Although we will be talking this week about the great reformers who ushered in the age of Protestantism I will delay an assignment about the topic until next week. (Remember that you have a test on Tuesday of this week!). Instead, in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I want to pause to reflect on the Civil Rights movement as it transpired in the state of Kentucky. While we spend a great deal more time discussing the topic in US History it is important to note that the issues of civil rights are very central to the human story of world history. It is in fact one of the great forces behind the development of western civilizations - that notion that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights".
The Kentucky Historical Society has constructed a wonderful website dealing with the Civil Rights movement in Kentucky. It can be accessed at the link http://205.204.134.47/civil_rights_mvt/ . The stories that are told are available in print and oral (and sometimes video) format. Browse the topics available and report back on two interviews (include identifying information such as name, location if given, etc.) You can download the free software that will allow you to hear the actual interviews or simply read the transcripts. What do these interviews teach you about life in Kentucky during the era? How different are things today? Is racial inequality still an issue that must be addressed? If so, how? If not, why? Please be respectful in your comments.
Thank you very much and enjoy your three-day weekend!
My Mom was just a child in the 1960s, but through her and my Grandpa I've learned quite a bit about Stanford and Lincoln County during the '60s. For instance, I know where the segregated school for black children was, consequently it is a church today. I know where this old cheese factory was, right near the old school, and I know that there was only one African-American who worked there at one time. This man was the father of Anne Butler, the women who's interview I chose.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Butler was born in Stanford, Kentucky in Lincoln County. She attended the segregated school that my Mom and Grandpa remember and her father was the only African-American who worked at the old cheese factory. In the interview, Mrs. Butler talked about the segregated school and how hard it was for the students and their teachers. The books were often dropped off with a "See what you can do with these" and the teacher (Lottie Gooch) would often spend much time taping pages together and fixing the bindings. Mrs. Butler knew that the white school exsisted, in fact they were very close. The railroad tracks were sort of a dividing line between the whites and blacks. In the fall of 1963, intergration came to Lincoln county, ending the black school. This was Mrs. Butler's sophmore year. She was a cheerleader, but that year of intergration she didn't try out for cheerleading. A few of her friends did, but none were chosen and not one African-American was on the cheerleading team, showing that intergration may have been in effect, but it was still segregated at the same time.
Life was certainly different during these times, much different then now. Looking back, it seems like that was forever ago, that it didn't affect anyone that we know today. But that's not true, our grandparents were affect, even out parents were affected. They grew up with this stuff going on. Today, we don't really give a second thought about any of this, not usually. As for is racial inequality still an issue today, I believe it is. Even though times have certainly changed and it is common now to not really look at skin color, many people still do. You still hear racist jokes or hear people being called a racist. But it's not as common, definatly not as common as it was during out parents and grandparents childhood. It's not just type of racism that is prominent today, I believe. It's not just "blacks and whites" but I believe it is much deeper and more broader then that. I believe that rasicism exsists withNative Americans (Indians), Latinos, and other immegrated people. People may disagree, but that is just my thoughts.
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ReplyDeleteJulia Cowans: Bell county, Kentucky. Interview on April 2, 2002. Julia Cowans was a black woman who went to an all black school. Julia says that "all the black children went to the black school, and white children went to the white schools." During that time period I learned there was no such thing as integration. Although, as Christians we know that all men are equal, back then blacks and whites were strangers with no communication simply because of their differences. I mean just imagine if today people didnt associate with people who were different... no one could talk to anyone.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Turner: Christian county, Kentucky. Interviewed on June 8, 2000. William was a white boy who had a black woman who came to clean Williams house. He talked about how when dinnertime came around Lena (the house cleaner) had to sit at a totally different table than everyone else. When William had family and friends over to their house Lena would have to go to her table out in the backyard and even had to serve the food out to everyone outside. That my friends is discrimination and disrespect.
During the time period of discrimination and segregation im sure things were horrible and heart breaking for families. For others, I dont know how they put up with their snobby selves having slaves, beating people, and starting riots. Today things are different, although people still get made fun of for race, and ethnicity, things dont seem to be as severe or humiliating. Either way it is still all sin because all people were created in the Image of God and should be treated with respect. People should not look down on other people because of differences, I believe people like that are too proud and need a little humility.
For the interviews I chose to listen to ones by Harold Alston from Paducah and Mervin Aubespin from Louisville.
ReplyDeleteHarold Alston spoke about what life was like for a black person growing up in a segregated society. He talked about how black people had to use separate water fountains and restrooms. He also talked about how when black people went to restaurants they had to go to the back door to be served. Another thing that Mr. Alston talked about was the movie theaters. When black people went to a movie they had to use a separate door and sit in the balcony.
Mervin Aubespin had a very unique point of view on the Civil Rights Movement. He had the opportunity to be a part of the organization of the main equal rights group in Louisville. He spoke of how the son of the owner of the black newspaper had more influence in the community and about how black people who owned their own business could be more vocal because they did not have to worry about being fired. He also spoke of how he and a group of his friends brought together all the separate civil rights groups in Louisville so that they could act as one.
