“Learn About” Questions
(informational)
- What is racism? What causes it?
- What happened at the Whit Café in Little Rock during the 1950’s?
- Why were restaurants segregated?
- What are examples of the ways people have fought racism over the years?
“Learn From” Questions
(transformational)
- Have I ever experienced racism? What was it like and where was I? How did I handle it?
- Are there times in my life that I have acted in racist ways? Do I still feel the same way? Why or why not?
- Are there causes that I am passionate about? How do I act on that passion?
Transcript
But I’ve always, and always will, I have fought racism up front from the days of Little Rock ‘cuz stuff was getting so bad when I left Little Rock, that’s when that whole Whit Café incident, you remember Whit Café on 7th Street? Black people could only get food on the side. The café part was for whites, supposedly the same food, but we had to get ours to leave. The decision was made to integrate the restaurant part. The people that owned the café, they hired some off-duty white cops to work inside and intimidate. I mean, it was, and I could see it, I said no, this is time for me to get out of Little Rock because I was gonna either end up 6 feet under or in Tucker or Cummins. Those were the two penitentiaries in Arkansas at that time. Now I understand they have, that two, shoot, how many do I hear? A lot. But no, Little Rock was getting, and I wanted to live. And I found ways to fight out here, to keep it going. All the time I was in my local construction unions, they’re no different than, you know, that’s the occupant’s people, you know.
