CAUSING
CAUSING SCHEDULING DELAYS. THE 4@SMITHSONIAN SAID DON'T
WORRY.
WORRY.
WORRY. NEXT YEAR'S FESTIVAL IS GOING
BACK TO 10 DAYS.
>>> THE NEXT FEW MINUTES WE ARE
PUTTING THE FOCUS ON PRINCE
GEORGE'S COUNTY, ONE OF THE
WEALTHIEST AFRICAN AMERICAN
COMMUNITIES IN THE NATION, BUT
IT HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY.
LESS THAN 200 YEARS AGO MORE
THAN 12,000 ENSLAVED PERSONS
LIVED IN THE COUNTY.
HERE'S JOHN HENRY WITH THE
STORY.
4@
>>
>> Reporter: PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY HAS A REPUTATION KNOWN
ACROSS THE NATION.
IF YOU'VE LIVED IN THE DMV ANY
AMOUNT OF TIME, YOU'VE LIKELY
HEARD IT.
HEARD IT.
HEARD IT. >> THE LIST OF THE MOST
AFFLUENT BLACK COMMUNITIES
CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION, THIS
MONTH THEY'RE ALL IN PRINCE
GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND.
>> Reporter: FOR MANY AFRICAN
AMERICANS THERE'S A LEVEL OF
OPPORTUNITY IN PRINCE GEORGE'S
COUNTY YOU CAN'T FIND
ELSEWHERE, BUT THINGS HAVEN'T
ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY.
ONCE UPON A TIME IT WAS A PLACE
BLACK PEOPLE FEARED.
AT THE START OF 4@THE CIVIL WAR
IT HAD MORE SLAVES THAN ANY
OTHER COUNTY IN MARYLAND.
IS THAT COMPARABLE TO NUMBERS
IN THE DEEP SOUTH IN ALABAMA?
>>.
>>.
>>. >>
>>. >> PER CAPITA IT'S SOMEWHAT
RARE, YOU KNOW.
IT IS SOMEWHAT RARE.
>> Reporter: DR. ROGE4@R
DAVIDSON WORKS AS AN ASSOCIATE
HISTORY PROFESSOR AT BOWIE
STATE UNIVERSITY.
STATE UNIVERSITY. IN THE 1860s HE SAID TOBACCO
SERVED AS PRINCE GEORGE'S 4@
COUNTY'S MAIN CASH CROP MAKING
IT A PRIME PLACE FOR SLAVERY.
WHAT MADE PRINCE GEORGE'S
COUNTY SO DIFFERENT THAN
BALTIMORE COUNTY?
BALTIMORE COUNTY? >> IT'S CLOSER TO THE SOUTH.
TOBACCO IS KING.
IT HAD BEEN FOR A LONG TIME AND
THEY MAINTAINED IT. 4@
>> Reporter: EV4@EN BEFORE
MARYLAND ABOLISHED SLAVERY IN
1864 BLACKS HAD STAR4@TED TO FL
MARYLAND ABOLISHED SLAVERY IN 1864 BLACKS HAD STAR4@TED TO FL@
THE COUNTY FOR COMMUNITIES THAT
WERE 4@MORE PROGRESSIVE, PLACES
LIKE THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO STAYED IN
THE COUNTY SOON FOUND
THEMSELVES SUBJECTED TO
SEGREGATION.
SEGREGATION. THE PRACTICE REARED ITS HEAD IN
A NUMBER OF WAYS.
FOR EXAMPLE, SOME PRINCE
GEORGE'S COUNTY COMMUNITIES HAD
FOR EXAMPLE, SOME PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY COMMUNITIES HAD@
SAT LITERALLY SIDE BY SIDE WERE
GEORGE'S COUNTY COMMUNITIES HAD@ SAT LITERALLY SIDE BY SIDE WERE@
DIVIDED DUE ONLY TO RACE.
>> IF YOU'RE A BLACK HOMEOWNER
OR SOMEONE LOOKING TO PURCHASE
A HOME, THERE ARE GOING TO BE
PLACES WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO
PURCHASE HOMES JUST BECAUSE OF
THE FACT THAT WE WERE AFRICAN
AMERICAN.
AMERICAN.
AMERICAN. >> Reporter: SYNATRA SMITH
ACTS AS EDUCATION CURATOR AT
THE PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY
AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM AND
CULTURAL CENTER.
CULTURAL CENTER. AFTER THE CIVIL WAR A PROPERTY
OWNER THERE SOLD 4@BLACKS FLOOD
PRONE LANDS.
PRONE LANDS. MEANWHILE WHITES HAD TO LIVE IN
THE DRIER PART OF THE COMMUNITY
WHICH WAS JUST 4@BLOCKS AWAY.
>> BRENTWOOD WAS ACTUALLY
ORIGINALLY A SUNDOWN TOWN, A
PART OF BRENTWOOD.
>> Reporter: THAT MEANS BLACKS
COULDN'T LEAVE THEIR HOMES AT
NIGHT FOR FEAR OF 4@BEING STOPP
BY POLICE.
