Abstract

In this interview, Lisa Kleiner looks back and remembers her life as a white woman in the North during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. Lisa talks about what she had seen happening in the riots and protests and shares her perspective of the struggles that African Americans had while fighting for their civil and human rights. She also reflects on how she viewed African Americans in the 1960s vs. now in 2015. This interview offers the perspective of a white woman and how she felt about the violence and riots of the Civil Rights era and how it affects her, as well as other white people, today.

Research

White privilege in America has existed all throughout its history. Of course, it was a lot more obvious pre-Reconstruction and during the Jim Crow and Civil Rights era, however it still exists today. White privilege is the concept of which white people benefit from the [systemic and instiutionalized] oppression of people of color. White privilege is being taught that you are an individual rather than someone who is part of larger group of people, and thus creating the idea that racism, to white people, is acted upon by individual people rather than it being an entire system which oppresses everyone else. In the interview, Lisa Kleiner answered several questions indirectly referring to being privileged in America during the 1960s. During the interview, she states, “I don’t think people who are younger now, who are white, I don’t think that they really realize how bad things were.” Although she may not have realized it, this statement accurately portrays how white people today could not possibly understand what it’s like to live in a society that systematically oppresses you [racially]. It’s also important to note that the riots caused by literal centuries of oppression that arose in the Civil Rights era are incredibly similar to the riots happening right now because of the unjust murders of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and hundreds of others.

Sources

• http://www.salon.com/2015/04/10/white_americas_racial_illiteracy_why_our_national_conversation_is_poisoned_from_the_start_partner/

• http://mic.com/articles/89653/7-actual-facts-that-prove-white-privilege-exists-in-america

• http://prospect.org/article/new-jim-crow-0

Transcript exerpt

Jack: How do you view race?

Lisa: Well, um, I think race is just an, uh, artificial concept that was created by people, um, to make other people seem more different to, you know, create more differences among people than there are because really, everybody knows we all came from the same place in Africa. And over the years people changed and had different characteristics on the outside. But everybody is the same on the inside, and there’s very little difference in genetics between different races. It’s like a tiny amount. So it’s really one way people have made, people look different from each other because, I guess that’s useful to some people because if they feel frightened or something.

Jack: So do you believe it’s a socially constructed idea?

Lisa: Yes, definitely.

Jack: Do you believe that at any point in your life you used to be racist or prejudice? Especially during the height of the Civil Rights Era?

Lisa: Sure. I think everybody is prejudiced. And I think the best thing you can do is to recoginize that and try to work on it. Well, during the Civil Rights Era I was a teenager, I was the same age you are as I was explaining in the 1960s, and I think that I was - actually I was less prejudice because when I grew up I was, even though I knew black people as a child, I never thought about it and I never thought about what their situation was. And my parents weren’t prejudice at all. I mean they didn’t believe in it. So when all these things started in the ‘60s, and I found out about the lack of Civil Rights and everything, then I was really shocked. I was very shocked as a teenager to hear that and to see. I heard on television when I was your age or younger I saw the riots and I saw them letting guard dogs loose on people and water canons and, you know, all those kinds of things were happening. And they happened in my town too. There were riots. So it was kind of scary but it was something that I sort of understood, you know, that it was something really bad that happened. So that’s why people were rioting. So I don’t think it made me more prejudice but it made me know about it. I didn’t even know about some of that stuff.

Jack: Do you think that any of that affected who you are right now?

Lisa: You mean in the 1960s, did that affect how I am now, you mean?

Jack: Yes.

Lisa; Um, yeah, I think, I just, yeah because I get more scared if there’s some kind of riot, a race riot, or racial incident. It’s very scary to me because I think it could all happen again and it seems like it hasn’t gone away. These, you know, terrible prejudices that go on haven’t gone away. So it’s kind of discouraging and depressing because I feel like things haven’t gotten better in one way, and I guess some ways they have, but it’s still here. So it definitely had an impact on me as a child or a teenager because I have seen how things can be really bad. And I don’t think people who are younger now, who are white, I don’t think that they really realize how bad things were.

Jack: Were you ever in a segregated school?

