They Canceled Della Reese's Show For An Absurdly Racist Reason
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2022
⏱️ 3 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Singer Della Reese couldn’t believe it. Her white producer was threatening to take her career-breaking show off the air. When she asked why, he gave the most absurdly racist and unjustifiable reason.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | They canceled her show for an absurdly racist reason. |
| 0:04.6 | Della Reese couldn't believe it. |
| 0:07.0 | Her white producer was threatening to take her career |
| 0:10.0 | breaking show off the air. |
| 0:12.0 | When she asked why, he gave the most absurdly racist reason |
| 0:16.6 | it's still hard to believe. |
| 0:18.8 | This is Two Minute Black History, |
| 0:21.1 | what you didn't learn in school. |
| 0:23.9 | Before Oprah Winfrey, Della Reese paved the way for black women-hosted talk shows. |
| 0:39.6 | Although Reese's legacy is undeniably incredible, |
| 0:43.0 | her 1969 talk show was short-lived and mostly erased from history. |
| 0:49.2 | The show was a hit, so why haven't more of us heard of it? |
| 0:52.5 | Della was a talk show that featured some of the biggest stars in entertainment, |
| 0:57.2 | from Muhammad Ali to Gladys Knight. |
| 0:59.5 | But Reese was the true star. |
| 1:01.8 | She was a charismatic conversationalist and an excellent singer |
| 1:05.8 | who would sometimes perform alongside her guests. |
| 1:08.7 | But it didn't last long for an absurdly racist reason. |
| 1:13.3 | The man who was selling our show said he couldn't sell our show. |
| 1:17.0 | Reese told the archive of American television in 2008, |
| 1:21.0 | because my gums were black. |
| 1:24.8 | That was the reason he gave. |
... |
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