Billiken Man

very powerful film. i was a sophmore in high school at southside when the supreme court ordered the integration of northside in ft smith at the semester break. i did not know any of the girls but got to know the boys who played sports some and it seemed to go well compared to a lot of places. the one jarring memory i have was in 1971 going to get my wedding liscense in the county courthouse there and having to go to the basement and seeing the restromm door having only 1 coat of paint over the white men sign. they did not have the decency to make sure it was covered. it was out there for everybody to sitll see as some sort of klan sign. i have never forgotten that and never will it shocked me so much, i was 21 at the time.

perhaps an historical anomaly, as an SHS '80 graduate, i went through high school with a half dozen black students and 30 times as many Vietnamese.

i remember hearing a story then, unverified, but it sounded possible, that when national civil rights leaders came to Ft.Smith years before to advocate bussing to further integrate Southside, local Black leaders disagreed so as not to dilute the large minority at Northside, and it subsequently wasn't done.

having left FS 27 years ago, i do not know if that has ever changed.

Great choice for Juneteenth DBI. I recall all of it. Nightly and on Sundays. I lived with a racist stepfather during the time.
We caught hell in '67 for attempting to bring a SNICs rep to campus. One avant garde hipster on campus had ventured to Chicago in summer of 66 and returned with excellent photos of the beginning of Black Power movement. Those far-out Afros and black-gloved clinched fist said they were not gonna take that shit anymore.

Juneteenth
http://www.nwarktimes.com/adg/Editorial/193437/

Fort Baptist lucked out back in the bad old days when civil rights was burning up a lot of other cities across the country. Maybe our city fathers and mothers paid attention when Dale Bumpers helped Charleston integrate their schools 10 years before we did.

Or maybe they took to heart the lessons to be learned from LR in 1957. Either way, as hard as I search, I can't find any indication that there was any trouble when FS integrated the schools, starting with the elementary classes in 1964.

Just yesterday I interviewed a ancient Northside High teacher who started there in 1959. As a student back in 1964, I didn't know of any trouble caused by integration at my school. But I wanted to check with an adult and I'll keep checking before the adults of 1964 are all gone.

My lady yesterday said there was no trouble when FS schools were integrated. None at all that she knew about. So good for us! Lucky for us!

Along the lines of what muleboy said, I remember hearing circa 1968 that some black "instigators" came down to FS from the north and tried to fan the racial flames in our fair city and were told to go away by the black community.

At the moment I have no idea if that old rumor is true, but I'm fixin to find out in the near future due to a project looming on the horizon.

check with jerry jennings.l i think he still coaches there and he was a member of that first class at northside. he is a very good guy and is one of the reasons there was not any trouble.