Interview with an Atlanta native

1. Why do you think race matters?

I challenge the notion that race doesn’t matter. Race has been an ever-present issue since the creation of man. There have been and are currently still wars being waged solely on the basis of racial differences!

2. Growing up during segregation, can you recall an early incident when you recognized a difference of treatment on account of color?

My younger sister and myself are bi-racial and I have two siblings who are not. The first time we were forced to realize that they, our two youngest siblings were “different” than she and I was one summer afternoon when we tried to all go into Woolworth to get a float and got stopped immediately upon entering by a white woman working behind the counter. She asked us what were we thinking bringing “those niggers” in her store. I was about 10 my younger sister 8, and our two youngest siblings were about 5 & 6.

3. If you attended a segregated school, how did it compare with schools attended by students of the opposite race?

I graduated from David T Howard in the Old Fourth Ward community, and it was the “designated all black school” and HW Grady was the white school. The building were structurally different in that our school was older and not a well kept as Grady was. Our books were in most cases worn and tattered.

4. Growing up, how did segregation affect the area in which you resided?

I grew up in the Old Forth Ward community, which was a direct result of segregation and intense racial tensions.

5. What is your earliest memory of the Civil Rights Movement?

I was a member of the SCLC Atlanta chapter and was very active in the 1960’s Civil Rights Era. I helped organize and took part in many sit-ins, boycotts and marches! I attended the March on Washington in the summer of 63; it was one of the most powerful gatherings of African American people I have ever attended.

I interviewed Dorris Adams-Pepper an Atlanta native. She grew up in the historic Old Fourth Ward community in the 1940's–60's. Dorris, after graduating from David T Howard went on to attend Spelman College and earn her undergraduate degree in education.