Revolution Televised.pdf

Respect Yourself! 125
Carroll would not be deterred by her televisual representation
and worked at countering this within the written media. In a 1970
issue of TV Guide, featuring her portrait on the cover, Carroll addressed
the contemporary black political situation, the realities of
the militant organizations, and the police attacks on the Panthers.
Acknowledging the recent police raid on Panther headquarters in
Los Angeles, Carroll spoke with vehemence to the reporter, and her
analysis of the political moment is worth quoting at length.
I can understand the police not liking the Panthers, even thinking
that the Panthers are a threat to the Government, but to stamp them
out in that way. . . . It’s a funny thing about the Government . . .
there’d be a beating or a lynching or a mutilation, the Government
had such difficulty tracking them [members of the Ku Klux Klan]
down, or gathering evidence about them, or taking their arms away.
The police never could seem to find out who they were. But here
come the Panthers . . . and all of a sudden the forces of law and
order have no trouble at all finding headquarters in every city, going
right in to look for arms, shooting everybody who either gives them
any trouble, or looks as if they’re going to. All of a sudden the
Government is strong, plenty strong. 19
Carroll’s sarcasm and anger are clear, and the publication of her
statements in such a mainstream periodical worked as an intervention
in the televisual discourse, a way of jarring the American viewer
out of the reality of Julia and into the American reality. Carroll
referred to her character as a sellout in this article and questioned
whether the United States would ever accept shows that are about
black people who are neither stereotypes nor “superspades,” programs
that would show black people simply relating to each other.
At this point, she considered the changes in television for blacks:
Minuscule . . . pitiful . . . minute . . . it’s a vogue. It started as a
vogue. . . . I think the whole thing is going to be measured in dollars
and cents. If it’s to the advantage of the management, the sponsors,
they’ll keep us on. When the vogue ends, and when somebody starts
counting up the profits, that’s when we’ll find out what’s going to
happen. 20
While it is difficult to measure the effects of such statements,
their words remain evidence of black resistance within mainstream