Baldwin vs Buckley
In 1965, James Baldwin and William F. Buckley — thought leaders from dramatically different backgrounds — made plans to debate race relations and the meaning of the American Dream.
In this pivotal year at the height of the civil rights movement, students crowded into the debate hall at the University of Cambridge to hear arguments from opposing sides. What followed would go down in history.
In this episode of Black History in Two Minutes (or so) hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. — with additional commentary from Khalil Gibran Muhammad of Harvard University and Imani Perry of Princeton University — we witness a haunting performance from one of America’s great orators as he confronts head-on the horrors of our history.
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Robert Smith
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Dyllan McGee
SERIES PRODUCER
Kelsi Lindus
PRODUCERS
Chelsea Adewunmi
Oluwaseun Babalola
Kevin Burke
Megan Graham
Vashni Korin
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Robert L. Yacyshyn
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Ashley Thomas
POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR
Veronica Leib
POST PRODUCTION MANAGER
Katherine Swiatek
WRITTEN BY
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
ORIGINAL MUSIC COMPOSED BY
Matthew Head
ADDITIONAL WRITING
Kevin Burke
SERIES EDITOR
Reena Mangubat
EDITORS
Cierra Pacheco
Liza Renzulli
Anne Yao
ASSISTANT EDITORS
Ben Pakman
Patrice Bowman
Imani Dean
SUPERVISING PRODUCERS
Will Ventura
Sara Wolitzky
ARCHIVAL PRODUCERS
Megan Graham
Jade Edwards-Lovell
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Seng Chen
Gregory Brutus
Nausheen Dadabhoy
Archival Materials Courtesy of:
Associated Press
Everett Collection, Inc.
Getty Images
Library of Congress
The New York Public Library
Additional Material:
American Archive of Public Broadcasting, Baldwin-Buckley Debate
American Museum of Natural History Research Library, Digital Special Collections
National Archives and Records Administration
University of Cambridge, Baldwin-Buckley Debate
Special Thanks
Jorge Felipe
Amy Gosdanian
Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham
Romilla Karnick
Imani Perry
Khalil Gibran Muhammad
John Thornton
Marial Iglesias Utset
Sara Wicht
Abby Wolf