Seth Alesna
Professor Collins
COMM 105-04
19 October 2015
HW 2: Boycott Film Worksheet 1) a) Dr. King’s goal is not to “beat” the white citizens’ council, but to peaceably negotiate. He shows the utmost respect for them by listening attentively to what they say, not interrupting, and not outright challenging their opinions and declarations. He answers their question directly, stating that he only wants a humane system.
b) “We are refusing your services because we want change.”
c) In Scene 20, it is stated that, “If we can’t agree among ourselves we will not succeed with this boycott,” demonstrating that even though communication was present, the conflict within the group still wasn’t completely resolved. 2) a) In Scene 61, the Mayor openly declares, “The Negroes can accept our terms or suffer the consequences.” He feels threatened by the potential reform the movement could bring, and by being the Mayor (a position of which he is evidently proud) of a government that is against this civil rights movement, he feels directly challenged by protesters, which leads to his aggressive behavior.
b) The Mayor and other members of the white citizens’ council begin employing underhanded tactics, the introduction of three new white branch members and raising taxi fees for blacks are just a few examples of their attempts to quell the boycott.
c) The Mayor is in a position of higher authority, and it is clear he is completely uncomfortable with idea of black people being on equal footing with white people, even in something as insignificant as finding a seat on a bus. He is too proud of his socially constructed ideals of white people being “better” than black people that he is vehemently against any sort of change to the contrary. 3) Divergence is clearly illustrated from the beginning of the movie, where it is clear that racial lines separate whites and blacks