NEGOTIATING AMERICA

Vegetable Soup and Television’s Attempt to End Racism

A bold effort to combat the “environment of racism” in America

Negotiating America: Vegetable Soup and Television’s Attempt to End Racism uncovers the story of a groundbreaking 1970s children’s TV show that sought to reshape America’s views on race and inclusion, using it as a lens to explore the country’s complex racial landscape, the culture wars that persist to this day, and the power of media to teach empathy and challenge prejudice in a deeply divided society.

SYNOPSIS

In September 1975, a new federally-funded children’s program—Vegetable Soup—premiered on commercial and public television stations with the expressed aim of using television to counter “the negative effects of racial prejudice.” Vegetable Soup was executive produced by the award-winning producer Yanna Kroyt Brandt and involved a remarkable multi-ethnic creative team and equally remarkable multi-ethic cast which presented people of color as the primary personalities – a rarity in the 1970s as much as it is today. Considered by one contemporary health provider to be “a noble experiment in human values,” the series won numerous awards and remains a unique and underappreciated initiative in American cultural history. But after two seasons, it ended.

Negotiating America: Vegetable Soup and Television’s Attempt to End Racism is a feature-length documentary that tells the story of one of the most ambitious and culturally revolutionary children’s television shows of the 1970s. Born in an era of heightened racial tension and social change, Vegetable Soup was designed to teach children about diversity and empathy in a country still grappling with the realities of racial integration. This groundbreaking show was not just a product of its time, but a forward-looking experiment in racial re-education that aimed to shape future generations’ views on race and identity. At its core, Vegetable Soup was an urgent response to America’s deep-rooted racial divisions, emerging at a critical juncture in American history—when racial prejudice and systemic inequities threatened to undermine progress made in the Civil Rights Movement.  The documentary posits that America is at a similar juncture today.  In this context, Vegetable Soup demands exploration and reflection.

The documentary will explore the creation, production, and legacy of Vegetable Soup, a show that boldly confronted issues of race, culture, and inclusion, setting it apart from other children’s programming of the time. Funded by the Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA), Vegetable Soup was envisioned as a tool to help desegregating schools confront and counteract racism. Through its groundbreaking mix of animation, puppetry, live-action segments, and music, the show worked to actively “deprogram” children from the inherited biases and racism present in their environments.

Negotiating America will challenge audiences to reflect on the lessons of the past and consider the importance of media in today’s fight for racial justice and equality. With America still grappling with the same issues of race, inclusion, and identity, the story of Vegetable Soup has never been more relevant.