Things have obviously changed since the civil rights movement. This does not mean that racial equality is not still an issue that is focused on a lot. Now instead of segregation and unfair treatment the issues are things like how black people as a whole make less money than white people. This is something that can be traced back to the movement. When someone lives in a community their whole life they are not very likely to move. This is what happened after the Civil Rights movement. People did not leave the areas that they were living in and those areas already a very poor. This made it difficult for the next generation to break free and that is what we are experiencing now. Minorities are struggling to escape the poverty that they were born into. What can be done about it? I don’t know. There have been things like affirmative action but that just creates strife. I do not think that there is any really great solution to this problem.
This week I will tell you something about the school system in the late 18 and the early 1900's.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Boone told us a lot about his own experiences in life and how he felt about the schools in his childhood. He said, there were two different schools back in those times, for white people and for colored people. They were not together in the same schools. The particular school he was talking about was a small white bungalow, it had no running water and they had to use outdoor toilets. He said he can't remember how many rooms this school had, but he told us in the interview, that people actually graduated from this school.
Mr. Boone also said that they had a good school in the town, it was a nice red brick building and was built in 1890's. He said that one school, Elkton High,Vanderbild closed its Prep school, Vanderbilt Training, in about 1914/1915. The city than tried to keep it service.
The city Elkton also had small colleges (John Lock and Morton Elliot). They had a actual campus of about 25 or 30 acres, a large central building, two dormitories and also stables for horses.
We can see, that schools in the past were really different from ours today. And if you think about schools with outdoor toilets, thats really something that would not happen in this time or the future. I also think that the education was nt the best in the past, and so I'am actual happy that I can go to school today. I think Schools for just white or colored people do not exist anymore, and I think that the society respects colored people today.
Private Elijah,
ReplyDeleteLike your essay, it's like I wrote it myself! :P (Ok Charity and Emily, I did it!! haha)
Camden,
Good essay. I always find it sad that times were so different that people had to use completly seperate water fountains just because of their skin color. You made a realy good point about racial problems today. I really think that our country just needs to grow up and look past skin color and even whether or not someone is poor or rich.
Alexandria Grace,
I enjoyed reading your essay. You made a very very good point when you said that we are all created in the image of God and also when you said if we were to discriminate against anyone different, we wouldn't talk to anyone. That is so true! No one is the same, so why should someone be treated differently? All this made me think of the lyrics to Garth Brooks song "We Shall be Free": When the last thing we notice is the color of skin
And the first thing we look for is the beauty within...Then we shall be free."
Emily Lynn,
ReplyDeleteBrilliant essay! Although you didn't really do exactly what you were supposed to, but i understand your frustration. :P
(For you Elizabeth and Charity.)
Elizabeth,
I really liked your essay! I love how you actually had alot of info told to you by people who were actually living this stuff. It really gave your essay a more personal feel to it. Good job.
Alex,
I adore your esssay, dear. I loved the bit at the end when you said, 'Either way it is still all sin because all people were created in the Image of God and should be treated with respect. People should not look down on other people because of differences, I believe people like that are too proud and need a little humility.' because this is ssssoo true! Especially the bit about being made in God's image! Again good job!
-Emily Lynn(:
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis week i have chosen to do my interviews on Edward T. Breathitt of Christian, Fayette, and Franklin county. Edward T. Breathitt was one of the former black governors of the state of Kentucky and he even met with Dr. Martin Luther King jr. in 1964 during his cooperation with the march of Frankfort; which was an effort to enact Civil Rights Legislation. He received a lot of assistance from the federal government in drafting the legislation. Former Governor Edward T Breathitt also responded to former president Linden B Johnson's call to secure support for national Civil Rights legislation from the governor's conference, which was very crucial to its ultimate passage. Edward T Breathitt tells about the first time he ever really experienced , or ever really thought about segregation was when he was the only Air Force Cadet unit at Vanderbilt university. He could not understand why, because the big ten had been integrated in their athletics and academic diversity. He had many discussions about this with his roommate from Evansville Indiana, right across the river from Kentucky, He then began to see, and couldnt understand why Kentuckians couldnt see this. Yes, I think things have greatly changed, and people are more mixed togather now; and dont think Raciality is very much of an issue as before.
ReplyDeleteEssay from Jerome Geils-Lindemann,
ReplyDeletethis week I will talk about the life under Segregation and about the civil
right movement in Kentucky. I chose to talk about
Childress, who was a White Louisville policeman during the Civil Rights Activities of the 1960's. He recalls
some of his assignments and what he heard from other policeman about their attitudes and about how various incidents were handled.
In his interview he talks about how he did his job in nineteen sixty. He said when he was
riding a motorcycle a sergeant told him:"black people are going through Shawnee park! But in this time he didn't understand why he
should do that and in his interview he tells us he just had to it, because some black People went
through a park and they were not allowed to go through the park.
He said to the the sergeant, he will do it, but actual then he didn't do it, because I think he had a good heart. And also I think
he had a different opinion then some other white people and was against it. The interview date was 10/28/1999.
In my other interview I will talk about this week is about Aubespin which was a African Americans.
Aubespin talks about his background and about his childhood and also about the culturally mixed Louisiana community.
He talks about when he came back from to Louisville in nineteen fifty-eight,
I couldn’t try on clothes. Except in different stores. He also tells us that he couldn't
go through some street to go to special restaurants.
