Benchmark

Abstract

My grandmother Cynthia Washington reflects on how it was to be African American during the Civil Rights Movement time period. She shared her knowledge and outlooks on topics pertaining to discrimination against blacks and her outlook on race and how it ties into society. She begins the conversation talking about how she attended a segregated school and then later moves into her perception of race and events/ things that were occurring when the Civil Rights movement took place. She wraps up the interview with her thoughts on what was going on in the schools at the time and how whites were offered a much better education than blacks were.

Research

Topic: How was the education offered to blacks during the Civil Rights Movement different than the education that was offered to the whites?

In most places the blacks lived in some of the poorest places and neighborhoods with some of the worst schools/ facilities. The teachers had the worst paid jobs so therefore they couldn’t afford some of the common schools/ facilities.

That they did was symbolic that they had the worst paid jobs that could only afford the most basic of facilities. The worst financed schools were most of the ones that were separated. Meaning they were segregated. This information can tie into what my grandmother told me in the interview because she said the schools didn’t have a lot of money and most times they didn’t have enough supplies to educate the students at all times.  

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/civil_rights_education.htm

I didn't get to have a face to face conversation with my interviewee so I don't have an audio file. I did however have a phone interview with my person and wrote down their answers to my questions.

Conversation

ME- Hi grandma, how are you doing today?

GRANDMA- I'm doing good Imani, how about you?

ME- I'm fine, I called to see if you could answer some questions about life during the Civil rights Movement time.

GRANDMA- Sure, I'll answer some questions.

ME- Ok I have 10 questions for you

GRANDMA- Ok

ME- Did you attend a segregated school?

GRANDMA- Yes

ME- Did you ever get attacked by a group of white people? Either by their words or violent actions?

GRANDMA- I had never gotten physically attacked by any whites but every now and then there  would be whites that would say rude racial slurs and remarks to me

ME- How has your perception of race changed from then and now?

GRANDMA- I see race in a way different limelight then I did back then. Back then I didn't feel that race was a good things. Simply because of the fact that me and my people were getting discriminated against. I didn't feel like whites and blacks were equal in anyway. A lot of things were unfair to me. A lot of things also didn't sit right with me. Now we're in a whole nother day in age where these aren't the circumstances anymore. I feel the exact opposite on how I felt before.

ME- What specific things do you remember from when the Civil Rights Movement took place?

GRANDMA- There was a lot of protesting going on and a lot of violent outbreaks.

ME- How do you see the role of race in society?

GRANDMA- I feel and think that race plays a huge role in society. For example believe it or not sometimes race can play into what kind of a job you can get how much money people decide you earn etc.

ME- Did you feel like a minority during these times?

GRANDMA- Yes i did, like I stated before I just felt like a lot of things were unfair.

ME- Did you ever feel like you weren't safe since whites were so prejudice against blacks?

GRANDMA- At times I would feel unsafe especially because of the things you would see on tv and in the newspapers about violence going on in other places.

ME- What were some things you observed pertaining to discrimination?

GRANDMA- I would see and hear whites making racial comments and other offensive things to blacks.

ME- What took place/ what was going on in schools during these times?

GRANDMA- In the black schools a lot of changes were taking place. We didn't have everything that we needed at all times to be educated properly. Such as the school not having enough supplies and books for kids... etc

ME- Did you feel like you got the same education that whites had/ were offered. Why or why not?

GRANDMA- No because we didn't have as  good of a quality education that they were offered. Like I said before sometimes we didn't even have enough materials for everybody to learn.