Lisa: No. Not in the sense that you would - because I grew up in New Jersey and we had integrated public schools. But what happened was that, what they would call De Facto segregation because I lived in a neighborhood that was all white, so everyone who went to the school was white. And all of a sudden things changed, and this is in the 1960s around 1964, and it happened here too, the black people moved into the white neighborhoods and the white people moved out. So all of a sudden my school became from all white to all black almost over night. And we moved to another town and the school wasn’t segregated but there were, it was almost all white, but there were a few black kids in the schools. Because there were a few black families in the town and they were only supposed to live in this one certain neighborhood. So there were maybe three black kids in my high school class as a senior and there were two hundred kids.

Jack: Do you think that the schools nowadays are segregated, not by law, but significantly one race because of what happened in the ‘60s or do you think it might be that way because of racism?

Lisa: No I think it’s because of racism. Because it’s the same thing. Because after they tried to desegregate the schools in the 1960s, the white poeple all moved out or they sent their kids to private school. So it’s definitely true in some parts, like say Philadelphia, some neighborhoods are almost totally black like North Philadelphia. So everyone who goes to school there is black in the public schools. And the same is true in our neighborhood in Mt. Airey where a lot of parents, well black and white parents, send their children to private school. So it sort of depends on how much money you have now. So it’s sort of segregation by money but it’s based on racism at the bottom.

Jack:  Have you ever felt guilty or proud to be a white woman during the Civil Rights Movement?

Lisa: I felt really guilty. I don’t know if I felt proud, I mean. I felt proud when I saw all the people when Martin Luther King made his speech in Washington and they showed all the people there in the audience listening to him. I would say about a third or half the people, of all those tens of thousands of people, it looked like there were quite a few white people there, and I was really proud that there were white people who wanted to try to help. And I was always really proud that the rabbi of our temple marched with Martin Luther King and he was actually in jail with him when they had that terrible riot at the Edmunds Pettice Bridge in Alabama, in Birmingham jail. I was very proud of that.

Jack: When were you first introduced to the idea of race?

Lisa: This sounds really elitist but, you know, when I was little we had a house, and my father was a doctor. And my mother didn’t work outside the home but she had two children and in those days it was common for the doctor’s wife to have somebody come in and help clean. So my mother had the lady next door who had an African American woman who came in and cleaned for her, so my mother asked if she could come in and cleaned for us once a week, so she came in and then, you know, of course, that was probably the first black person I had seen. At that age I was probably three or four.

Jack: How different do you think the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s is from the protests in Ferguson and in Baltimore and everywhere?

Shirin: When and where were you born?

Dr. Galson: I was born in Mont Clare, NJ in 1950.

Shirin: Do you have like kids?

Dr. Galson: I have two sons. I have a 29 year old son and 23 year old son.

Shirin:  Do you want to talk about what you are doing now?

Dr. Galson:  You mean like career wise? I am a psychologist. I have a full time job with the School of Philadelphia as a school psychologist. And I have a private practice of psychotherapy.

Shirin: How was your experience at school like back in the days? Like how was your experience?

Dr. Galson:  I was a very conscience student.  I worked very hard on my assignments. I really had a drive to do well.  I was very interested in learning.

Shirin: Did kids from different backgrounds get along?

Dr. Galson:  In my school….in my high school……let’s see. I would say the kids from different backgrounds kind of kept to their own selves.

Shirin: So like their own group?

Dr. Galson: Their own group.  There were separate groups.  There was not very much mixing accept on the sports teams.  The people who were  on sports teams related to all different kinds of people and mine interest and my friends were mostly in like the literaray magazine and I’m just trying to think who was working on the literacy magazine and there were some differences in background but not a lot.”

Shirin: What did you experience during the Civil War or Civil Rights?

Dr. Galson: Civil war? I was not alive?

Shirin: I’m sorry.

Dr. Galson:  That was a long time ago.

The civil rights movement

I finished high school in 1958. I wen to a college that was very full of politically active people.In fact, I went to Antioch College, the alumna of my college was Coretta Scott King.  And 50 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr was the commencement speaker. And also the brother of you those civil rights, the three civil rights guys, anyway, these 3 civil rights guys who were killed. Um, one of their brothers went to my college.  So, as you might expect, there was a lot of political activism a lot of participation in various marches and movements related to voting rights struggles. Also ending the war and draft in Vietnam.  There was a draft then and there was a lot of activism around not sending people into the army. And actually Martin Luther King made himself very unpopular with both the civil Rights community with his base of support when he came out against the Vietnam War. And his broader agenda to confront racism and also the military industrial complex at that time wasn’t his most popular stand because  folks thought the most important thing was Civil Rights for all different races but he saw it as.