The movies in the South (Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana), had always at least a
loft or balcony for African Americans, but these didn't. That sounds so crazy in my ears, why it was so different.
As a young student at Tuskegee, he found himself participating in the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
After a period of teaching and working as an artist in Louisville,
Aubspin became the first Black staff artist at the Courier Journal.
He tells also of the doors he was able to open for other African Americans to get jobs and how
he has become an expert on minorities in the media. Aubspin was
supporting the NAACP youth. NAACP led the various protests to open up public accommodations in Louisville in the 1960's.
All together i think it was a hard time and i cannot understand how that was happen.
Interview with Mervin Aubespin was 10/22/1999.
Growing up in Kentucky in the '90's into 2011, it stretches the imagination to think that in America there was a life of segregation.
ReplyDeleteAs human's left to ourselves we can become very low in our ability to treat others with respect and kindness.
Harold Alston talked about living in Puducah in the 1920's and 1930's. I'm not sure of the reasons for separate drinking fountains and restrooms that were for "colored only".
Both Harold Alston and Lucille Brooks talked about having to either go to the back door of a restaurant or a specific place in the building if you wanted to eat.
I can understand the uncertainty on both sides of the segregation issues during the 1960's. I'm sure you felt like you knew what you might do but not too sure of the other fellow. Lucille Brooks shared the pressures that teachers felt in leaving their schools in order to cross over into white communities where you might not be wanted.
When studying history we look at horror to what Hitler did with the Jews. Not understanding that in the 1700's Jewish people were relegated to Jewish - only neighborhoods throughout most of Eastern Europe. I didn't realize that trade guilds such as plumbing and carpentry would not allow admission. Professions life medicine, law or government service were accessible but openly discriminatory to the Jewish community.
As a result many Jewish families focused on retail.
To me the heroes that stand out in times of prejudice are the doctors, pastors, teachers and anyone who is willing to step over the line of prejudice and help a human in need.
Are things better? I feel it is. But I think as humans we must guard our hearts to be pro-active in making sure be bring honor to the people we deal with everyday.
source cit: http://205.204.134.47/civil_rights_mvt/. - The Monuments Men/Robert Edsel
First, I read the interview with a woman called Anne Butler. She was born in Stanford, Lincoln County, Kentucky, in 1948. In her interview she shares her experiences with Kentucky’s school system. Schools for white and black children were separated during that time. It was a school from first to twelfth grades. The railroad track was the division line between the blacks’ and whites’ neighborhoods and also between the schools. Later the schools were combined, and though she had been a cheerleader at the old school, they didn’t let any black girls in their team. In sociology class her senior year, she started to question and think about discrimination.
ReplyDeleteThe second interview was with a man called Dr. Frank Moxley. He is from Bowling Green, Kentucky. He was born in 1908. His grandfather who was a minister, and his mother raised him. His father had to leave home to find work, because it was hard to find a job as a black person. It was difficult for a black father to provide for his family. Moxley later went to college to study math and returned to his black school to teach.
The interview reinforces the fact that there was segregation in the school system in Kentucky. After desegregation, blacks had better opportunities for education; the same as whites.
Racial inequality is still an attitude issue, but federal laws help prevent discrimination as it was during Dr. Moxley’s era. Some companies today are even required to hire a percentage of black people.
But we must continue to educate people so that they are more accepting of people different from themselves.
To Camden, Great job on both of your essays about Harold Alston, and Mervin Aubespin. I really liked your essays and i also learned a great amount of information about Mervin Aubespin and about Harold Alston just from reading your two little essays about them two. I think it was extremely beyond measures that the black people could not even walk through the same doors as the white people and couldnt even sit on the same level as them in a movie theatre. I think it is also pretty cool that Mervin Aubespin had the oppurtunity to be a part of the main equal rights group in louisville. Both of these men had many obstacles and struggles in their life just from the color of their skin, but ended up being pretty significant people in the civil rights movements. But great job on your essay Camden, I really enjoyed reading about these two infuencial men.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your essay Alex!!
ReplyDeleteLloyd Arnold was a man that grew up in McCracken County, Kentucky around 1920. He spent the first years of his education going to school in a little school house called Union Station. He finished up primary school there in the eighth grade. For High school he started going to Lincoln High School in Paducah County, Kentucky. Every morning and every night he had to walk five miles to get home and get to school. When he would go on these walks home and to school he would pass through a little old town called Littleville, this town was basically all white folk, and he a black man was scrutinized. Even for passing by. Children would throw rocks at him and little girls would point and laugh. It got so bad to the point to where he HAD to quit school. Lloyd Arnold had nothing left to do in his life; he couldn’t go to school to get an education to become something better, so he moved a couple counties over to work with one of his cousins on his farm.
