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Lorraine Lockett was interviewed by her grandson Cameron Lockett. At first the two talk about the Civil Rights Movement and how the 71 year old woman was not affected by it. Moving on from that topic that got into something more interesting, race and racism. Lorraine says that race doesn’t matter it all depends on the person you are. During the interview her grandson asked her a question that really showed her feelings, “ Do you think black people were affected the most by racism.” Lorraine said yes and went on about how it’s always been black people, always.

NA: Hey Grandpa how you doing?

JA: Ehh, I’m doing ok.

NA: Ok let’s get this interview started.

JA: Alright come on.

NA: Question number one What is your conceptualization of race and how it has changed?

JA: Uh, you want me to speak? Well I can say there have been many changes in the country there have been uh, access to equal opportunities. There are no more separate bathrooms etc. Uh, this has been settled by law. But racism still exists in the country.

NA: Mhm

JA: One thing you can not due .. you can not you know, the law doesn’t legislate people’s hearts. So there are many americans that are still racist we can see that with the …  election of a black president. There are many that are against him solely because he is black. But, you know.. we continue to struggle, but as I say racism still exists in the heart’s of many people. OK

NA: Knowing that we can not take the racism out of the hearts of people completely. Do you belive we can lessen the amount of racism in people’s hearts?

JA: Uh, well.. I feel that.. Uh the only way you can lessen the racism in people’s hearts.. is it must start in the family. Racism started in families and it has perpetuated over the years because children are taught racism, and its passed down from generation. So i think the only way we can lessen it is, we as grown ups must start in our families and lessen racism in our uh homes. Not speaking about it and by letting our children know that everybody is created equal.

NA: Question number two How do you see the role of race in society?

JA: Well I think race can be a good thing in society. You know I think that’s what has made america great. But I also feel that for us to go forward, that people have to look at each other as americans and not as a particular race or skin color, and if we can do that then I think that this country can advance and we ca- we can become a greater society.

NA: Ok, Do you truly believe that all men are created equal? Even those born into poverty vs. those born into higher class society?

JA: Yees, I believe that all men are created equal because when you come here, each one of us having nothing except for what our families have accumulated or created. In fact that’s what makes us unequal, because of what our families have accumulated um there position in society but other than that the bible says all men are created equal.  

NA: Question Number Three, What do you remember from the Civil Rights Movement?

JA: Well I remember the separate bathrooms, the separate water fountains, ehhh the separate hotels, separatism period. You Know? It was everywhere, that certainly was a terrible time in American history. I remember participating in.. movement, bus boycotting, boycotting ya know restaurants, and so forth. Certainly that was a time in American history that we never need to return to.

NA: Alright, Uh, did you ever try to go in a bathroom that was restricted for whites?

JA: Ye-, you ready? Yes I have, and I done got remarked by the white establishment, got threatened to be thrown in jail and many times during that era you would be thrown in jail just for drinking out a water fountain or for sitting in a waiting room for whites only. You could be arrested, fined or beaten up !

NA: Question Number Four, What are your experiences or observations of discrimination?

JA: Well I have ha- seen discrimination, had discrimination as far as jobs and as far as accommodation in stores, hotels and restaurants and this is something that should just not be. In other words I feel like this makes America weak. America is a melting pot with people of all races, and this is what makes us great. To tell you the truth we can see this only in our battlefields when we are fighting for this country. One of the things that make us great is that we are a melting pot and we are fighting for the freedom that is so beloved in this country.

NA: Ok, Could you give a specific example of how you were discriminated against?

JA: Wha? Specific example on how I was discriminated against? I have applied for jobs that I couldn’t get because I was black. I have went in restaurants that I couldn’t get accommodations because I was black. Some restaurants wanted to serve me out the back, even out of a window on the side, and you know not only that, but it’s the way that people look at ya, when you go in hotels, department stores and back in that time they didn’t have to serve you, and they didn’t serve you.

NA: Did you participate in the Civil Rights Movement?

JA: Yes I Did

NA: Question number six, What was it like living during the civil rights movement?

JA: Well, you might say fear, today they call it terrorism. Inequality, unequal opportunity in education, unequal opportunity in housing, unequal opportunity in government programs and many of these things were legislated by law.

NA: Question number seven, what was your education like?

