26 feb 1968 & sterling tucker

"Frankly, I feel that Congress is primarily responsible for the mood in America today."
                                                                                               Sterling Tucker (1968)

#OTD Monday 26 February 1968 Sterling Tucker, the executive director of the Washington Urban League, conducted an interview with the hosts of WTOP TV's broadcast show, Capital Conversations. It was a clear 45-degree day at the station’s studio, the Broadcast House (Brandywine & 40th Street, NW). 

Tucker said that Congress would be contributing to rising racial and political tensions in the nation with its inability to pass adequate civil rights legislation. A well-known DC activist, Tucker believed without Congress responding to the “issues of today,” activists on “the firing lines cannot hold back the tides by [them]selves”.

Researched & written by Rachel Hong. 

Photo source: DC Public Library Special Collections, 1968. Bernie Boston, photographer. 
Video Clip: WTOP TV news program from July 1968. 
Audio Clip: Sterling Tucker discusses book, Beyond the Burning: Life & Death in the Ghetto (1968).
"Inaction in Congress Called a Cause of Riots." The Washington Post, Times Herald (1959-1973): 1. Feb 26 1968. ProQuest. Web. 22 Oct. 2017.