ReplyDeleteThe second interview I chose not because he relates with the one above, but because it means something to the people of that day. Black people were looked down upon; some even treated them like they weren’t humans. They were told tirelessly that they were unworthy and filthy, that they were worth nothing. But they were, and still are. This essay talks clearly of that. Harold Alston went to the same school in Paducah that Lloyd Arnold had gone to during the 1930’s and the 1940’s. Harold Alston describes in his interview a class about “Negro” History. This school was a complete African American school, so the history class was not discriminating against the African Americans. Arnold describes the personality of the teacher who had taught that class. He said that she was a lively woman, one who believed in them. Here is a quote about that particular class: “And, and it was very beneficial. You know, you have to know that you have people in your race that have accomplished things that have reached goals. You need to understand that that potential’s out there for you if you want it.” Basically this class taught him to believe in himself, no matter what color his skin was.
Anne Braden: In this interview Anne Braden discusses the civil rights movement in Louisville, Kentucky. Anne, her husband, and two kids are against racial segregation. This all started when a young black man named Andrew Wade asked for the Braden family to buy a house for him in his family(real estate agents wouldn't sell to black people.) Since they didn't believe in racial segregation they agree, without even thinking of saying no. After the owner realized his house was being sold to a black family he got a group of people together and told the Braden family that if they didn't kick him out bad things would happen to them. After a few days they stated receiving threats; then one day Anne got a call from her husband saying the house was blown up, but no one was hurt. The police said they would find who did it and arrest the; in a few days the police said they got a confession from the man who planted the dynamite. Later they found out the man was never arrested.
ReplyDeleteJames Howard: born in November 1942, in Sturgis, Kentucky. From when he was in kindergarten until he was a freshman he attended a black school at Dunbar in Morganfield, Kentucky. Black people who went to school had to take a bus from Sturgis to the all-black school at Dunbar. After his freshman year he and others attempted to integrate into the white high school in Sturgis. This became known internationally by the media and drew a lot of attention. There were riots of sort, and in one act they actually burned a cross as a demonstration. One year later a judicial order led to integration in the schools.
These interviews show that back then in that era things were a lot different there was segregation, discrimination, and other things. Things are a lot different today, there is no segregation in schools we don't have just white, or just all black schools. I think there is still some racial problems, but not as near as bad back then. I don't think it is a big issue that needs to be addressed right now, because there isn't really any big racial issues right now.
Works cited: http://205.204.134.47/civil_rights_mvt/util.aspx?p=1&pid=15541
ReplyDeleteI chose to write about the Desegregation of Education .In 1954 the supreme court (Brown v. Board of education) .They ruled the concept named “separate but equal” .But the full implementation of desegregation in Kentucky's schools took many years . The very first days of school in in Sturgis, Kentucky,1956 .There were ten black students attend the all white high school. Turned back by a mob that appealed to the National Guard.t
ReplyDeleteIn 1920 : Lloyd Arnold talks about that he has to walk five miles to his high school and eventually quitting due to the harassment.
In 1950 : Lucille Brooks describes the process of integration in Franklin, Kentucky, especially what the process meant for black teachers.
And Crenshaw describes riding the bus to far away to all black schools when school segregation still existed even though all white schools were very close by to where he lived.
In 1960 : Johnson talks about running a Mission camp for black and white children, and how it had to be segregated and what happened when it finally integrated.
I picked some of the people from that days that showed how different about the education between white people and black people. But Now everything changed and now everything about education is doing in the same way between these people
Joyce Hamilton Berry was born in 1938 in Lexington. She was an exceptionally bright child, and entered the first grade when she was only five years old. She graduated from Dunbar in 1954- the same year that the Supreme Court ruled that separate was not equal.
ReplyDeleteWhen it was time for her to go to college she had a lot of difficulty finding a place to attend. Many colleges still did not accept African-American students and those that did had a vast majority of white students, so Ms. Berry did not feel comfortable going there. She finally decided to attend Hampton; although it was quite a distance from her home, it was the only place she felt she could learn in a safe environment.
I learned many different aspects of Kentucky’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. In some ways Kentucky had advanced more than other areas, the Lexington buses were not segregated. But in others-like with education- Kentucky was slowly accepting the changes happening in society.
Fortunately, we have come a long way since then. Kentucky, and the United States as a whole, has become more civil to ALL people. However, there are still some aspects of racial inequality that still exist in our culture today.
http://205.204.134.47/civil_rights_mvt/media/KCRP.20.B.43.Berry.pdf
This subject is very interesting. I never thought about the civil right movements in Kentucky. One of the subject that I’m very interested in is the life under segregation.
ReplyDeleteSegregation to the Black is still here today, I guess that is why I think this subject is very interesting. The black were restricted to access public facilities and accommodations. They had to be in segregated housing, segregated schools, segregated work places and didn’t have the same rights at least not until not until 1965 ( the Voting Rights Act ).
Things today are much different. The black people have the same rights then the white. There is no real discrimination but it’s still in some people’s mind that black people are an inferior race and white people should have all power and be rich etc.
I think the election of President Obama made big changes in our society. And I think it is really good that a black man was elected. I don’t say that Obama is the best president, he is far away from that but the fact that he is black shows the other people how our nation is not a nation of discrimination but a nation where everybody is equal and where we don’t judge people by their skin color or nationality but by their opinions.
Racial inequality is still an issue that should be addressed today. Like I said, some people think because they are white they are superior. I shouldn’t be like this. God created us to be equal to each other. At his eyes nobody is superior so why should we consider or self the way God doesn’t? I don’t think so.
