CBS Schoolbreak Special: The War Between the Classes: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A film with the title “The War Between the Classes” from the television series CBS Schoolbreak Special. It consists of a single reel of acetate film with optical sound.

In the film, high school students play a "Color Game" assigned by their teacher, in which they are divided into two immutable groups based on class. It opens with the class watching a film depicting racial violence and discussing racial progress. The relationship between two of the students, Amy (Jan Gan Boyd) and Adam (Don Michael Paul), is especially strained by the constraints of the game.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1985
• Directed by: Michael Toshiyuki Uno
• Subject of: Kale Browne, American, born 1950
• Subject of: Jan Gan Boyd, American
• Subject of: Don Michael Paul, American, born 1963
• Subject of: Paul Winfield, American, 1939 - 2004
• Subject of: James Wilder, American, born 1968
• Subject of: Marcelino Sánchez, Puerto Rican, 1957 - 1986
• Subject of: Begonya Plaza
• Type: sound films
• Type: color films (visual works)
• Type: short subjects
• Type: 16mm (photographic film size)
• Medium: acetate film
• Dimensions: Duration: 28 min.
• Dimensions: Physical extent (film): 1000 ft
• Place used: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Race relations
• Topic: Television
• Topic: Youth
• Object number: 2017.55.5.1a
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Transferred from the DC Public Library
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.