I got a great response to my message yesterday. This is part two.
I went to an all white grammar school… “Where are the colored people?” I asked someone, and they told me they went to their own schools…that was puzzling to me. Did they have different school books or different courses?
Sometimes my brother and I would go to Woolworths…. I just loved that store. We sat at the counter… sitting on silver stools with red cushions on top. They made the most delicious banana splits. Colored people were not allowed to sit at the counter. What! Where were they supposed to sit or eat?
When the weather was good my mother would take us to the beach. Shirley would sit there and rub Bain die Soliel all over her body. The beach was for white people. Where did the colored people go to swim? Mom told me that they have their own beaches. Was the water a different color? These were things that I could not understand.
Now I want to talk about the public buses. There was a wooden plaque that attached to the back of the bus seats. It said “for colored people.” It only gave these people a few seats. Not on my watch. I would move the plaque so that colored people had more room to sit.
When I went to the department store there were 4 bathrooms. There were white men…colored men…white ladies… colored ladies. You know what I did, don’t you? I went into the colored men’s bathroom. And you know what…it looked just like the white men’s bathroom.
Later I found out this was called segregation. Lots of things have changed but not all the way. I believe everyone should be accepted.
I don’t see the color of anyone’s skin…I just see people. The world would be a better place if we just treated everyone equal.
Love,
Richard
