Bill Moyers Journal: Change and a New Administrati

Bill Moyers Journal: Change and a New Administration (60:00)

In this edition of the Journal, Bill Moyers discusses the historical implications of electing Barack Obama to the highest office in the land with Eric Foner, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History at Columbia University, and Patricia Williams, James L. Dohr Professor of Law at Columbia University and author of Seeing a Color-Blind Future: The Paradox of Race. In addition, Moyers speaks with Kevin Phillips about how America has changed since Phillips penned The Emerging Republican Majority 40 years ago. An essay on the progress of African-American civil rights and a double-memorial to iconic author, historian, and broadcaster Studs Terkel and prolific commentator, critic, and essayist John Leonard are also included. Broadcast date: November 7, 2008. (60 minutes)

From Dred Scott to Barack Obama (05:22)
Bill Moyers traces the black man's struggle over a century and a half. Can Obama help lift the "great stone of racism" from around the necks of Americans?

Barack Obama's Victory: Watershed Moment (04:00)
Obama's election galvanized many young people to have hope for the future. Many of them do not hold the prejudices of their parents. Obama offered inclusive language that brought Americans together.

Rhetoric of Barack Obama (04:32)
In the 2008 election, fear-mongering and polarization did not work the way Conservatives hoped it would. Obama engaged the narrative of the immigrant myth.

Obama Presidency: Progressive Era? (03:52)
Bill Moyers discusses "progressivism" with Eric Foner and Patricia Williams. Many black people know how poorly the educational system has served them.

Obama and the Black Struggle (03:25)
During the Bush presidency, there was a failure to govern and a failure to regulate. In the Black struggle, Obama is both a departure and a new direction. He is a political orator who invokes the tone of religious rhetoric.

Barack Obama's Identification as an American (03:11)
Obama's presence in the White House serves to remind people that black people are part of America. He taps into the immigrant story because his father was an immigrant.

Barack Obama and the American Ideal (03:27)
Barack Obama represents a new kind of cosmopolitanism around the question of race. He represents the hopes and aspirations of the American ideal.

Concept of Freedom in America (02:54)
Though freedom was not a significant part of either candidate's campaign, Obama has the opportunity to rekindle all other ideas of freedom that have existed in American history.

Kevin Phillips on the Election and the Economy (04:59)
Southern whites have helped the GOP win 7 of the last ten presidential elections. Bill Moyers and Kevin Phillips, author of "The Emerging Republican Majority," discuss the election and the economy.

Finance and the Working Class (02:54)
The weak link in the Democratic coalition is a lack of strong representation for the working class. As the US moves away from manufacturing to finance, blue-collar jobs disappear.

Wall Street Bailout Scam (03:43)
Wall Streets creates a panic psychology to get support for bailouts. The money has gone for bonuses, dividends, mergers, and other things unrelated to helping the working class.

Political Parties: Entrenched Interests (05:39)
Author Kevin Phillips asserts that America is a centrist country with tendencies "towards frustration." Today, America has no emerging majority, but rather an "emerging non-majority."

Studs Terkel and John Leonard (04:54)
In 1984, Bill Moyers and Studs Terkel traveled the U.S., talking to ordinary people about their views of the world. John Leonard has the knack of seeing what is at the heart of America. Bill Moyers honors the passing of these two friends.