JA: Well, uh I was educated in segregated schools. Uh, we were given out dated books. But we refused to accept those books. In other words the administered at my school, Uh chose to buy, give us a chance to buy our own books. Books that were updated at the time because what the white establishment used to do  they used to pass down the outdated books to the black children and they would give their white children the new books. But most black children couldn’t afford new books but those who did we, got those the new books and of course we got a better education. Of course we had some great teachers. I have to give a lost of credit to them for what I eventually became.

NA: Alright

JA: That wasn’t the question you gave me at first.

NA: Alright, Question Number Eight. Do you believe their is a superior skin color?

JA: *chickles* There are many people that feel that way but according to the bible we all came from one man and one women. Not only that but according to scientific studies they have proven this to be true so no there is no superior skin color.

NA: Ok

NA: Question Number Nine, Why do you believe the Civil Right’s Movements Occurred?

JA: Well I believe it occurred because people have been oppressed for many many years. In fact they have been oppressed for hundreds of years and even in our laws of the United States, our constitution our laws say that if people are being oppressed that they should rise up and throw off the oppressor and of course after many many years people got tired of being oppressed and this is what happened.

NA: Well Grandpa I appreciate you helping me out with this interview. Thank You for your time.

JA: No problem Jordan, hope you got everything you need. Good luck with your project *chuckles*

GF: Good evening, and I am Gianna Flego, here with Celeste Flego on May 19th 7:16 pm. Hi Celeste, how are you?

CF: I’m fine Gianna.

GF: Okay! Would you mind answering a few questions about the Civil Rights Movement for me?

CF: No not all.

GF: Okay lets begin. Do you remember the Civil Rights Movement?

CF: Yes I do.

GF: And could you tell us a little bit about it?

CF: Ah… the Civil Rights Movement was not just about the rights of minorities. It included gay and lesbian rights, the women's rights… I remember that. I was growing up, in grade school when it started then I was entering high school. So I really didn’t experience that much of it.

GF: Okay… Did this event affect your family?

CF: Well, later on when it was starting to be televised, we watched the news a lot and I just couldn’t get over, you know, what was going on. It was something that was suppose to be peaceful, peaceful marches turned into very violent things and thats the way it affected us as a family.

GF: And did it affect, you specifically?

CF: No not really because when I was in high school, my high school, Hallahan, was segregated. We had orientals, we had Hispanics, African Americans. It was a very segregated school. Then, when I entered the work field, wherever I worked… the dental field or medical field, it was prejudice. They hired you based on your skills.

GF: And I know that you said, you were young most of the time this was happening but did you understand what was going on?

CF: Did I what babe?

GF: I know that you said you were young going through this time period, but did you understand what was happening?

CF: When I was younger? Or when I got older?

GF: Both.

CF: When I was younger no because our neighborhood was mainly white and our grade school was mainly white. Like I said to you, thats when I thought nothing of it. I wasn’t that kind of a person.

GF: And did your school change? Education…

CF: No. Not at all. If anything, more minorities were going into my school. You can see from my freshman year to my senior year that there were more, you know, minorities entering the school. One of my best friends from where I worked at the medical field she was at my wedding, on of my best friends. And unfortunately, as we get older, Gianna you’ll see, from your teens, twenties, you lose friends. Not because of the color of their skin but sometimes that happens.

GF: Did you observe different scenes of discrimination at any time?

CF: You mean during like, my high school years? In my neighborhood?

GF: Anytime!

CF: No, not at all. It was a white neighborhood that I grew up in. So like I said to you, the only things that I seen were in the news, paper.

GF: What did you see during the news?

CF: Well it was unfortunate what they did. What started out that was suppose to be peaceful marches with John F. Kennedy in the 60’s was horrible. 3 of the most important men were assassinated, were trying to get equal rights for the minorities, were all assassinated. They preached peaceful demonstrations and as I got older it didn't turn out to be that way, unfortunately.

GF: The last question I have for you is, did you experience the full effects of the Civil Rights Movement?

CF: As far as marching for them?

GF: Anything!

CF: No not really, Gianna. I mean, I seen, like I said, the only time that I seen acts of discrimination was on TV. In fact, even the girls that I worked with or what to school with, never brought it up. Ah… we never really talked about it, maybe only once in a while you would hear somebody talk about it. But that was all. We didn’t see any of that. I, never seen any of that… Just TV, or papers.

