Series: The Ten O'Clock News
Date: 1987-10-29
Duration: 00:03:39

Subject: Discrimination
People: Flynn, Raymond; Rodriguez, Alex; Vaillancourt, Meg;
Geography: South Boston (Boston, Mass.)|

Clip Description
Meg Vaillancourt reports that Ray Flynn (Mayor of Boston) has pledged to integrate public housing projects in South Boston by next year. Vaillancourt notes that there are no African American families among the 2400 families living in the Old Colony Housing Project in South Boston. Vaillancourt interviews Flynn. Flynn says that the housing projects will be integrated in a responsible manner. He talks about integration of public housing projects in Charlestown. Vaillancourt reports that civil rights advocates accuse the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) of ignoring non-white families on the waiting list for apartments in South Boston projects. Vaillancourt interviews Alex Rodriguez (Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination). Rodriguez says that the BHA's housing policies are illegal. Rodriguez threatens to take action against the city. Vaillancourt reports that the pace of integration in the housing projects has been slow. She adds that the South Boston residents are opposed to integration. Vaillancourt's report includes footage of South Boston housing project residents talking about their opposition to integration. Residents say that the quality of life will decline if African American families move into the project. Other residents say that violence will erupt if the projects are integrated. Vaillancourt interviews an African American laborer who says that he would not mind moving into a housing project in South Boston.

This edition of the Ten O'Clock News also included the following item:
Hope Kelly reviews the history of public housing in Boston
History of public housing in South Boston

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/5384_02