Shirin:Do you want to talk about what you went through? Did you have race problems?

Dr. Galson: I personally as a white person did not have what I would call race problems. I am Jewish and have encountered very little anti-Semitism. In fact Jewish people were pretty active on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement on behalf of racial equality. I wouldn’t way I had problems personally

Shirin:How old are you?

Dr. Galson: Since I was born in 1950 I am 64 year old. My birthday is not until the end of the year. I’ll be 65 in December.

Shirin: Thank you for your time.

Dr. Galson: It was my pleasure.

Abstract

This interview is on Ms Delores and nabor of mines. In this interview she talk about her childhood leading up to her adulthood she talks about all the challenges she face in her life and even talks about famous past a current event that happened and are happening. She also gives her input in my things like this happen and who it could be stopped

Research

The baltimore riot stated becuase a a young mans death. Gray's death on April 19 reignited a public outcry over police treatment of African Americans that flared last year after the killings of unarmed black men in Ferguson, New York City and elsewhere. More than 3,000 police from Maryland, New Jersey and the District of Columbia, and National Guard members in helmets, took up posts in front of businesses and hospitals in Baltimore a day after the worst rioting in the United States in years.

Resources

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/27/us-usa-police-baltimore-idUSKBN0NI1N720150427

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/28/us-usa-police-baltimore-idUSKBN0NI1N720150428

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Baltimore_protests

Interview Below

Me ~ Hi may you please state your name?

Deloris~ Deloris Thompson

Me ~ Hi Deloris Thompson so umm what year were you born?

Deloris ~ 1956

Me ~ Umm were you born?

Deloris ~ Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Me ~ Umm where were you raise umm and where were brought up at?

Deloris ~ well, i was partially raised in north philly, Uhh after my mother had difficulty she had mental problems i went to live with my cousin Junoir for her to complete raising me

Me ~ O ok, umm were you were a little kid life as a black kid as they state it, umm what was life like for you?

Deloris ~ It was tuf- Ruff because my mom had left home my father raise us at one time and he couldn't complete the job, so they moved us children up into germantown it was kinda difficult

Me ~ Did- Did you ever feel like alone like you didnt really have someone?

Deloris ~ At one time yeah

Me ~ Hmm, um, do you remember any raci- like did you ever get any racist remarks, against you while you were little that you remember of?

Deloris ~ Not really dont remember racist remarks towards me

Me ~ Ummm, what would you, What would you say was the hardest thing for you growing up in those times when things were segregated?

Deloris ~ I try to block them out

Me ~   Do you remember any riots that happened?

Deloris ~ Well, i , uh, well Martin Luther King was killed (chuckles) i remember newton stores and tearing things up and everything because the was really upset and, so uh i seen a lot of ..

Me ~ Violence?

Deloris ~ Violence, at that time

Me ~ Umm did you ever participate in any riots?

Deloris ~ No

Me ~ Were you ever part of a group trying to prevent Segregation?

Deloris ~ No i didn't try to prevent it i tried to embrace it and make a difference i think all people are made equal so the thing was ignorance played a big part and segregation so i always look at it like, trying to make a difference, trying to bring people together, tu from all races, that was the biggest thing i learned from being a child because were all were all the same  

Me ~ So you agree with umm, basically your trying to say that you shouldn't ,fig- fight back with ignorance you should fight back with intelligence and kindness

Deloris ~ yes

Me ~ okay, umm would you say as you got older did things get better for you ?

Deloris ~ yes

Me ~ Could you state some of those things that got better for you?

Deloris ~ i decided to go to school for nursing, that became a big help because i got to meet different type of people, umm, i got married and my husband, i was a doll baby and queen to him so i was treated very well, but i went into the health feal because i knew people needed to be helped and to be able to un- understand because after i got older you know working in that field you hear the colored girl or the black girl or sometime the niger so i learned to embrace it and i learned to talk to people about it, eh, im just the same as you, eh, im just darker thats it and thats how i coped with that situation

Me ~ So when you were working there were racial remarks through to you but you embraces you were proud of who you were and you were a beautiful young black women who was doing what you needed to do to per, pursue in life

Deloris ~ yes

Me ~ okay as you were little in any, in any point in your life were you ever afraid or concerned of anything that had to do with segregation, like were you ever scared to go outside because of segregation or anything?