Private Elijah, I really liked your essay, and I agree with you on your stance about racism in today’s culture. Racism isn’t something natural-people aren’t born distinguishing differences between races. Racism is taught to us as we grow older and lose our child-like innocence.
ReplyDeleteEmily D., you brought up an interesting point- why DO people feel that something like skin color defines everything about you? How smart you are? How much you’re worth as a person? It just doesn’t make much sense.
I remember reading about something very interesting though. There was a study conducted on a talk show back in the 90s. The producers of the show separated the audience into two groups- people with blue eyes and people with brown eyes. They then had a “specialist” come and tell the audience that people with brown eyes were naturally smarter than blue-eyed people. Of course many people found this ridiculous at first, but I was shocked at how quickly the brown eyed people bought into the idea that they were superior. They even began telling stories about all the dumb blue-eyed people they had known! It just goes to show that in the end people will almost always believe something that makes them seem better than others. I suppose it may just be part of our dumb, sinful nature.
Harold T. Alston, Sr. was interviewed in Paducah, Kentucky in his office at Alston and Associates Realty by Betsy Brinson on August 16, 2000. He was born in Paducah on January 1, 1920. He has six brothers and sisters and is the oldest male in the family. As a child, he attended Garfield Elementary School which was, at the time, a segregated school. He enrolled in Lincoln High School for his junior and high school years which was around 1932. It was the only black high school in town. He then graduated around 1939. He began to realize he lived in a segregated society at a young age. There were specific bathrooms and water fountains for colored people at the time. He began work before he was twelve years old delivering groceries on Saturdays and continued working there until he graduated high school. After that, he began to work as an insurance agent. He later enrolled in Western Kentucky Vocational school-an all black school-for an electrics course. He went to several other schools as well. Eventually, he became involved in the U.S. Postal Office and real state.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read, Kentucky seems to have been a very segregated society back then. I have yet to see racial segregation since I’ve lived here, but I also haven’t seen much variation of people aside from pale and tan. I don’t think we have a problem with inequality as much as we do with prejudice. We tend to get ideas about how different races live fixed into our minds and react to people based upon those ideas. We often subconsciously judge other races based on what we’ve heard from the media, from our friends, and from the looming racist mindset some people still poison our societies with today. If judging them leads to inequality, then we have a problem.
This week I am going to do my essay on Edward T. Breathitt and William Turner. I will start with Edward T. Breathitt. Edward T. Breathitt grew up in a small town, Hopkinsville, Kentucky. It had about ten thousand people in it at the time. But about forty percent was made up of African American population. Mainly because the southern half of the county was very very rich agriculturally. There was many slaves at the time because of this. Although growing up Edward T. Breathitt did not have very much knowledge of segregation not much thought about it came to him there was no active Ku Klux Klan. His mother in fact had an African American boy working for her while Edward T. Breathitt was young they became very good friends and it never really brought a though to Edward T. Breathitt, until he was a little bit older.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Turner he like Edward T. Breathitt had a African American person working in his home as well he wasn’t quite as close to the woman as Edward T. Breathitt was to the little boy who he became friends with. But he did realize that how she was treated was wrong and he did not like it.
I have always disagreed with treating people different just because of their color. I don’t see how people like that could possibly live with their self. This sadly is still a problem today the slave part isn’t as common but does still happen. I just find it wrong in every way and wish people would realize that to.
I chose to write about the school system in the late 18 and the early 1900's.
ReplyDeleteIn the interview with George Boone, he tells us a lot from his own experience in life and how he thought about the schools in his childhood.
In that time there were two different schools, for white people and for colored people. They were not allowed to go to in same schools. The school, he talks about, is described as a small white bungalow, without running water and they had to use outdoor toilets. He can't remember how many rooms this school had, but some people actually graduated from this school. There was also a “good” school in the town, a nice red brick building, which was built in 1890's. The city Elkton also had small colleges (John Lock and Morton Elliot). The campus had size from about 25 to 30 acres, a large central building, two dormitories and stables for horses. The schools in the past were really different from ours today. The education was not the best in the past, and so compared to today really different. Today students from different countries come to other countries to experience the different school system and to learn more. Also, the division from white and colored people doesn’t exist anymore and in most of world.
Work cited:
http://205.204.134.47/civil_rights_mvt
The first interview I read was of Lucille Brooks in Simpson County. Just by reading her interview, I am under the impression that this women tried to be understanding and not bitter toward the segregation that went on during her lifetime. She was a school-teacher. After going through school, she attended Kentucky State and later University of Kentucky. She remembers the declined privilege of eating in restaurants and how there were not even black waitresses. What struck me as most interesting in her interview was her opinion of the integrated students she taught. She felt that the students were not affected by her being black, but more that they needed more attention individually. She felt they were just “slow learners” and that her race did not influence their learning process. The second interview was of George Esters, in Warren County. George Esters was a pastor and gave his opinion of the Civil Rights movement from a spiritual standpoint. He said he believed the movement WAS a spiritual movement. It began in the people’s hearts and minds. The non-violent protests and movements came from the principles taught by Christianity. By reading these interviews, I see that Kentucky was different just a short time ago. It’s hard to imagine such a drastic change in such a short period of time. As for if things have changed, it’s obvious to see that they have, but I don’t believe we are one-hundred percent free from looking at blacks and whites differently. I believe we now favor those in minority because we are so afraid of being racist, but in some parts people look at blacks differently. It all depends on where and who you are looking at.
