Vietnam, If only History were taught this way in the first place... I've learned more facts in the first two episodes...

Brian Lehrer had Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on his show this morning. It's not up on the podcast site yet but it will probably be posted. 

http://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444825/the-brian-lehrer-show

eta: It's now up on the podcast site. 

Now I've seen the first three episodes, which takes the series through 1965. Unless I missed them, I'm still waiting for the first African-American voices.

As regards the o.p. Question, as a retired N.J. Public school history teacher, if I had a couple of years to prepare and a couple of $m to do it, ......

Instead, I had a couple of hours to prepare each lesson, a teachers' guide to the text book and whatever spare time I could find to prepare a better lesson.

Oh, and 45 minutes to present the lesson --- around fire drills, bomb scares, intercom interruptions, assembly programs and pep rallies.

DaveSchmidt said:

Now I've seen the first three episodes, which takes the series through 1965. Unless I missed them, I'm still waiting for the first African-American voices.

There is a wonderful fellow I think in Episodes 3 and 4 from Boston.  Great Guy, Great Insights!

While there is debate about the quality of this documentary, I'm still on the side of I've learned more specific history thanks to so many "real people" interviews.  Excellent source of info upon which to form and inform your view of this series of key, key events.

Yes, plus there was a fair amount on MLK and his turning against the war, and stuff about how inner cities / minorities paid an inordinately high price in the war. I'm 4 1/2 episodes in, I don't think the A-A perspective is at all under represented in the program.   

rcarter31 said:

DaveSchmidt said:

Now I've seen the first three episodes, which takes the series through 1965. Unless I missed them, I'm still waiting for the first African-American voices.

There is a wonderful fellow I think in Episodes 3 and 4 from Boston.  Great Guy, Great Insights!

rcarter31 said:

DaveSchmidt said:

Now I've seen the first three episodes, which takes the series through 1965. Unless I missed them, I'm still waiting for the first African-American voices.

There is a wonderful fellow I think in Episodes 3 and 4 from Boston.  Great Guy, Great Insights!

I may have missed him in Episode 3. 

Smedley said:

Yes, plus there was a fair amount on MLK and his turning against the war, and stuff about how inner cities / minorities paid an inordinately high price in the war. I'm 4 1/2 episodes in, I don't think the A-A perspective is at all under represented in the program.   

I'd expect that. What I don't recall seeing yet, however, are historians, scholars, veterans, their families, protesters, etc., who are African-American and asked to weigh in on the war without necessarily conveying  "the A-A perspective." That is, as people who had as much to add to the first three episodes as all the white Americans interviewed so far.

Dave, All I can say is I'm not sure we're watching the same show...  

I felt the Docu people were pretty clear in the promos that the talking heads would all be "real people" not historians and such...

Just Sayin'

Also, given the design of the storyline, I'd fully expect to see more protestors coming up soon.  To my memory that really didn't kick in big time until '68 or so.

Certainly big(ger) time '68 and forward, but also:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Day_Committee

35,000 people, 1965, "the sturdy golden bear"

KB: African Americans saw the military as a way out of poverty—a job and steady pay. But as the civil rights movement reached a fever pitch, there was a disproportionate number of African Americans serving in combat roles and therefore being wounded and killed. The military, to their credit, did try to address this. But the larger thing is that Vietnam represents a kind of microcosm of America in the ’60s. One needs to go no further than Muhammad Ali: His saying “no Viet Cong ever called me ‘******'” is an important part of the story. And the way African Americans within units were segregated and made to feel inferior makes combat a very interesting flashpoint for racial issues. As one black soldier says, “They don’t care if you’re from Roxbury or South Boston; they’re shooting at you.”

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/09/ken-burns-the-vietnam-war-lynn-novick-documentary/ 

eta - Dave, nevertheless you're right.

rcarter31 said:

Dave, All I can say is I'm not sure we're watching the same show...  

I felt the Docu people were pretty clear in the promos that the talking heads would all be "real people" not historians and such...

Just Sayin'

I appreciate the Sayin', rcarter. This is a discussion.

Putting aside the question of whether the former government officials who've been interviewed count as real people, I've just been struck by  the whiteness of "the American perspective" so far.

Also, given the design of the storyline, I'd fully expect to see more protestors coming up soon.  To my memory that really didn't kick in big time until '68 or so.

Bill Zimmerman has already made a number of appearances.

Viewing experience is subjective I guess. I'm halfway through the series and I think they do an excellent job of representing a cross-section of those who were involved in the war. I haven't at all noticed too much "whiteness" in the perspective. 

Some of it is subjective. Some of it can be documented. The American perspective from interviews, through the first four episodes: 

White: Max Cleland (vet), Ron Ferrizzi (vet), Leslie Gelb (govt), Donald Gregg (govt), Mike Heaney (vet), Hal Kushner (vet), Karl Marlantes (vet), John Musgrave (vet), Tim O'Brien (vet), Rufus Phillips (vet/govt), George Wickes (govt), Robert Rheault (vet), James Scanlon (vet), Neil Sheehan (reporter), Jack Todd (vet), Thomas Vallely (vet), Bill Zimmerman (activist), Philip Brady (vet), Philip Caputo (vet), Jean-Marie Crocker (family), Carol Crocker (family), Bill Ehrhart (vet), Joe Galloway (reporter), Robert Gard (vet), John Negroponte (govt), James Willbanks (vet), Matt Harrison (vet), Anne Harrison Bowman (family), Stuart Herrington (vet), Craig McNamara (family), Merrill McPeak (vet).

Black: Roger Harris (vet, introduced in Episode 4).

Hispanic: Elliott Alvarez (vet).

To tie this into the thread title, I'd add that this is one way history is taught in the first place.

That information is true. But, there are a couple mitigating factors that need to be considered. 

One, the U.S. in the early/mid 1960s, which  was still a largely segregated society, with limited opportunities for black people. So I don't think there were any black people in government that dealt with the war on a high-level strategic basis. And I would guess that there were limited, if any, black reporters who covered the war, at least at the early stage we're still talking about, for a major media outlet (I'm sure we'll see Ed Bradley later). So I don't think the lack of black representation in govt and reporter categories is a miss by Burns/Novick.

Two, there is a lot of battlefield footage of black soldiers in action. In my opinion the lack of black voices so far as you point out, juxtaposed with the ample representation on the battlefield, is historically accurate in a subtle way -- it shows that black people had limited if any say in the matter of there being a war, but they were very much represented on the front lines, ie bearing the cost of the war. Again, in my opinion this is not a miss by Burns.   

Lastly, let's see what the total 10 episodes bring. I'd be very surprised if it's the same type ratio for the entirety of the program. 

I recognize the limitations regarding government figures and maybe even reporters. Given those limitations, I'd be especially eager to expand the scope of my "real people" in other areas. I think the Crocker family story, for instance, was a missed opportunity to make a different choice and bring African-Americans into the series earlier, in a way that speaks to being American and not just being go-to voices on racially based issues.

As you say, there should be more opportunities for that in coming episodes. But the first four are notably lacking in that regard.