Deloris ~ eh, uh, eh eh fishtown you didn't want to get caught in after dark and all i could here is you better not go in that neighborhood (manly voice), but uh at one time Kensitin was the same way and uhhh, so i was scared to go into fishtown, but i did venture into Kensiten f and Westmorland and at the time it was rr- you know fights, so uhh i played bingo there for a long time like 10 years and they embraced me and that took care of me and it was a beautiful thing

Me ~ So Ms Deloris i have one final question for you earlier in the interview you stated that you umm, believe that you dont fight ignorance with ignorance you fight it with intelligence, umm so do you feel as though you segregation has gatten better over the years?

Deloris ~ Well yeah it got a lot better, it better than what it use to be because  you can go in just about anywhere you want in philadelphia without it being really racist so its much better

Me ~ Thank you Ms Daloris

Deloris ~ Your Welcome

Abstract

In this interview, Mr.Diallo mentioned that there were positive and negative views  of  President Sekou Toure.  One of the negative things Sekou Toure did that had a huge impact in his life is that he was racist. Sekou Toure was so generous and kind, but he used segregation between the different tribes in Guinea.  Mr. Diallo was a victim of segregation between the Fulanis and the Mandingos tribes in Guinea, Africa. He was denied the access to go  abroad to study when he was in college.  While his other classmates were allowed to go abroad to pursue their dreams he was denied the access to make the dreams a reality simply because of his tribe..

Research

Ahmed Sekou Toure segregated the Fulanis because the were very smart, rich and had a larger population. The Fulanis in Fouta Jallon (the village were the Fulani ancestors were came from) were very smart. Chérif Manta Mady, told Sekou that the Fulanis were threat because of their power, wealth and education.  They might be the reason why he would lose his place as president.  Since then Sekou feared Fulanis. Since he didn’t get a chance to finish his education, he had a feeling that the future Fulanis will come and try to rule the land, so in order to stop them, he had to stop them from getting education. The only way to that was possible, to deny them the access to study outside of the land.

Resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_S%C3%A9kou_Tour%C3%A9

http://www.webguinee.net/bibliotheque/histoire/andre-lewin/sekou-toure-president/volume-1/chapitre01.html

How did Sekou Toure rule as a presidente?

The positive rating, Sekou Toure had no diversion in cases of the state in the bank, in finance, and that the people do not steal his money in a very positive side, but they did not steal money, money had value, they did not have inflection. The rating of the employer is naive there's no lateness , if the student finish their study, They are all employed in good jobs.You understand? so that about it. And security, now also I’ve talked about the security. you can go around walking all night and even a fly won’t touch you. The people don’t come in the houses of other people, to break to destroy the houses of people, and stealing  whatever they want, and killing people, no. Or stopping on the roads to attack taxi drivers and they people inside of it,

Me: They still do that though?

Mr.Diallo: They had a total and very strong security. okay you understand? These are positive rating.

Negative rating now, is that Sekou Toure ... he recognize that every person that he thought could replace him at the place of being a president.  He would catch them and put them in prison.

Me: What put them in prison?

Dad: Yes, any high quadre, the people that studied well in schools, that have their diploma, that are so so good. He knows that they can validly take/replace his place, he fears that they will try to replace him. So he would  arrest them and they were forced to be killed. That’s the negative side about Sekou Toure.

Me: That’s sad

Mr.Diallo: He denied the access for all the Fulanis to go abroad and study

Me: Wow, why is that?

Mr.Diallo: Because they are fulanis

Me: Wait, only for fulanis?

Mr.Diallo: Only the fulanis! All the fulani students that had scholarships was decline. I was a victim, me that is talking to you right now.

Me: Awww!

Mr.Diallo: I was a victim! Your dad was a victime de racial segregations of Sekou toure. A had the scholarship to go to romany ut because I was fulanis I didn’t go.  like Sekou Toure until that year, that when I started hating Sekou Toure.

What can you tell me about Africa(Guinea)  that was scary back in your days? because I heard stories about it.