ReplyDeleteAlex: when you said the statement “I mean just imagine if today people didn’t associate with people who were different... no one could talk to anyone,” it really made me think. We make such a big deal about the color, but what about other differences? If that’s the root of the entire problem, because they’re different, then how would we communicate with anybody. Everybody is different in some way, whether it be hair color, religious beliefs, or ethnicity. It would be a sad world if we only spent time with those exactly like us!
ReplyDeleteEmily Lynn: In your essay you talked about how segregation prevented the different children to get to see how many similarities they had, and it made me think of the interview I read. The woman that was being interviewed said that she believed the blacks were also a bit racist at times. It affected all of society. Every individual had to make up their mind to love each person for who they were and not their color.
Guffey: Thanks for sharing the info on Joyce Hamilton Berry.You don't think about the difficulty African American students would have in deciding where they could go to college and be able to learn in a safe environment. If you don't feel safe you surely wouldn't be able to focus on learning. Thanks for sharing about the buses not being segregated. It sounds like somebody had some sense.
ReplyDeletePrivate Elijah: I think it was really great hearing from your Mom and Grandpa about what segregation was like during the 1960's in Stanford and Lincoln County. When your parents can show you where one building changes and is being used for something else, you see history evolving right before your eyes and you realize nothing stays the same. Books and equipment being difficult to get, makes me realize how blessed we are to have what we have.
Guffey, good job on your essay. I thought it was really cool that she started 1st grade when she was only five years old. Did it mention how old she was when she graduated high school? I would have liked to know that. I also liked that you mentioned that the buses weren’t segregated.
ReplyDeleteCharity, I liked your essay a lot especially because you tied together both of the interviews. When I read your essay, I was almost ashamed for the way white people treated black people back then. In the past or in the present, it’s still wrong. Black or white, we’re all human and I hate that our country wasted so much precious time battling racism. If I were Lloyd Arnold, I would be scared to go to school and I probably would have dropped out as well. It’s a shame that he had to miss so many opportunities.
Abbie, I think she was 16 when she graduated. =]
ReplyDelete@Elena:
ReplyDeleteI really liked reading your essay. I learned a lot from it because I didn't know anything about this topic before. I think you wrote it really well and it was good to understand. Good work!!
@Guffey:
Your essay was really good to. I never heard from Joyce Hamilton Berry. So I learned a lot. I like the way you wrote your essay and veverything was easy to read and to understand. Good Job!!
i chose to write about the desegrationof education.in 1954 the supreme court(brown v.board of education).they ruled the concept named "seperate but egual".but the ful implementation of desegregation in kentucky's school's took many yearsthe first days of school in sturgis,kentucky in 1956.there were 10 black students attending the all white high school,but they were turned awayby a mob that appealed to the national guard.in 1920:lloyd arnoldtalks about how he had to walk 5 miles to his high school and eventually quitting due to harassment.in 1950:lucille brooks descibes the process of intergration in franklin,kentucky,especially what the process meant for colored teachers.and crenshaw descibes riding the bus to far to attend all the colored schools when there was closer all white schools to his neighborhood.in 1960:johnson talks about running a mission camp for black and white children and how it was to be segrated and what happened when it finally integrated.i picked some of the ppl from those days and how different the education between white and black students.but everything changed and now everything about education is doing in the same way between these people
ReplyDeleteAlexandria Grace
ReplyDeleteI really like your essay you gave me really good important information and that you showed details about William Turner and Julia Cowans .They are really interesting :)
The point about all people were created in the Image of God and should be treated with respect , I totally agreed with you about people really did need more humanity .well great job !!
Emily Cox
I enjoyed reading your essay .I did a great job how you explained about Lucille Brooks . I think It would be so hard for her to be a black teacher and wanted all the white students the respect her in those days but more that they needed more attention individually .Good job !!
Abbie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your essay. The story of Harold T. Alston impressed me, especially when you said that they even had specific water fountains only for black students in the school. I can’t imagine how those black students must have felt. I’m so glad most people are more respectful today. I also liked when you said that racism mostly comes from prejudices. Often people judge blacks by their appearance or what they learned from their parents about them, although they maybe don’t even know a black person personally.
Guffey,
Good job on your essay. It is hard for me to believe that it was only a few decades ago when people were not allowed in schools just because of their skin tone. They were not given respect and an education of their choice for something they couldn’t change and didn’t have any influence over. People during that era must have been really ignorant.
Here are comments from Paco:
ReplyDeleteHey this is jordan. The main essay was deleted before i caught that it was doing this, so i only have the comments.
Private Elijah,
Wow good job on you essay! I loved how you integrated what you learned from your parents and grandparents into it. I like how you put your mind into this essay and I can certainly tell that this is a subject that you have given a lot of thought into. I find it cruel that people back then wouldn’t let the blacks onto the cheerleading squad just for the soul reason of them being black instead if white. It wasn’t confined to that though. Not only was it cheerleading but also all sports one of which was basket ball. I find it very ironic that nowadays pretty much every player on the basket ball teams are black, and the lone white player on the team is left sitting on the end of the bench.
