Content description:
The photo shows a demonstration by members and supporters of the Ad Hoc Committee to End Discrimination. The demonstrators are staging a sit-in which blocks the entry/exit of the Oakland Tribune delivery trucks at the Oakland Tribune loading dock. The protesters are sitting crossed-legged in front of a chain link fence at the entrance to the loading dock. Five protesters are clearly visible: a white female, two African American males, and two white males. They appear to be singing or chanting. Also stationed along this fence are two police officers, who are standing among the protesters. A group of reporters is standing off to one side, facing the protesters. In addition, on the other side of the fence, a number of men have gathered (Oakland Tribune employees/delivery drivers?) and they are observing the protesters, police, and reporters. A few are leaning against the fence, and two are smoking cigarettes. In 1964 the Ad Hoc Committee to End Discrimination organized a number of demonstrations to protest racial discrimination in hiring practices, including protests against Sheraton-Palace, Auto Row, Mel's Drive-in, and the Oakland Tribune. The Ad Hoc Committee picketed The Tribune building after William F. Knowland, editor and general manager of The Tribune, rejected hiring demands of the Ad Hoc Committee. The Ad Hoc Committee charged that the percentage of minority racial group employment was inadequate, and demanded that minority racial group employment on The Tribune be increased to between 15 and 20 percent of the total employment by December 15, 1964.