Look back 50 years at events leading to civil rights legislation

NEW YORK — A CBS News event today marking the 50th anniversary of civil rights legislation is a look back at history and a glimpse into future opportunities for a broadcast news division.

“CBS News: 50 Years Later, Civil Rights,” moderated by Bob Schieffer, features Harry Belafonte, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, actress Whoopi Goldberg and

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others. It will be shown at 5 p.m. on the Smithsonian Channel and CBSNews.com, with Microsoft’s interactive element allowing viewers to express opinions.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt as honored to be part of something as I am with this,” said chief Washington correspondent Schieffer, who brought his twin 13-year-old granddaughters to New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater to watch.

Schieffer will host a discussion with relatives of Freedom Riders killed in the South, hear Lewis’ account of demonstrations and look at civil rights battles of today with a panel including Jason Collins, the first openly gay NBA player.

Online, viewers can see testimonials from public figures about what the civil rights battle meant to them and watch footage of CBS News coverage from the time, including a Walter Cronkiteanchored special about the disappearance of three civil rights activists in Mississippi.

Schieffer, along with Bill Plante, has experience covering the issue. He recalls “the most terrifying night of my life” reporting on the enrollment of the first black student at the University of Mississippi, being in a crowd as snipers were shooting nearby.

Schieffer grew up in a segregated Fort Worth and didn’t shake hands with a black person until he was a second lieutenant in the Air Force.

“It wasn’t because I didn’t want to. They lived on one side of town and we lived on the other, and the two sides just didn’t come together.”

He said he wanted his grandchildren, and as many Americans as possible who had no experience with that time in history, to learn about it.