Remarks of Gus Heningburg to Overseas Press Club

    g 

Remarks of Gustav Heninghurg, assistant to the president, 
NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. 
Overseas Press Club, 54 West 40th Street 
New York City, August 23, 1967 
11:00 a.m. 

The way in which Negroes appear on television has become an 

important issue as the United States struggles to achieve new 

patterns of relationship between the races. Because TV has great 

impact on its viewers, it is an important factor in forming opinions 

and shaping attitudes. 

We selected sports programs, from the survey and findings 

released today, because of the high incidence of Negro athletes 

and the predominantly male audience. 

Our major purpose in the present survey was to continue to 

obtain factual information about an important aspect of television 

which, heretofore, had not been systematically gathered; namely, 

the frequency and duration of Negro appearance on television 

commercials. 

Only televised sports events and related programs (interviews, 

pre-game programs, game highlights, etc.) were selected for moni- 

toring. 

More important, however, was our feeling that sports audiences 

might be more receptive to commercials featuring Negroes because of 

the importance of Negroes in professional sports. 

It must be noted that the appearance of Negro athletes on the 

television screen is primarily the result of their skills and 

abilities and is not dependent upon decisions by sponsors and tele- 

vision executives. 

A second purpose of this survey was to compare the frequency 

with which white and Negro celebrities were used in personal 

endorsement commercials. 

Finally, it was our intention to influence the way in which 

Negroes appear on televised commercials. It seems to us that since 

the commercials is the product of the sponsor and his advertising 

agency (the station has veto power which is not used often), the 



10 

y; 
Remarks of Gustav Heningburg 2. 

sponsor has a responsibility which cannot be evaded or shared, 

which is not the case for programs in general. 

(BASEBALL: Thirty per cent of all major league 

baseball players are colored; the National League 

which broke the color barrier has twice as many 

colored players as the American League. In both 

leagues, the Most Valuable Player awards went to 

dark-skinned athletes in 1965 and 1966. In fact, 

in 13 of the past 18 years, the Most Valuable Player 

in the National League was colored.) 

(FOOTBALL: In professional football, 26% of the 

players in both leagues are Negroes. Their level 

of excellence can be gauged by the fact that the 

lineups in the Pro Bowl games included 26% Negroes 

in the National League and 24% in the American 

League. As in baseball, there are a number of 

super-stars.) 

(BASKETBALL: In professional basketball, the per- 

centage of Negro players on the roster is even higher 

than the other major sports; they constitute almost 

half of the players - (44%). Of the 50 participants 

in the last five all-star teams of the National 

Basketball Association, 27 (or more than half) were 

Negroes.) 

WHAT WE LEARNED 

The sample is adequate to draw conclusions about the appear- 

ance of Negroes in commercials shown during the sports programs: 

* the rate of Negro appearances is 5 per cent; or, 1 commercial 

in 20 

* half the appearances of Negroes consisted of momentary 

exposure as an “extra" in the scene 

* of the eight commercials monitored whieh utilized Negroes 

for personal endorsements only one featured a Negro, Louis 

Armstrong 



7 

Remarks of Gustav Heningburg Pe 

* beer companies used more Negroes than others 

* banks, insurance and gasoline companies used no Negroes, 

according to this survey 

* there was not an appreciable difference in the use of 

Negroes in commercials aired nationally and locally, 

CONCLUS IONS 

The low rate of Negro appearances on commercials during sports 

events is clear evidence that there is under-representation of the 

Negro in television. 

While no generalizations can be made about commercials on other 

types of programs, we would be surprised to find higher rates than 

the one reported in this study. 

In view of the dramatic increase in the size of the TV view- 

ing audience for athletic contests (in which Negroes appear with 

great frequency), the often advanced argument, that audience reaction 

to black faces will be adverse, is no longer valid. 

In addition to the psychological harm perpetuated by this 

under-utilization, this situation also illustrates a limited 

economic and employment opportunity for Negro actors, entertainers, 

athletes and others who, if they were white would probably appear 

more in such commercials. 

The greater use of Negroes on beer commercials both in rate 

and role importance suggests that other products might profitably 

follow this example. Although it is self-evident that profit from 

increased sales is the reason for commercials, there are by-products 

of commercials which must also be considered. 

The Schaefer commercial, for instance, which shows a Negro 

and a white man playing handball, throwing their arms around each 

other, and, finally, drinking together socially, is a commercial 

for the human possibilities of integration as well as one for 

beer, 

Since the right to broadcast is granted by the Federal Commun- 

ications Commission as agent for the American people, profit alone 

cannot be used as the criterion for what appears on television, 

11 



Remarks of Gustav Heningburg 
4. 

By not using Negroes in commercials many cooperatives per- 

petuate historic injustice. Hence, the NAACP Legal Defense and 

Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) has called upon the Federal Communica- 

tions Commission to make an investigation of the “possibility of 

racial bias in the production and broadcast of television commer- 

cials. As indicated in the report, this question not only relates 

to discrimination in employment by reason of color. 

"Tt also ultimately concerns the serious and widespread 

public interest in television exposure of unprejudiced commercials 

as well as program content." 

Please bear in mind that the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational 

Fund, Inc. (LDF) is a separate and @istinet organization from the 

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, serv- 

ing as the legal arm of the entire civil rights movement and 

representing members of all groups, as well as unaffiliated 

individuals. 

Our correct designation is NAACP Legal Defense and Educational 
_P_iege 

Fund, Inc., which is admittedly long. Hence, we suggest shortening 

it in the context of your stories to LDF. 

———————
— <==