“Koppel On Discovery” Special On Race Premieres In Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM, Ala—Discovery Channel Producer Jay LaMonica and Managing Editor Ted Koppel hatched the idea for the documentary ‘The Last Lynching‘ when it became clear that an African-American man, Sen. Barack Obama, would become the first black to be nominated for President.

“Ted and I had an idea of the need to set this into the larger context of the African-American experience in the history of the civil rights movement and where this fits,” LaMonica told NBC13 HD News.

Koppel tells the story through the life experiences of three Obama delegates to the Democratic Convention.

One is Alabama Congressman Artur Davis, who as a young law student helped hold the Ku Klux Klan responsible for the so-called last lynching in America, the 1981 hanging of Mobile teenager, Michael Donald.

“There are always some people who say we should stop telling this history because they see it as divisive,” Davis said.  “I don’t see it as divisive, I see it as people being redeemed together, blacks and whites, and I don’t think we can tell these stories enough of the progress our country has made.”

The documentary tries to answer the question: how far have we come in our race relations?

“We’ve opened a door where if you have the talent and merit, you have the chance to rise.  Doesn’t mean it won’t be tough, but I don’t think we’ll go backwards.  I don’t think we’ll lose ground from this point,” Davis said.

Added LaMonica, “Just the fact that we’ve come to that point, I think, means a lot for the country.  [Obama’s nomination is] an event worth marking in our history and that’s what we were trying to do.”

“The Last Lynching“ airs on the Discovery Channel next Monday night, October 13th, at 9:00 PM Central.