Mr. Diallo: Oh you know, umm scary… Africa scary back in my generation, don’t know what you’re trying to say, I don’t know what you mean by that, you are asking me about witches?

Me:Yes

Mr.Diallo: No, you know every people has their own culture, every people as their own tribes, their rules. That what differentiate the people. So in Africa we always talk about witches. Particularly in the African countries , we say this person is a witch, they can eat people, But is that cently proved?.. It’s not  scientifically proved. We can’t explained about that ciently. But in Africa in the villages when someone is sick, we say that it the witches that ate them, and the witch is the persons and or uncle, and their are the ones who ate them But isis true or is it a lie..

Me: That’s what they call black magic?

Mr.Diallo:  because it’s not scientifically proven, I don’t know. But It’s true that it exist in Africa, that promen of witches, they say there are people that eat other people.

Me: You know your little brother back in the village was eaten by the witches, they used black magic on him.

Mr.Diallo: My brother. No  he wasn’t eaten by the witches, it’s something else. But what I really believe exit is the les fetiche. When they tell you you are going to die and you are. They can kill you if they want. they can even make lighting when it’’s not raining.

Me: Is that still continued in African? Like do they still make that?

Mr.Diallo: yes, It’s still excite and it’s the most scariest thing about Africa.

Interviewer: Adam Bennett

Interviewee: Pop-Pop (Orlando)

May 11, 2015 7:00pm

AB: So, at what age did you first experience discrimination?

PP: I say about 14 or 15

AB: Do you know what happened?

PP: Oh yeah I was in the South, some white guys rolled by in a truck and hollered out the window “hey n*****” and I was in the yard doing something and they was on a back of a truck and I guess it was ten or twelve of em it was girls and guys and it was many years ago.

AB: So, what was your reaction?

PP: I holler back I holler back “hey you cracker” because that what we would say down south somebody would say something to you that’s what you would do.

AB: So, growing up did you hate white people at the time?

PP: No no no no, I didn’t.

AB: Well, how did you feel about them did you feel like they were ignorant?

PP: Well, I was raised on a farm we had our own farm so I wasn’t working under them I was working under my father. I wasn’t like the other black people in the south they didn’t like white people because they treated them wrong. No, I got along with them my next door neighbor was a white guy and we got along good, I used to go up to his house we didn’t go in the house that much, but we would be out at the barn doing things. But no I never disliked white people.

AB: So did you care what was going on at the time or did you sort of pushed it off?

PP: I didn’t care I mean I it was what I was raised into I didn't look at it as much then as i do now and it didn’t look as much different to me I didn't see much of it.

AB: Ok so, how was your teenage life from 14 till you were an actual adult.

PP: Well my teenage life was great because when I was 15 I got my driver's license my mother started me in school when I was 5 so when I was 15 my records in school said I was 16 so I got my records from school and went and got my driver’s license and my brother got a car and I started driving the car we worked in the farm and I had a really good teenage life you know I had good parents that raised us good and my teenage life was great all until I turned 18 and moved to Pennsylvania.

AB: When you came to Pennsylvania was it different from the South?

PP: I didn’t see too much difference because in the South we went where we knew we could go you know all the Piccolo Joints and we only went to black Piccolo joints and just like how you were in a town or anywhere else I was raised that way I wasn’t taught that way but when you go in a place you see water fountain white’s only water fountain blacks only I mean you were use to that and it was no other way and when I come to Pennsylvania it just wasn’t no signs so I didn’t see too much discrimination either way.

AB: Were you active in the Civil Rights Movement?

PP: No I was in Pennsylvania no I wasn’t active in it at the time when they started marchin’ and everything I was in Pennsylvania no marching was here.

AB: Have you ever had besides relationship with your neighbor any relationship with white people like a girlfriend?

PP: After I got into Pennsylvania yes yes I dated white girls yes.

AB: Would you like to explain on that?

PP: Well yea I can say that I never had like a steady girl it was like going to the club and meeting a girl and you would drink and you might go to other places. I didn’t have like steady girl that I would date you know I had a good friend that was a white girl and I had no problem with that.

AB: Did you receive “good” education growing up in the South?