Biggin,
Great essay man! The fact that blacks had to drink at separate drinking fountains and use “colored only” restrooms is beyond me. What is the point of this? What good does it do to make human beings have to separate themselves from people that are just like them? Did they do this to white and black dogs? No. this is the same concept and it it stupid that anyone would ever think someone is lesser than them just because of the color of their skin.
Biggin,
ReplyDeleteGreat job Biggin, I definitely agree with you in the fact that humans have become very disrespectful and don’t treat people with near as much kindness and or dignity as we should. I think it’s horrible and so sad how back in the times of segregation colored people had to go outside or to the back of buildings to go and just eat. I think it’s sad that as you mentioned doctors, teachers, and pastors sought out to help people in need because no one else would. But I do agree that those people were definitely heroic.
Of course things are better than they used to be and you are correct, we do need to work hard to bring honor to everyday people and not look past those who have differences. Great job Biggin, I enjoyed reading your report!!
Jerome H.G. Geils-Lindenmann,
ReplyDeleteYo, Good Job Jerome. Your report is very informative. And yes, I couldn’t agree more that the whole segregation time period was a hard time and I can’t even try to understand how the colored people back then must have felt. Good job!!
Guffey: I liked your essay on Joyce Hamilton Berry. I agree she must have been very intelligent to begin first grade at only five. She must have had a lot of courage attending a school far from home. I also agree that we are more civil to all people. Great essay!
ReplyDeletechristian: I liked your essays on Edward T. Breathitt. I learned a lot from your essay; I didn't know he was one of the former black governors of Kentucky, or that he met with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Great essay!
I listened to an interview from a man named Howard Bailey who grew up in an integrated school in Bell county Kentucky. In the interview I listened to, he told about the experience he had playing sports against other segregated white schools. He talks about how going to the integrated school did not completely protect him from the racial prejudice in Kentucky. The white kids in his school always stuck up for the other black kids on his football team. Because whenever their team would travel to other counties and play segregated schools the white kids would call the black kids on his team names and would treat them very unfairly. They would have to run back to the bus after games especially if they won the game in fear of people following them out and beating them. Even the adults and parents would be a part of this. Often times they would throw rocks at their bus. They would drive ahead of the bus to the mountain where the team would drive through very slowly because of the incline and the parents would wait there to throw rocks and bust out windows of the bus. The team NEVER changed out of their uniforms on the way home and would always wear their helmets from the time they left their own school till the time they got home.
ReplyDeleteI also listened to an interview from Julia Cowans also from Bell County. She describes the moment when she first realized that the community she lived in was segregated. She tells about how when she was pretty young she would sit outside and talk with a little white girl down from where she would go and get the newspapers to drop off at people houses. One day the little girl asked if she could go home with Julia and she said “you go ask your mom if you can and maybe tomorrow when I come by if your mom says yes then you can play at my house for a little while. Well the next day the little girl is outside pouting and Julia asks her what’s wrong and the little girl says “my mom said I can go with you the day I turn black like you.” Julia says she never realized till that moment that her community was segregated like that.
Abbie, your essay was very good. In the last part you voiced your heart, and I agree with every word that you said. Today we don’t have much of segregation in Somerset, but we still harbor prejudices. It might not be to African Americans, but to people from South America. I know it’s a touchy subject, but it shouldn’t. People shouldn’t worry about offending different people, talking about what race they are. It shouldn’t be like that at all. I loveed your essay.
ReplyDeleteMichael, I rather enjoyed your essay also. I think it interesting that you brought up Hitler. Sometimes I think that America wasn’t even better than that. Whenever I think of the Holocaust my heart just brakes, and it’s easy to throw the first stone. But then I take a step back and look at what we did with the African Americans who died by the bucket loads. I am overtaken by shame; I never really looked at it like that before. But America, we did do something horrible! We did, and sometimes we like to forget. We like to say, don’t talk about it because it’s a touchy subject. We treated these men and woman like Jews. Even though the Holocaust was only a few decades, our Holocaust for African Americans lasted hundreds of years. I hope you get what I’m trying to say, I kind of didn’t talk that much about your essay. But that’s what I felt. Something I just realized ya know? Like I never looked at it like that before, that we, America, shouldn’t ever throw the first stone. And me too, sometimes I ketch myself thinking about it. And I have to remind myself that every human being is capable of being a monster. (I’m not saying anyone is though.) I am capable of being a monster, but that’s what makes the grace of God even more beautiful.
Billy the squid:
ReplyDeleteThe essay you wrote about Anne Braden's interveiw was very sad. Its upsetting that people would treat other humans so badly over just the color of their skin. Blowing up their house is such a harsh reaction.
