Audio
Oral History Interview with Leola Ragin Parks Pt. 2
Transcript
Oloye Adeyemon: You shut off the tape. Brown versus Board oral history collection, Clarendon, South Carolina school desegregation, segregation interviews. Interview one, Ms. Leola Reagan Parks, part two. We were just speaking about the fact that in the other two school districts in the county, there was a high—well, there was no—there were no whites here in the Summerton, uh, School District One, Clarendon County School District One, but in the other two there were. And there were more white teachers. Black students were attending class with whites, and therefore were having to compete with what essentially was a style dif—in- in a style different or an environment that was different than the one they were used to. And I guess I have a question about, um, how the Black students' experience, and the Black teacher for that matter's experience, differed in those school districts because of that in Summerton, uh, where there was the challenge of doing that, but there may not have been as many teachers who were used to teaching with the expectation that their students would go on to college perhaps because it may have—you had said earlier that many of the Black students, that was not so much the expectation. It was getting a high school education, learn how to read and write and still be, you know, in the county doing—
Leola Parks: [Clears throat]
Oloye Adeyemon: - you know, jobs that, you know, would not necessarily require you to go into college.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: So can you- can you tell me what were some of the, uh—can you compare and contrast the Summerton school district from that point, uh, to—
Leola Parks: Okay. Um, with what I'm thinking, um, as the Manning schools, uh, and I'm sure they, um, integrated a lot earlier than we did—well, had whites into the public schools and- and- and Blacks. [Clears throat] When you have, uh, well-educated parents who expects a lot from their kids, they have to expect a lot from their teachers. So with the integration, um, with Blacks and whites in the same class, there was a lot of pressure because more whites were much more educated than Blacks. You had educated Blacks that expect a lot. You had uneducated Blacks that expect a lot. They just wanted more for their children. But in the- in the schools that integrated, um, um, somewhat, the pressure was put on the teacher by the parent to provide the better education. In the Summerton area where they were predominantly black, uh, as a matter of fact 100 percent Black students, um, the teachers were very loving and supportive. They gave us not only a school atmosphere but a- a loving home atmosphere when we went to school.
Oloye Adeyemon: Was also discipline.
Leola Parks: Also discipline, extremely. If I did something at school, mom knew about it before I got home.
Oloye Adeyemon: And the teacher might discipline you.
Leola Parks: That's correct. Mm-hmm. Okay? Teachers disciplined you. They had permission to do that.
Oloye Adeyemon: I remember going back to your experience when you first came to Summerton, you didn't get that from the teachers. They were more standoffish.
Leola Parks: Oh, yeah. Yeah. They just taught a class. As a matter of fact, they—
Oloye Adeyemon: They might have helped the white student, but even the white students didn't experience from their teacher what the Black students used to experience from their teacher.
Leola Parks: I really don't think so. Uh, they got a lot of love at home and we got a lot of love at home, but I don't—I did not see that extra effort of love in- in the white schools. But the, uh, Black teachers—
Oloye Adeyemon: Even among the white st- students.
Leola Parks: Even among—
Oloye Adeyemon: From the white—
Leola Parks: - white—yeah. They were- they were cordial and loving of course, but they didn't go that extra mile to—and because we were, um, Black students at that time did not, uh—were not as prosperous as whites—
Oloye Adeyemon: I didn't ask that earlier, but I- I had assumed there were no Black teachers teaching in the high school when it was first integrated.
Leola Parks: In the white—
Oloye Adeyemon: In the white Summerton High School when it was first integrated.
Leola Parks: No. No, it was not. It was not.
Oloye Adeyemon: I mean, uh, not there before, but I'm saying when the students began to, um, it was not until after the zoning part that there were Black teachers at Summerton High.
Leola Parks: The only love and affection we got from the all-white school was from the janitors and the cooks.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Okay? That I—I do remember that.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: But, um, the Black teachers did all that—I think that they could for us at that time. Um, they were not as prepared as the white teachers, and primarily because they came through the predominantly Black colleges, you know.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Um, under whatever circumstances. And, uh, but they gave us I think all that they could and the extra love, and we were better people.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: We were better students. I—
Oloye Adeyemon: And probably learned more.
Leola Parks: Learned more. The success rate back then is much higher than the success rate now.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: You know?
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: And teachers are prepared now. All teachers are prepared. If they're not, they shouldn't be in the profession. Because all the, uh, resources are there. But the, um, the kids, even though they didn't all go to college, they weren't all on the street on drugs and et cetera. You know, so they were able to become, um, self-supporting citizens, you know, once they graduated high school. Not all of them, but a large number of them were given the values that was needed.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. Would you say that desegregation happened at a point when people had more mobility and that some of the family structure and the tight-knit communities around the churches began to be a little less, uh, cohesive? So it was kind of a dual process of desegregation and a much less personal- personalized school environment, and also a- a community that was beginning to be less—everything in their lives [unintelligible 07:41]?