PP: Well I had the opportunity to receive a good education and I had an opportunity to go to college and go all the way and my father was able to do it and the ones in my family that wanted to go to college which was only two they went and you know. It might be my fault that I got just about what I want and not just me we were living good we own our own land and everything at the part I didn’t see in having a good education. I wanted to be successful which was having fun and having a nice car and that was it.

AB: Would you say that your family created your own culture?

PP: I could say that my family created my mother and father and yea they created their own culture not too much I didn't have too much into it.

AB: Were you playing any sports, music were you doing anything?

PP: I used to box and wrestle and I was a good wrestler I never been thrown the whole while I been wrestling and it was free wrestling so there wasn’t training I trained myself.

AB: Have you ever been physically motivated to act upon a white person?

PP: Nah nah nah there was some kids that used to come around and we used to beat em up not beat em up but you know just smack em and do stuff just to get them scared and at that time their was more of us and white people would catch black guys if it were more of them. It was never nothing personal that lasted long it was over and we were through with it.

AB: Did you...you were ever like against what was going on in the Civil Rights movement?

PP: Yes I was against that, I knew that not all whites, but the whites didn’t like the blacks, but I didn’t participate in any of them because like I said earlier there were no marches in Philadelphia like it was in the South and I had left the South.

AB: Were you ever able not to do something you really wanted to do because you were black?

PP: Not really well, there are things that I couldn’t do and that I didn’t do because I was black I didn’t put myself in that position. Not really not really, I never approached anything and not done it because I was black because I had better sense not to approach it I understanded segregation in the South and in the North and that’s why I never got caught up in that.

AB: We’re going to wrap up here, but what is your whole thought on Segregation?

PP: Well my whole though on segregation is that a lot of people will look at it as black and white, but segregation is all over the world just like racism. Even in the mid-east all over the world there are segregation it’s races that hate each other races that love each other. Just now, I was looking on the news in China they still got slaver they got thousands of people on fishing ships in slavery we wasn’t the first one in slavery back in Pharaoh days in the middle east and slavery has just been around for awhile.

AB: Thank you Pop-Pop

PP: Well thank you.

The Failed Coup of Opposition Groups or Parties against the Gaafar El-Nimeiri  

Interview by: Saraa Fadl

Interviewee: Osama Fadl

Date: 5/15/15

Time: 9:00 pm

Abstract: In 1976, there was an attempted coup located in Khartoum, Sudan in which my father, who was 11 years old at the time, had witnessed. This failed coup was lead by opposition parties against president Jaafar El-Nimeiri and his military at an attempt to overthrow the military government in Sudan and take over. He mentions how the event that happened at that time is connected with what is happening today. He talks about his opinion of the situation and the government.

Research on Jaafar El-Nimeiri

He was president for 17 years (1969-1985). He was a US ally and was known for creating a sharia law that he thought would make Sudan peaceful but instead, it created conflicts between the north and the south. He was responsible for creating a lot of conflicts from his ruling which resulted in him being exiled in Cairo, Egypt. He was in exile for 14 years and came back to Sudan in 1999. He tried to get reelected but did poorly. He died on May 30, 2009 at the age of 79.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaafar_Nimeiry

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8075376.stm

S.F: Hello this is Saraa Fadl and I'm here to talk about the failed coup led by various groups such as the Islamists, The Uma Party (A Political Party) that opposed Jaafar El-Nimeiri with my father who at the time was 11 years old witnessed it. So how are you?

O.F:I’m alright.

S.F:So, I’m just here to ask you questions based on your knowledge about the failed coup. So, what happened based on your knowledge?

O.F: That time there was we were coming from  a wedding of my cousin and the wedding lasted until 4 am in the morning that day and while we were coming my dad’s pickup truck we heard the bombing and shooting. Was like far away it was supposed to be like in downtown which was like maybe about 67, miles from where we were but still we were overhearing the bombing so when we got home we were outside just listening and you know wondering where was that and then the news came in and said there was a coup led by the opposition but the official government was saying like they were saying is  a missionary from overseas past soldiers from other countries. They came to invade Sudan so that helped the government which is the military at the time helped them to you know the people help them because they were against the foreigners.

SF: So did this last all day or..?

OF: It was until like from like 3 or 4 am to like maybe around 11 or 12 and then you know when the people that came in, they came in and they couldn’t control the government or the country or the capital. Then they were driven away from there from the center and they came closer to where I lived like a mile so there was shootings all morning.

