Series: The Ten O'Clock News
Date: 1986-07-02
Duration: 00:02:29

Subject: Discrimination
People: Block, Stan; Harper, Tommy; Jones, Marcus;

Clip Description
Marcus Jones reports that Tommy Harper (former Boston Red Sox player) was fired from the Boston Red Sox in December of 1985. Jones notes that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has concluded that Harper was wrongfully dismissed by the team. Jones notes that Harper was fired after he spoke out against a team policy which allowed only white employees of the team to go to an Elk's Lodge near the team's spring training camp in Winter Haven, Florida. Jones interviews Harper. Harper talks about his complaint against the team and the situation during spring training camp. Jones reports that Harper now works at the Geneva Autobody Shop near Fenway Park. Jones interviews Stan Block (Geneva Autobody Shop). Jones notes that the Boston Red Sox have a reputation as a racist team. He adds that the Red Sox have threatened to appeal the EEOC ruling. Jones' report is accompanied by footage from a Red Sox game.

Series Description
A local program aimed at the Boston audience, The Ten O'Clock News debuted on January 15, 1976. Its two immediate predecessors were The Reporters and Evening Compass. A news and public affairs show focusing on neighborhood, local and state issues, The Reporters was produced and broadcast on WGBH from 1970 to 1973. The Reporters was then replaced by Evening Compass, which expanded into a twice-nightly news broadcast during the tense moments of Boston's busing crisis. On the air from 1973 to 1975, Evening Compass found an audience through its in-depth coverage of school desegregation in Boston, which began in 1974. The Ten O'Clock News stood out as an in-depth news program. It strove for a balance between local and national stories, between politics and the Arts. The last The Ten O'Clock News program was broadcast on May 30, 1991.

See also: http://main.wgbh.org/ton/programs/4418_01