Audio and Video Nation

Video Nation

Video-based based resources allow students to experience subjects in another engaging way. In this section, I will demonstrate an inquiry-based activity that students are able to complete that involves the use of video.

Video Activity

(To be used with the video clip: Parent Comments on Integration at Warren County High School (WSLS Television, Roanoke, VA)

Inquiry Based Questions

• What was it like to be a student of color during the time of this video?
• What was it like to be a parent of a student at Warren County High School?

Guided Learning Questions

1. What is shown in the video clip?
   • At 0:01, Warren County High School can be seen up on a hill. It has long white columns and shrubbery surrounding its brick walls. At 0:06, two signs are shown which may aid in locating the high school. At 0:13, students of color are shown gathered on a sidewalk. A couple of them walk to get into a car. At 0:30, the video clip spans over a crowd of parents. At 0:45, the voice of a Warren County native is heard, Mr.Bowen, in an interview with Joe Moffatt of WSLS. In this interview, Mr.Bowen explains that his students are enrolled at Warren County High School. When probed about the integration of the school, Bowen responds, "They've got to live with the Colored for the rest of their lives, haven't they? Why shouldn't they live with them at school?
2. Who do we see in the video clip? Describe who you see
   • In the video clip we see students of color at 0:13. They are dressed in school clothes and show a mixture of excitement and curiosity. At 0:30, we see white parents gathered outside of the school. They are dressed up and their emotions are hard to read. At 0:45, we wee the reporter, Joe Moffatt, and a white parent of the community, Mr.Bowen. Moffatt is dressed in an overcoat and appears well groomed. Mr.Bowen is wearing a cap and is responding to Moffatt's questioning.
3. What do we hear from the parent in the video clip? Who else do we hear?
   • At 0:45, Mr.Bowen begins to respond to Joe Moffatt's questions in regards to his children and their enrollment at a school in Rappahannock. He says that his students do not want to come to Warren County High School, and would like to stay in Rappahannock.
4. Who is the audience of this video clip?
   • The audience of this video clip would be the people that watch WSLS news and people of the Warren County community.

1. When and where was this video clip created?
   • This video clip was created in Warren County (Roanoke, VA) in February of 1959.
2. Why was this video clip created?
   • This video was created to capture the opinion of a parent in the community and to show the students of color moving into Warren County High School.
3. What was going on at Warren County High School during this time?
   • The school was being integrated.
4. What was going on in the United States during this time?
   • This was the time of the Civil Rights Movements across the United States. Many different schools were beginning to integrate after the decision of Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954.

1. Why do we not hear the students of color?
   • I infer that the students of color are not spoken to
2. Would you consider Mr.Bowen progressive?
   • More information is needed here. Mr. Bowen states that he wanted his children to attend Warren County High School, however the fact of the matter is that they still do not. It is important to take into consideration the true beliefs of Mr.Bowen and those that he projects for a televised audience.
3. What do you think Mr.Bowen's kids are like?
   • More information is needed here. I infer that Mr.Bowen's children may listen to other parents of the community and their disapproval of school integration.
4. Do you think Mr.Bowen's attitude towards integration reflects that of the other parents of students at Warren County High School?
   • More information is needed here. I infer that Mr.Bowen's opinion varies as he mentions for Moffatt to simply "ask the other parents" that are at the gathering as well.

1. Why does Mr.Bowen use the word "colored" to describe the students?
   • The use of the word "colored" demonstrates Mr.Bowen's language decisions he has adopted from his native Warren County residence. It is unknown to me whether this reflects his innate prejudice or is a product of the time he lived in.
2. What other information would help you know more about the way white parents felt about integration?
   • Other interviews, news paper articles, opinion pieces

1. How is Mr.Bowen similar to parents that might favor segregated schools?
   • More information needed. Mr.Bowen is similar, because his students still do not attend school at an integrated school. He also uses the same exclusive terminology to describe the new students, i.e. colored. His approach to integration seems to learn more towards "dealing with it" rather than learning and accepting the students of color into the community.
2. Has Mr.Bowen always supported integrated schools? If not, what changed his mind?
   • More information needed. The fact is that Mr.Bowen's children still do not attend an integrated school. It is interesting to note that they commute further, and that they do not wish to integrate (an idea that is very contradictory to the projected value that Mr.Bowen states in the interview.)

Possible Responses to the Inquiry Based Questions

• What was it like to be a student of color during the time of this video?
  • To be a student of color at the time of this video, one may feel quite overwhelmed. With the new integration of the schools, and parents of the community with strong opinions, these students were going to be under the eye of many different adults at the same time. In the video, we can see the large gatherings that the students enrollment at the school brought, this may come off as inherently ambiguous to these students. There may be uncertainty with which people support them and which do not. This would lead to a strong feeling of being overwhelmed.
• What was it like to be a parent of a student at Warren County High School?
  • The feelings of a parent of a student at Warren County High School would greatly differ based on race. For example, a white parent of a white student may find the integration as something new, which may be interpreted positively or negatively. Based on the interpretation of this event, the parent may have feelings of anxiety with sharing their support of the new students, or the parent may have feelings of anger with the decision of the Federal government to start integration. For a parent of color of a student of color, they may feel similarly anxious. There would be large gatherings close to their children, which may expose them to the dangerous side of the time period's racism. At the same time, they may view it as empowering, as their students rightfully take their spot in a more equal environment of education.