S.F: Was this a school night or a weekend?

O.F: It was Friday i think Thursday night to Friday night. it was the next day was.. we were

S.F: So it lasted a couple days?

OF: No I think it was the fighting was until 12 or something and then the government came back and the president was overseas and then they took over

SF: So when this happened he didn’t know about it or...?

OF: No he knew about it from overseas and i think he was directing it from overseas but there was some of his ministers and his people in the military you know that helped him.

SF: Did you witness something disturbing? Did you hear, see, or smell something unusual?

OF: No it was far away i mean i was too young to go and you know but we just heard stuff we heard the guns if we weren’t in the wedding we wouldn’t hear that. We would be asleep but it happens at the time of the wedding night of my cousin so we heard the whole thing and we stayed up but i didn’t see anything.

SF: Did you see any helicopters?

OF: No there were soldiers on the ground they were trying to control the radio and the tv stations and the military installations.

SF: So you mentioned it was far away, where was it located?

OF: In downtown like where the TV and the radio stations and the military headquarters.

SF: So where were you?

OF: Like in the suburbs, like 6 or 7 miles away.

SF: Of Khartoum or..?

OF: Downtown yeah.

SF: So when you first saw it, was there anyone in the family that knew about it a little bit, so that they can fill you in because you probably was confused at the time?

OF: Yeah, I had my cousin he was in the secret service, like the internal secret service, so yeah, he didn’t know too, but when he came back later on, he told us it’s a, you know, a missionary they call it مرتزقة (which is like paid soldiers from overseas from other countries). So thats how the government defeated them but they were opposition parties opposing the government but when they came they brought people that didn’t know the area they didn’t know the city, and they looked different from the people in the city, so it was easy to see that they are not sudanese, so the propaganda of the government they told them to pay missionaries to stop. All the sudanese were behind the government so thats what he told me.

S.F: How are people knowing about it now or years after the event happened? Do you think they are teaching that in school or are their relatives telling them?

OF:yea i mean people are talking about it because we are in the same situation right now in Sudan. There is a military government, there is a military taking over the country for now 25 years and the opposition parties are against the government and at this point, there were a lot of fights, there are a lot of wars in the south and the west and now people are trying to come together in a reconciliation so it’s the same situation like at the time 1976 i think ‘75 so its the same scenario happening right now so people are trying to--

SF: Compare?

OF: Yea, it’s comparable because its the same situation. the opposition were against the government. some parties of the opposition are fighting the government and now everybody is trying to come together and have a peaceful reconciliation and have a national government so it doesn’t get worse.

SF: What is your opinion? Do you have a side?

OF: No I am with everyone coming together because the country’s situations are getting worse, economically, politically, and socially. People are going back to their tribes, going back to their ethnicity.

SF: Because of the government.

OF: Because of the government trying to rule by dividing the people, dividing the parties together, dividing people against people, so they managed to control the country but in the end, the country is divided and divided, so hopefully they can come together and bring all the sudanese to one government and then work in improving the situation in Sudan.

SF: Are there leaders in Sudan that are trying to fix it?

OF: Yeah there is some leaders but because i think that personally because of selfishness they don’t want to join. They feel like they supposed to get more than what they can get, they don’t want to compromise. They are selfish and it can’t work with some parties joining and not the others it’s going to be the same problem. So everyone has to come so that's why its difficult to bring everybody in but that’s the only solution right now. otherwise it’s going to be wars its going to be like civil war. There is some wars fighting in the west, in Darfur and other states in the country but it’s going to be more people even in the capital because there is a lot of guns now with each parties so--

SF: So, history is repeating itself.

OF: Yeah. So the president at the time was wise and he managed to reconcile people but now i think the president is trying but i don’t know if he is trying hard and some opposition parties are--

SF: He’s(the president) abusing his power?

OF: Yeah of course I mean he’s responsible for all the mess that happened at the end.

SF: Is he the same president as what happened a long time ago?

OF: No that was El-Nimeiri now it’s Al-Bashir. There was a democratic elected government in between the two military governments but it’s the same problems and same situations.

SF: Ok , thank you!

OF: You’re welcome!

Abstract:

My grandmother reflects on life growing up , while she faced discrimination and many other obstacles that crossed her path. In the interview, she begins by sharing her own experiences that she faced back as a child. Also in the interview she shares, an memorable event that played a huge role in her life and others.

