Citizens Interracial Committee (CIC) Community Dialogue Tapes

Collection

Identifier: MS-0490

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

One of CIC's primary activities was to hold massive biweekly meetings called "community dialogues" to discuss broad issues such as racism, police sensitivity, education, and employment discrimination within the city of San Diego. The number of attendees at any given meeting was usually quite high—perhaps as many as 30 or more persons—representing an extremely wide variety of backgrounds, including city officials, educators, administrators, religious leaders, law enforcement, journalists, and community spokespersons. The meetings were moderated by CIC Executive Director Carroll Waymon, and his voice is often the first one heard in the audio recordings of the meetings.

The collection's sound recordings represent nearly 2 years' worth of CIC community dialogue meetings, from August 1967 to June 1969. They were digitized from the original reel-to-reel tapes, and total approximately 100 hours of footage. These recordings provide insight into the workings of a major metropolitan city engaging in discussions of race relations on an unprecedented scale. Of particular note is the meeting recorded the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Reel #12-1). Several of the recordings include brief meeting minutes with the agenda, list of attendees, and some information regarding the content of the meeting.

Currently, there is only minimal information available for each tape. If you can provide more information on the content or context of these tapes, or wish to provide partial or complete tape transcripts, please email us at askscua@sdsu.edu

Dates

Creation: 1967-1969

Creator

Citizens Interracial Committee (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The copyright interests in some or all of these materials have not been transferred to San Diego State University. Copyright resides with the creator(s) of materials contained in the collection or their heirs. The nature of archival collections is such that multiple creators are often applicable and copyright status may be difficult or even impossible to determine. In any case, the user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, obtaining publication rights and copyright infringement. When requesting images from Special Collections & University Archives for publication, we require a signed agreement waiving San Diego State University of any liability in the event of a copyright violation.

Historical Note

Formed in 1963 because of increasing racial tension, the Citizens Interracial Committee (CIC) sought to create community dialogues to educate people about racial issues and concerns within city limits. In 1964, the CIC became an official non-profit organization and received city funding. Initially, the CIC consisted of a director (Carroll Waymon), a secretary, a consultant and a clerk. Over the next several years the city increased CIC funding, allowing the agency to expand to include other employees and services.

Under the directorship of Carroll Waymon, the organization responded to complaints, generated reports on racial issues and incidents (such as the Mountain View Park disturbance), created community dialogue through meetings, events, and a news column in The Voice, and sent out speakers and educational materials to educate the public about racial tension in San Diego. Because of city funding, the CIC's activities primarily targeted the metropolitan area.

The County saw a need for a similar agency, and in 1969, it decided to partner with the City in order to create a county-wide Human Relations Commission, which would phase out the CIC. Many believed the City's decision to end CIC funding had more to do with CIC criticism of the City than the creation of a larger commission, and a community backlash against the City's decision ensued. Despite these efforts, the CIC disbanded on December 31, 1969.