Connecticut Residents Share Their Civil Rights Stories
By: Source: AARP.org Date Posted: 2004-08-01 00:00:00-04:00
There's Still Time to Submit Your Story
From now until the end of the year, AARP Connecticut will present stories of Connecticut residents' experiences of civil rights violations. Some of these stories recall the Civil Rights Movement from decades ago, but others recount injustices committed today.
AARP Connecticut is collecting and publishing these stories as part of a national effort launched earlier this year. The goal of the project, a collaboration between AARP and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, is to collect previously untold personal stories of the quest for justice and equality.
In addition to stories of Connecticut, stories from around the country will be posted on the Web with all stories being included in an archive in the Library of Congress. To date, more than 1,000 stories have been collected nationally.
"Unless we remember, future generations will not understand how the historic struggle for civil rights revolutionized every aspect of the American life we enjoy today," said Lillian H. Brown, whose story will be highlighted on this Web site later this year.
The stories you send may go beyond the accounts of Freedom Rides, lunch counter sit-ins and the 1963 March on Washington.
From the heroic battles of African Americans to end racial segregation and discrimination in the 1950s and '60s to the struggles today of women, people with disabilities, Hispanics and many others, Voices of Civil Rights captures memories the nation can't afford to forget.
"Connecticut residents have courageous and harrowing stories to tell and we want to hear them, collect them and archive them," said Brenda Kelley, state director of AARP Connecticut.
Here are two of the many civil rights stories from Connecticut residents:
James Griffin, of Waterbury, former president of the Connecticut NAACP and a current member of the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities:
Griffin said he has "gut-wrenching" memories of "colored only" bathrooms and water fountains, riding in back seats on buses and sitting upstairs in movie theaters.
"As I was growing up in Waterbury, my father would insist that my younger brother and I spend the summer in our hometown of Columbia, SC. It was then that I was confronted with the racist attitudes of the South.
While traveling in our 1949 Ford below the Mason Dixon Line, we stopped at gas stations with separate rest rooms, lunch counters and water fountains. I was outraged by the treatment we received and I confronted my father who told me to watch my mouth because the white man would hang us if we acted up.
I wouldn't listen and argued that the white man could not treat us like that; after all, we spent our money like everyone else. The white man pumping the gas overheard me and yelled at us and said, 'Niggers, watch your mouth,' as he approached the window of our car. He yelled again, 'Niggers,' and reached for my father's neck.
He continued to scream profanities and tried to pull my father from the car, but by then the owner of the gas station made the attendant stop. He said, 'You niggers know better than to talk like that to the white man,' and said we better move on before it got dark.
I was scared to death and we were only in Virginia and had yet to pass through North Carolina before getting to South Carolina.
When we arrived the following day, I saw that black people were not considered equals in the South during those days, and everywhere we went we were reminded by signs saying 'white only' or 'colored only.' It was to the back of the bus, upstairs in the balcony of the movie house, no swimming in public pools and separate sections at the lunch counters in department stores. I never forgot the way our people were treated, and today I still harbor many of the memories from the racist South.
As years passed and I entered the Army in 1969 during the Vietnam War, I was again faced with the racist attitudes in our military. I was beaten by a bunch of white soldiers one night in Fort Stewart, GA, and when I reported it to the MPs, they told me I better go to my barracks and keep my mouth closed, and I did. I thought once I was shipped overseas to the Korean DMZ that would change, but guess what, they had segregated bars in the villages and the white soldiers would call you 'nigger' in a minute.
For those of you who have never faced racism I remind you it still remains one of the most painful experiences in life."
State Rep. William Dyson, a Democrat representing New Haven:
In his college years in South Carolina, Dyson joined an organized restaurant sit-in. He was arrested with the group and spent time in jail. He said he realizes how important it is to collect these kinds of stories and preserve them.
"I know from personal experience that these stories are important to document. We need to pass down these written stories so that others can be made aware of the contributions of people before us."
To share your story, write 500 words or less and send it to Suzan Bibisi, Communications Director, AARP Connecticut, 21 Oak Street, Suite 104, Hartford, CT 06106, or e-mail Suzan.
You also may call AARP Connecticut at (866) 295-7279 and ask for Suzan, and she will take your story over the phone. Stories will be collected through the end of the year.
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