Research:

On July 23, 1953, City Councilman Raymond Pace Alexander called for the admission of African-American students to Girard College, the North Philadelphia boarding school for boys that didn't have a father. Almost fifteen years later in June 1968, Alexander joined fellow civil rights activist Cecil B. Moore at a rally celebrating the end of the school’s segregated admissions policy. On that day, Alexander and Moore reflected on the evolution of strategies, objectives, and leadership within the modern civil rights movement. As historian Matthew J. Countryman rightly observes, “the modern civil rights movement was as much a product of the black experience of racial oppression in the urban North as it was of life in the segregated South” and those experiences keenly shaped how the effort to desegregate Girard College unfolded through the 1950s and 1960s. This was an important memorable event for my grandmother in which she will never forget.

Sources: http://northerncity.library.temple.edu/content/collections/desegregation-girard-college/what-interpretative-essay

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/05/01/celebrating-50-years-since-protesters-help-open-door-to-black-students-at-girard-college/

http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?marker Id=1-A-369

Transcript:

1. Did you have any experiences with discrimination?

• “Yes, as a child I grew up in South Carolina, everyday was discrimination because as a child, how you were treated, most thought that was the way of life.”

2. How do you feel about the role race play in society?

• “It shouldn't be a role that race plays, everyone should be equal.”

3. What do you remember from the Civil Rights Movement?

• “I remember Cecil B.Moore fighting to have Girard college accept black students.”

4. Do you think that racism is an important issue for children to be aware of?

• “Its very important , because prejudice is a learnt behavior it's taught first in the home.”

5. What do you think is the best way to oppose/end racism?

• “By treating everyone equal, not by the color of their skin or were they came from.”

6. Did the civil rights movement affect you and if so how?

• “It affect me because it gave me a greater desire to not live an oppressed live although I was labeled as an oppressed people.”

7. Why do you think racism is still going on in the 21st century?

• “As long as there is hate, disrespect, and ignorance it will always go on.”

8. What are your feelings towards racism?

• “It makes me sad, and it's painful.”

9. Which time period do you think race had the most positive impact?

• “Time periods differ, when anything positive came out, in the society of division , there were a impact , being the 60s , 80s, and even now, there were an impact.”

10. From your perspective how does Race and discrimination differ?

• “because society continue to label people as minorities, people of color are looked at as less valued and not on an equal level.”

Abstract

In this interview Clifton Mabry, a 68 year old man from High Point, North Carolina, reflects on his life and important events that happened in his life during the 60’s. He also touches on some of the events from the Civil Rights Movement and how it affected his life in mostly positive ways. This interview doesn’t really touch on key components of the Civil Rights Movements because it is told from the point of view of Northerner, but it does get into significant events that occurred.

Research

Emmett Till was brought up in this interview. Emmett Till was a fourteen year old boy that was murdered and tortured for flirting with a white woman. His accused killers were put on trail, but were acquitted by an all white male jury. His death sent shockwaves and opened eyes across the world because he was nothing, but a child who was ignorant to the fact that behaving the way he did would be problematic. Mentioned previously, his accused killers did eventually admit to killing Till, but were never put on for retrial.

Something else that was mentioned in the interview was the riots on Columbia Avenue. These riots began when two Philadelphia police officers responded to a domestic dispute at 22nd and Columbia. The dispute ended up drawing a crowd that attacked the police officers with bricks and various forms of debris, but the officers didn’t get attacked because of their efforts to stop the dispute, but because of rumors and misleading information. The misleading information was that a white police officer beat a pregnant black woman to death. Looters took over stores, crime rates skyrocketed, and business were lost or destroyed. Once the riots were over and North Philadelphia was restored the long lasting effects of the riots began to take place.

The murders of two white males and a black male was another thing mentioned in the interview. The three men killed were Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney. These three men were on there way back from a trip to Philadelphia. While on their way back deputy sheriff/KKK member Cecil Price pulled the trio over for speeding. He held the men in custody while the rest of the Klan set up for the murder. Once the Klan finished they were let go. Later down the road the trio was closed in by two Klan cars and the three were shot in their heads and put into hand made graves.

Sources

Emmett Till

Columbia Ave. Riots