GF: Okay, well thank you for your time and I appreciate you letting me interview you!

CF: You're welcome, anytime.

LN: I am Lyza Newbern and I am interviewing my grandmom on her experience with the Civil rights movement. The first question were you affected by the civil rights movement?

TM: No, not really, no.

LN: Okay, were your parents affected by the Civil Rights Movement?

TM: Not that I know of.

LN: How was attending school during the Civil Rights Movement?

TM: I didn’t, it didn’t affect me because I was in a segregated school and we all got along. We were all friends, and we were young and it was nothing was really going on. We were friends and we had fun.

LN: What did you do with your friends?

TM: We learned together, we did after school activities, played guitar, soccer anything any normal after school activities. We got along in school, we went to parties, we danced a lot, lip synced a lot. And roller skated.

LN: were there any fights because of your school being segregated?

TM: Not that I knew of, none of my friends were. We all got along.

LN: Um, did you have any friends that you or your parents or society did not approve of because of what was happening?

TM: No, we were always we always got along with people no matter what race. We were brought up to be caring and loving no matter what race. No matter what creed or poverty level. We were just raised that way to respect one another and that’s how my friends were too, we all got along.

LN: Where did you grow up?

TM: Elktin Maryland

LN: How did that change your outlook on about the movement?

TM: I didn’t quite understand it. I didn’t understand why people could not accept people just because they were a different color. It was sad to me I cried a lot when I saw the news. My parents made me watch the news because they thought it was important to know what was going on outside of our happy little world. We lived in a small town and I don’t remember anything bad happening we just played, Summertimes were the best we’d play till night, till it was time to go in to bed.

LN: Did you ever fight for equality?

TM: Um, not really -

LN: Like protesting

TM: No I did not

LN: What were you taught in school about the movement?

TM: We of course learned mostly about Martin Luther King and his peaceful ways. Rosa Parks for her standing up. In Elktin we were taught to respect one another, that people were intelligent no matter what the race, people had a chance no matter what the race. we lived in america and it stood for equality and everyone had a chance as long as you worked for it

LN: What do you remember from the Civil Rights Movement?

TM: I remember watching the news and being sad. not understand why there was so much Violence how there could be so much HATE with people that didn’t know each other. How people could just hate one another before they -- they didn’t even know and to me it was sad and a total waste of time. and I always thought people could be friends if they just took the time to say hello and ask how you are and I always thought it was sad.

LN: What were your parents views on the movement? Did they’re view impact yours?

TM: Yes it did. That’s why I was sad, because they felt the same way I did. I was raised to care about people respect people and just treat each other as humans. Treat other the way you want to be treated and that’s how I was raised and thats how I tried to raise my children and I hope they have some of that in them.

LN: What is one thing you will never forget about the Civil rights movement?

TM: The assassination of Martin Luther King and the segregation of schools I remember watching those boys and girls going into school for the first time and being afraid.

LN: Why will you never forget about the assassination of Martin Luther King?

TM: Because I thought it was sad, he was a great man and he tried to do good things. He was a man of god that is peace and love and I just thought it was sad that someone would hate him so much for doing the right thing.

LN: OK.

The interview of Carolyn Simmons is from the standpoint of a young 15 year of African American female at the height of the movement, segregated times, and viewpoints on the non violence, speeches, NAACP,and  leaders.Simmons grew up in North Carolina Simmons parents did not let any of their children participate in any acts, in fears that they would get hurt. Simmons tells how her  father was a dedicated share cropper with the locale white folk, how the people they share cropped with were not racist towards their black family, but were like a part of the family, even though Simmons knew they never split the profit 50/50. The interview  expressed the struggles of the movement, memorable events, and more.

Research

The Simmons family were involved in share cropping. Sharecropping “Was common throughout the South well into the twentieth century, and required the work of entire families.” The economy forced blacks and whites to work together for profit by famer. The simmons family paid a landlord rent from their makings on the farm. Simmons parents were not former slaves but their parents or her grandparents were. Sharecroppers usually have a contract, but that was unclear if Simmons family was under the radar croppers, or official sharecroppers. Sharecroppers had no control over the way there plants and crops were sold, but Simmons family made a unequal but manageable profit. After the reconstruction, due to the economy black, and poor whites used sharecropping, over gang labor or slavery, and they both benefited.

