The American Diplomat

One of the best shows on television over the last few decades has been PBS's "American Experience". The show has been very well written and often focused on unusual and lesser known stories about the United States....and in this case, "The American Diplomat", it's a story I've never seen or heard talked about before this. The story is about the earliest black American diplomats. It focuses on three men, Edward Dudley, Terrence Todman and Carl Rowan and how they fought against the ingrained racism of the State Department. The episode is told through old video, photographs and interviews, though none of these three men could be interviewed, as they died some time ago. In light of this, the crew did an awfully good job, but I didn't understand why they slowed down all the stock footage...which was a mild distraction but did not mar the episode and its impact on the viewer.

One of the best shows on television over the last few decades has been PBS's "American Experience". The show has been very well written and often focused on unusual and lesser known stories about the United States....and in this case, "The American Diplomat", it's a story I've never seen or heard talked about before this. The story is about the earliest black American diplomats. It focuses on three men, Edward Dudley, Terrence Todman and Carl Rowan and how they fought against the ingrained racism of the State Department. The episode is told through old video, photographs and interviews, though none of these three men could be interviewed, as they died some time ago. In light of this, the crew did an awfully good job, but I didn't understand why they slowed down all the stock footage...which was a mild distraction but did not mar the episode and its impact on the viewer.