describes what he sees as a double standard within the legal system. Sanders talks about growing up in the South and discusses differences between the racial climates in the North and in the South. Sanders talks about the racism in the North; accuses the district attorney of racism; recounts instances of racism in the courtroom; and discusses inequities in the legal system.

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- Series
- Ten O'Clock News
- Title
Willie Sanders
- Series Description
NIGHTLY NEWS WITH CHRISTOPHER LYDON AND CARMEN FIELDS Began January 1976. Replaced evening news show EVENING COMPASS. Original host: Steve Nevas. Other anchors, Christopher Lydon (1977-91) and Gail Harris (1983). In 1980 - hour long. Ended in 1991.
(PREDECESSORS: Louis Lyons began news operations at WGBH in 1952. The News at 10 began in 1966. The Reporters premiered in 1970. The Evening Compass started in 1974.) Series release date: 1/1976
- Duration
00:21:16
- Asset Type
Broadcast program
- Media Type
Video
- Subjects
- Discrimination
- Race relations
- Rape
- Boston (Mass.). Police Dept.
- Discrimination in law enforcement
- Police
- African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc.
- Trials
- Genres
- News Report
- Topics
- News
- Contributors
- Stevens, Sharon (Reporter)
- Citation
- Chicago: “Ten O'Clock News; Willie Sanders,” 10/21/1980, WGBH Media Library & Archives, accessed February 16, 2019, http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_BBB303DB28414E4E853E28A191932602.
- MLA: “Ten O'Clock News; Willie Sanders.” 10/21/1980. WGBH Media Library & Archives. Web. February 16, 2019. <http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_BBB303DB28414E4E853E28A191932602>.
- APA: Ten O'Clock News; Willie Sanders. Boston, MA: WGBH Media Library & Archives. Retrieved from http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/V_BBB303DB28414E4E853E28A191932602