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newsouth/4765

http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-newsouth/4698

http://ncpedia.org/sharecropping

Transcript:

J. Murray: Hi. My names Jaidah Murray I’ll be the interviewer today is Tuesday May 20, and I’m interviewing my grandmother Carolyn Simmons. The first question is what is your race/ethnicity or Nationality?

C. Simmons: African-American

J. Murray: What is your Fathers name?

C. Simmons: James Fisher Senior

J. Murray: What was his occupation?

C.Simmons: He was a sharecropper.

J. Murray: Could you explain what this consisted of doing?

C. Simmons: At the beginning of the year they planted stuff together, and once everything was ripe to be sold as far as the cotton and the ….and all that when they sold it to the other person,they would get a certain percentage, whoever they were in partners with always got half of what ever that percentage was, but i know it should have been 50/50

J. Murray: What was your mothers name?

C.Simmons: Edna earl moore

J Murray: What did she do?

C. Simmons: She was basically a housewife, and then she sort of kind was a nanny, she was a housekeeper and she babysitted

J Murray: Where were you born to clarify?

C Simmons: North Carolina

J Murray: Being born in North Carolina plus your ethnicity did this affect your comfort and treatment

C Simmons: Yes and No, because it was a lot of things they held back from us that we could have been doing like the things that are happening now, i could not do all that stuff, we was limited

J. Murray: Did you ever relocate to south carolina or anywhere deeper in the south?

C Simmons: No, i was just North Carolina born and raised

J murray: What was experiences with segregation when it was at its height?

C Simmons: Well, when I was growing up I saw it but i didn't really see it,because certain things i just didnt see, I don't know if it was because my mom and dad shield us from that part, but i do remember certain part of it , the prejudice parts. We weren't allowed to go in the restaurant straight from the door , we had to go to the kitchen side. The water fountain an stuff i really don't remember like that, but the restaurant we could not go in the front.

J Murray: What age were u at the height of the movement?

C Simmons: I think 16

J. Murray: Did you ever participate in any movement , any riot, the freedom rides, the sit ins?

C Simmons: No

J Murray: what were the majority of their races ?

C Simmons: it was not all white people, the people that my dad share cropped with acted like they were apart of our family. They did not treat us prejudice……

J Murray: what do you remember about the civil rights movement?

C Simmons: I just remember the marches and stuff the MLK did cause they always did the southern states, i remember that part but I was not apart of it, and i remember the school i went to always told us who we were.

J Murray: Was your education effected by any of this?

C Simmons: No , i wanted to get further

J Murray: did you see any equality after the movement

C Simmons:  Yes, it eased up some because its never going to totally go away, i dont think, thats my opinion, but it did ease up because they desegregate the schools, we were allowed to vote,its alot came from it

J Murray: being born at that age did your conception of a race change, were u ever biased to one race ever.

C Simmons: It did change, segregation and all that we became a little more equal to one another to make it short, that was the part that made me say i got to get out of school, because i can make a difference along the way somewhere

J Murray: Did you ever interact with the NAACP organization

C Simmons: No because the era I came from they were not out there like that, where we could get with the NAACP, we just had to have a representative, someone to represent us

J Murray: did you ever hear about Malcolm x or go to his speeches or anything?

C Simmons: i did not go to his speeches, but i heard him on the air ways, like everywhere i went mostly they were talking about Malcolm X

J Murray: So what was your whole outcome, positions, on his positions, and his thoughts, and their actions, and their non-violence, and their sit-ins and things like that

C Simmons: well i was with this non violence , i never thought he was trying to be racist or anything but it was at that time thats what it made him feel, so i love the non-violence cause that don't solve nothing. It dont solve nothing, and we all had to come together on that . And the ones that wanted to be, show that violence that anger and aggression , we just kind of overlooked them and tried to commit ourselves to the non- violence

J Murray: okay thanks i don't think i have any further questions

C Simmons: okay thank you , and thanks for choosing your memom

J Murray: lol okay you're welcome

C Simmons: alright i love you

J Murray: love you

Interview with my white neighbor Kathy Rigby, about her experiences with the Civil Rights Movement and discrimination. Sunday, May 18, 2014 at 1:30.

SA: Hi, how are you today?

KR: I’m just fine, how are you?

SA: Good, thank you.

KR: Great.

SA: Okay, to start off, when were you born?

