`New Harvest, Old Shame': Color This Plight Shameful

When the history of television is discussed, the name of Edward R. Murrow inevitably comes up and so does ``Harvest of Shame,'' the ``CBS Reports'' program he did that aired the night after Thanksgiving in 1960.

Its record of the terrible lives of America's migrant workers shocked viewers - and resulted in fiery editorials, public discussion and a flurry of legislation designed to alleviate conditions. ``Harvest of Shame'' is often cited as an example of the power of television.

But should it be? An equally memorable ``Frontline'' documentary that PBS airs at 8 tonight on KCTS-TV shows conditions have changed very little in the 30 years since ``Harvest of Shame'' aired. The greatest difference is that Murrow's show was in black and white; PBS' ``New Harvest, Old Shame'' is in color.

Hector Galan produced this hour, with Dave Marash as correspondent, and it contains a great many thoroughly depressing scenes of miserable and unsanitary living conditions, back-breaking work and a nomadic existence that makes it difficult for the children of migrant workers to obtain anything resembling a solid education. One of the most moving scenes involves a teacher who talks about losing almost her entire class when a particular harvest has concluded and the migrant workers move on.

While the shots of workers at work and their living conditions are powerful, just as the segments on efforts to unionize migrant workers to secure better conditions and higher wages are slightly hopeful, it is the central section of the documentary that is the most affecting.

Galan introduces us to Pedro and Reyna Silva, a couple in their 40s, as they're completing the tomato harvest in Indiana, prior to returning to Florida to wait for the cycle to begin again. We learn how little money Pedro and his family earned, then watch as the family packs its meager possessions for a journey that includes several bouts of automotive trouble and a sick child, plus the bad news that Hurricane Hugo wiped out the possibilities of a harvesting stint in South Carolina.

When the Silva family finally gets to Florida, a great deal of the money they earned in Indiana has dwindled away - and there's no possibility of harvest work for several months. Even that possibility is endangered as more and more Central American workers are entering the U.S. illegally - and are willing to work for even less money than the minimum wage for migrant workers.

Spokesmen for farmers point up that migrant workers are now earning more money than they did in 1960 - but others emphasize that, in terms of purchasing power, migrant workers are actually earning less now than they were then, while agribusiness' earnings have risen at a more rapid rate than workers' income.

There's also an informative segment on recent immigration laws which establish a ``cut-off date'' for illegals to achieve American citizenship - as well as the H-2A category for foreign workers. This allows growers to import foreign workers under certain conditions, i.e., when no American workers are available. What too often happens, says one of the organizers of FLOC (Farm Workers Labor Organizing Committee), is that the farmers are offering so little in wages they know American workers will not accept it - but illegals from Central America will.

One wonders what kind of a documentary about migrant workers will be done to mark the 60th anniversary of ``Harvest of Shame.''

Video notes: Cable's Nashville Network fetes Dinah Shore in a 90-minute special, ``Dinah Comes Home Again,'' at 6 and 9 tonight. . . . KSTW-TV airs the first two hours of the syndicated mini-series, ``Voice of the Heart,'' starring Lindsay Wagner and reviewed in Sunday's TV Times, at 8 tonight; the drama concludes with another two-hour segment at 8 p.m. tomorrow. . . . Film director Sidney Lumet is the scheduled guest for NBC's ``Later with Bob Costas'' at 1:30 a.m. tomorrow on KING-TV. . . . KTPS-TV shows ``For Earth's Sake,'' the documentary about environmentalist David Brower, at 8 tonight. . . . Chevy Chase, Michael Douglas, Whoopi Goldberg and Melanie Griffith host ``That's What Friends Are For,'' a gala concert that was a benefit for the Gay Men's Health Crisis and AIDS organizations everywhere and taped March 17 at Radio City Music Hall and which CBS airs at 9 tonight on KIRO-TV. The guest list for the program, unavailable for previewing, includes Kenny G, Whitney Houston, Barry Manilow, Carly Simon, Dionne Warwick and the Four Tops, among others. . . . PBS' ``Crisis: Urban Education'' airs its final two programs, ``The Good School'' and ``Making the System Work,'' at 9 and 9:30 tonight on KCTS-TV.