About The Film

The American Diplomat is a 1-hr historical documentary that will air on PBS’s American Experience on February 15th 2022. The film examines the experience of African American diplomats serving during the Cold War. At the height of the civil rights movement in the US, these men represented the best of American ideals abroad while facing discrimination at home. Colloquially referred to as “male, pale, and Yale,” the State Department fiercely maintained and cultivated the Foreign Service's elite character and was one of the last Federal agencies to truly desegregate.

And, yet, three African American diplomats would push past these historical and institutional racial barriers to reach high-ranking appointments in the Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations; creating a lasting impact on the content and character of the US Foreign Service and literally changing the face of American diplomacy forever.

Learn more about the project here