KR: When was I born? I was born in 1950, mid-century.

SA: In what area did you grow up in?

KR: I grew up in South Texas. I was born in San Antonio, lived there ‘til I was 5. We moved to Laredo, Texas and we moved back when I was 15, back to San Antonio.

SA: So, all in the South?

KR: All in South Texas, right.

SA: What is your conceptualization of race and how it has changed?

KR: Well, I think race, to me, it’s more of a definition than anything else. I mean you have people who are of African descent. You have white non-hispanics, they are hispanics but that’s not really a race, that’s an ethnicity. But I feel that these are labels for various purposes but, to me, all people are the same under the skin and I wish that somehow we could get away from classifying people by race. Although, I understand it’s necessary from time-to-time, but I think that continuing classifying people like that just continues to exacerbate the problems that exist with racism.

SA: Mmhmm. And let’s go back to what you said, when you said you think that it (classifying people by race) should be there during certain times. What do you mean by that?

KR: Oh, well for example, we keep records of various things according to race. For example, we track black infant mortality rates compared to the mortality rates for other non-black infants. We compare disease. We compare income levels, poverty, educational levels. You know the government and other entities keep track of those sorts of things, but I really think that I’d like for the world to start thinking of us as humanity not races.

SA: Yea, good way to put it! How do you see the role of race in society?

KR: The role of race... Well, I believe in racial and ethnic pride, but, I also think that once again, as a human race, we need to start transcending the labels based on color of skin. If we measure each other, it should not be by race, it should be by the quality of our characters and the kind of humans we are, the kind of people that we are or aspired to be. So I would like to see it play less of a role in society, just in terms of differentiating between groups of people because I don’t think that’s very productive and I think we need to get passed where we look at people according to the color of their skin.

SA: Yea, I like the way you put that! What do you remember from the Civil Rights Movement?

KR: Well, I was a teenager and in early years of college in the 60’s and that was the time when it was a real hotbed! I remember marches and protests. I remember Dr. Martin Luther King and I remember that a lot of people, black, white and otherwise, really made sacrifices in order to help ensure equality of the races. It was a very challenging time, it was a difficult time but it was a very uplifting time because so many people were beginning to see that we had tremendous inequalities and tremendous disparities based on racial lines in this country. There were many people who were willing to stand up, step forward and make sacrifices in order to equalize things. It’s still going on, I mean, we don’t exactly have a movement anymore but the battle for Civil Rights continues today but back then it was a very exciting time because it was a time of change and a time of discontent. There were lots of good people who stepped up and there were lots of people who opposed too. So, I remember a lot of those news stories, things that happened and especially growing up in the South. It was a significant time in American history. I’ll tell you a little side story, my sister graduated from high school in 1967 and one of my mothers friends wanted to have a graduation luncheon for her. She scheduled it at a hotel in San Antonio and one of my sisters friends was black. We found out that they would not -- this was in 1967-- would not serve, would not allow, her black friend to come. My mothers friend was very open-minded and willing to make a change and she changed it to a different venue so that all of my sisters friends could attend regardless of the color of their skin. So, that was as recently as 1967.

SA: Wow!

KR: Yea, isn’t that terrible!

SA: Yea, that’s horrible! I can’t believe they did that!

KR: Yea, that was segregation.

SA: Back then, in 1967?

KR: Yup.

SA: Oh my god.

KR: Yes.

SA: What were your-- you said you attended college at that time, you were a teenager-- what were your educational experiences?

KR: Well, it’s interesting. I started college at the University of Houston Texas. The college itself was physically located in a predominately black neighborhood. I really had not had a lot of exposure to other races when I was growing up, just mostly by geography.

So when I moved to Houston and really started to get to know a lot of other folks, I just had a blast! I just embraced everyone that I met and it didn’t matter to me what color their skin was, we just had a lot of fun together. I experienced new things. All of the cooks at my dorm were African American ladies. So, we had grits every breakfast and greens every dinner, and I learned to love those things! It was just a growing experience for me! I don’t think I was ever really prejudiced but I certainly--it opened up opportunities for me, to meet other kinds of people and I really enjoyed it.

SA: Awww!

KR: I remember it as being a growing experience.

SA: Awww, that’s amazing! I love grits!

KR: Yea, so do I! (Laughter) Wow, mmm! I could use some right now.

SA: Right! (Laughter)