Emily C:
The Lucille Brooks essay is almost inspiring to me because im sure most people treated the way that blacks were treated would be bitter and negative people but the fact that she was not like that all is great. She just wanted to help children learn and got past the fact that people hated her cause she was black. good essay :)
Howard Bailey:
ReplyDeleteHe was asked a question about the difference between his years of education in the “colored school,” as he called it, and then when he was moved to other school when it integrated. He said that his classes where held down by the creek, and that they didn’t have much equipment for labs, textbooks, and other such things. They had their biology lads at the edge of the school grounds. But when the schools integrated, it was very different. He said that many of them were scared that they wouldn’t be as smart as the white kids. But then they realized that their teachers had prepared them quite well. Some of them were as smart, if not smarter than the white students. But of course there were others that didn’t care about school, and continued to have that attitude even when they changed schools.
He was then asked a question about his new teachers. Whether or not their attitudes toward them were different to doing school work. He went on telling that they had known the teachers before. In the parks and recreation, they all played on the same team. So they had known each other before. But that their attitudes did vary somewhat.
Joyce Hamilton Berry:
Joyce was asked at point she finally realized that most everything was segregated. She mentioned that she knew about the colored car in trains and such, but she said that she hardly had to ride on one because her father would drive her family places. But she then said that eventually she had to ride on a bus. She went to pay at the front and the driver told her to go back to the back door. As she was walking back there she was asking herself why he would ask her to do that. She reached the back door and as she stepped on the bus she saw the white line. She had heard of such but this was the first time to see it and experience it. At that moment she realized how ‘messed up’ it all was.
Here is Paco's essay:
ReplyDeleteNow since I grew up in the time that segregation was not prevalent its hard for me to think of it as a big deal. I usually brush this topic off to the side because I thought well its not around today it doesn’t affect me why should I care? I realize though that when you really think about it there are still light forms of segregation going on today. All the black jokes that we hear all the time are those not a form of racism? Hence being a light form of segregation.
Harold Alston through the 1920s to the 1930 described the segregated society of Paducah in McCracken County. He tells us of the time when all the black people who wished to go out to eat had to go to the back doors of the restaurants or a designated corner in the building to be able to order and enjoy their food. How they had to use separate water fountains to get a drink. How could people do that to fellow human beings? This guys fat so I don’t want him in this building, this woman is really short so I don’t want her to eat across the room from me. This is the same principle as segregating black people from white. Yes they are a little bit different but they are still human beings.
I think today’s society is a lot better than what it used to be. Although we are not perfect and have a long way to go, we are still on the right track.
Alexandria Grace, I really enyoed reading your essay. It was interresting how you told us about a black women going to school back in those days, and about a white man having a black woman, who took care of cleaning the house for his familie.
ReplyDeleteIt was interessting, that she said, there was this completly different "Life" between black and white people. Not just different schools, also that they did not communicate at all. That's not only sad it is also very very disrespectfull. Today we know better, that all people are equal, and no one is better just because of his skin color. I hope for the futur that really erveryone wil understand this. Like you said, we are equal to everyone else in the word.
Keep up your good work!
Charity, Your essay was really good. Still, it was sad what you told us about Lloyed Arnold. I think it is so sad and terrible, that even children made fun of him when he passed the town Littleville, as only black one. He did not even talked to them or anything, thet just laught about him and that he was different. That's something that made me sad, children, who normaly find friends easily, and who should not judge people because of their skin color. Something I really can't understand. But I think it has a lot to do with how the people back in those times rased their kids. The children were probaply not used to see black people really often, and when they could tell the differents between right away.
Keep up your good work!
I’m going to do my essay this week on Esther Costner and Julia Cowan. I’m going to start off with Esther. Esther Costner was born on May 15, 1999.
ReplyDeleteshe grew up in a small town called Middlesboro and in the town and black families were pretty much everywhere... because of the constant segregation Esther’s siblings eventually left the town when they got older. this caused Esther and her husband to work even harder to ensure that their children were well educated enough to be able to leave the town as soon as they were able to. in her interview Esther was asked to try and guess about how many people black people are currently living in her home town... she reluctantly stated "probably only about a thousand" then she was asked had those numbers changed drastically since her childhood and she then stated
"yes very drastically actually" but she put a large blunt of the blame on economics. I find it extremely sad that so much can change so quickly.
now on to Julia Cowan... Julia grew up in bell county and in her interview she stated that all her life she had never noticed segregation as being a problem until one day a little neighbor girl asked Julia if she could come home with her... after day of the child asking persistently Julia finally gave in and told the girl that she would have to ask her mommy first and if she was ok with it then sure she could come over... well the next day Julia saw the little girl and asked her how things had went with her mother the little girl replied and said "my mommy told me that i could come home with you just as soon as i turn black" of course this statement probably seriously bothered Julia inside but at the same time if you step back and look at it, it is so sad how forbidden it was for the white and black race to mix.
ashley glass,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your essays they were extremely informative I especially liked the one you did on Joyce Hamilton Berry. like when I read your essay on her it made me think of how I would react if I was struck with the question "do you realize that almost everything is segregated" I mean I guess I’ve never really thought about it like I’ve never really just sat back and pondered on the subject. But now after reading your essay I did like I thought about it. Anyways I really liked your essay it was really quite amazing good job :)
biggin,
I really really enjoyed reading your essay and i couldn’t agree more that people has definitely fallen behind with respect like with our culture today it is just so easy for us to turn away and not care one way or another and to be truthful it’s sad and it breaks my heart. But your essay was great and you did a fantastic job :)
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