Previous | Next
Session: 1234567891011121314 Page 568569570571572573574575576577578579580581582583584585586587588589590591592593594595596597598599600601602603604605606607608609610611612613614615616617618619620621622623624625626627628629630631632633634635636637638639 of 763
Some of your comments on Richmond interested me particularly, because of some other information I've gotten involving the South. Let me be conjectural for a moment here and ask about this. Have you had the impression, either from your observations in Richmond or observations of the South and probably Southerners-- perhaps both races-- that there may be underneath it all less fear in the South on the part of whites or blacks, despite the fact they had in their own state laws and city ordinances, legal segregation until so recently, but still in the commonality of living in some of their communities, they knew one another in a way that often the whites and blacks did not know one another in the North?
Yes, I had that feeling. But again I must say it's a feeling, that the South for the most part seemed to be able to deal with the problems of school desegregation more easily than Northern urban communities. And when Gunnar Myrdal and I had a joint seminar and students would ask that question, my response was not one that is totally satisfying, of course, but I think that northern communities, northern cities, have had a history of heterogeneity among the whites, and conflict among various ethnic groups among whites. And the South has had a sort of a white homogeneity, and as you said, dealt with racial problems in terms of whites and blacks. Even though they were close, the whites were white and the blacks were black, and that was a more simple approach to the problem than you find in northern cities, where you have Jews, Italians, Irish, and some communities like Buffalo, Polish. And if you look back at the history of these urban
© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help