BY POLICE. THE FORMER MAYOR ARTHUR DOCK
HAS LIVED IN NORTH BRENTWOOD
HIS ENTIRE LIFE.
THE 86-YEAR-OLD SAID PEOPLE
SUPPORTED EACH OTHER AND LOOKED
OUT FOR ONE 4@ANOTHER, BUT RACI
STILL EXISTED.
STILL EXISTED. >> MY BROTHER AND HIS FRIENDS,
THEY SET PINS FOR THE
BOWLINGALLY IN MOUNT RAINIER,
BUT THEY -- AFTER THAT PLACE
CLOSED THEY HAD A CERTAIN TIME
THEY HAD TO BE THE LIMITS OF
MOUNT RAINIER.
MOUNT RAINIER. THEY ALL LIVED IN NORTH
BRENTWOOD.
BRENTWOOD. >> Reporter: BLACKS IN PRINCE
GEORGE'S COUNTY ALSO HAD TO4@
FIGHT FOR EQUAL SCHOOLING
LONGER THAN YOU MIGHT HAVE
FIRST THOUGHT.
FIRST THOUGHT. THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT
DELIVERED ITS FAMOUS BROWN
VERSUS BOARD OF 4@EDUCATION
DECISION IN 1964 EFFECTIVELY
RULING SEGREGATION IN PUBLIC
SCHOOLS AS UNCONSTITUTIONAL,
BUT IN 1972 SYLVESTER VAUGHN
STILL OBSERVED SEGREGATION IN
THE PRINCE GEORGE'S SCHOOL
DISTRICT.
DISTRICT.
DISTRICT. >> I DON'T THINK ANY OF OUR
FOLKS HERE LOCALLY WANT TO BAIL
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OUT ON
THE RESPONSIBILITY THEY'VE HAD
AND HAVEN'T DONE.
>> Reporter: HE AND THE NAACP
FILED A LAWSUIT ON BEHALF OF
BLACK CHILDREN ACROSS THE
COUNTY TO BRING IT TO AN END.
VAUGHN'S SON WHO LIVES IN NORTH
CAROLINA DESCRIBED TO US BY
PHONE WHAT THAT TIME WAS LIKE.
>> HE TOOK A LOT OF HEAT FOR
THAT, YOU KNOW, PHONE CALLS TO4
THE HOUSE, 4@LETTERS TO THE
HOUSE, THREATEN TO KILL HIM AND
BURN IT UP.
THERE WERE A LOT OF BAD THINGS.
>> Reporter: VONN EVENTUALLY
WON HIS SUIT AGAINST THE COUNTY
SCHOOL BOARD.
SCHOOL BOARD. SOON AFTER PRINCE GEORGE'S HAD
TO IMPLEMENT A COURT-ORDERED
SEGREGATION PLAN.
SEGREGATION PLAN. VAUGHN'S SON WAS 4@BUSSED TO A
SCHOOL WITH MORE WHITES WHERE
HE ALSO NOTICED THE TEACHERS
4@
HE ALSO NOTICED THE TEACHERS WERE MORE EXPERIENCED THAN4@
THOSE AT HIS PREVIO4@US 4@
PREDOMINANTLY BLACK SCHOOL.
>> BEFORE WE LEFT WE DIDN'T
KNOW WE DIDN'T HAD WHAT THEY
HAD BECAUSE YOU NEVER SAW IT.
ONCE YOU GOT THERE AND YOU SAW
THEY HAD DITCH THINGS THAN WE
HAD.
HAD.
HAD. >>
HAD. >> Reporter: 4@WITH A HISTORY
LIKE THAT JUST HOW DID PRINCE
GEORGE'S BECOME WHAT IT IS
TODAY, A COMMUNITY WHERE BLACKS
PROSPER?
PROSPER?
PROSPER? THIS PROFESSOR TOLD ME THERE
WERE A COUPLE FACTORS.
FIRST D.C. SUPPLIED PLENTY OF
GOOD JOBS.
GOOD JOBS. SECOND, OUR AREA HAD MANY
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER
LEARNING.
LEARNING.
LEARNING. >> THEY'RE BRINGING A BRAIN
TRUST, PEOPLE THAT, YOU KNOW,
MIDDLE4@ CLASS, UPPER MIDDLE
CLASS, WHO WANT TO RESIDE IN
THE AREA.
THE AREA.
THE AREA. >> Reporter: IN 4@1994 LEADERS
WHO CHARTED THE PATH FORWARD
FOR THE COUNTY WERE AFRICAN
AMERICAN AS WELL.
THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE CURRENTLY
LEADING PRINCE GEORGE'S IS
ANGELA ALSOBROOKS, 4@THE FIRST
WOMAN ELECTED TO THE POSITION,
ALL THEIR PLANS FUELED BY ONE
COMMON THREAD.
COMMON THREAD. >> MOST PEOPLE I'M PROUD TO SAY
ONCE THEY COME TO D.C. OR