Leola Parks: Now, at the time of Briggs versus Elliott, everybody was close knit. Churches were very supportive. Um, um—
Oloye Adeyemon: The teachers were close—
Leola Parks: Everybody—
Oloye Adeyemon: Were part of the communities.
Leola Parks: Yes. Yes. Everybody was a part of everything. But I agree with you with, uh, desegregation. We were moving up in the world, so to speak, you know. We had homes, transportation, you know. Blacks owned a little piece of land or whatever the case might be. So it was different. Um, I don't know whether that was good or bad, but, um, even in the Summerton area you have large farm- farmers that—you know, Black farmers that, um, had some property. Uh, the family that I grew up in, um, his family had land, Smythe property, you know. That kind of thing. So we were—
Oloye Adeyemon: Right. But w- w- whe- when we look at the business, uh, environment in Summerton, the economic—the tax base and these types of things, uh, is it simply economics or is it also a sense of community that you're challenged with as the president of the Summerton Downtown Development Association?
Leola Parks: I do find that it's a sense of community.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm.
Leola Parks: Um, and that's one of our first goals.
Oloye Adeyemon: And my question is s—aside from the white flight and with that some of the tax base and other things, w- was there not a—and from what I had heard earlier, I- I understood you to say that, um, there—in previous conversations—that there had been, um, changes in Summerton even for Blacks that life has, you know, changed some, and in—yesterday, um, Mr., um, DeLaine did come back, but he had promised himself he'd never come back to the South. And so I guess my question is during the same period that the segregation is oc- is occurring, uh, are there people in the county, Blacks, who are moving away for opportunities, and in many cases some of those that have the most initiative, some of those that might have been the next generation of leaders in a strong community are choosing to find an environment that's—that they can grow in more? And so while the schools are desegregated and while the education environment is becoming less personalized, is it the case that even the Black community, uh, is dispersing where people are moving out the county or even out of the state at the same time?
Leola Parks: Yeah, it is the case. Um, uh, as a matter of fact we, uh, Downtown Development is trying to put together a newsletter bringing like the communities together, and one of our goals was to get the Miss Scotts Branch High School and the Miss Clarendon Hall together, um, to have them have lunch, get to know each other, uh, and write an article, you know, that featured them. And when we tried to find Miss Scotts Branch High, she's gone.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: She's not coming back.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Unless for, you know, a weekend vacation.
Oloye Adeyemon: Right. So is there a way, you think, to not just reach out and heal this community, whites and Blacks, but to also bring whites and Blacks back to the county for activities, functions?
Leola Parks: That's correct. We do have, um, Blacks now—and- and you know that from the church standpoint—um, moving back home. They have home property. Um, some are doing that to raise their kids because they want it in a less, um, stress environment. Some are doing it, um, as a retirement, just as whites, you know, moving back home to the South. Um—
Oloye Adeyemon: Are they choosing Summerton? 'Cause I've met some people that have moved back south, but they haven't moved back to school—they've moved to Columbia, they've moved to Charlotte.
Leola Parks: Yes. Several people in Columbia and- and Atlanta and Charlotte. Um, those who are trying to come back to this area are looking for lake homes just like whites are looking for lake homes. Um, there are some that have a lot of property in—
Oloye Adeyemon: Already.
Leola Parks: - in the country, so they're building their nice homes and making that their domain. Um, they don't have to come through Summerton. They go around it because there's nothing here.
Oloye Adeyemon: So I guess I have two questions. Uh, a two-part question. You have a- a need to heal, and it seems that there's a legacy of there needing to be extra effort when it comes to Summerton. And there also is—are not only those people who are from this area who are spread out, but you're still pretty much in a- in a tou- tourist, uh, area of the country—
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: - both in terms of people coming to South Carolina, especially the coastal areas—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - and people passing down 95.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: Y- y—that—I don't know of any, uh, migration in the country that compares to the late spring migration from the North—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - to Florida.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. That's right.
Oloye Adeyemon: And the fall migration back.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: And I've been on 95 at that time.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. Mm.
Oloye Adeyemon: It's a traffic jam from—
Leola Parks: Yeah, it is.
Oloye Adeyemon: - for, you know, hundreds of miles.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: And certain days you just don't travel—
Leola Parks: Right. Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: - because people have, you know, leases and things. And it would seem to me that there would need to be an- an effort to not only bring the races together, bring people who've left back—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm. [Clears throat]
Oloye Adeyemon: - and tap this large number of people that are passing close by together in Summerton for something. Uh, my question first is has the Summerton Downtown, uh, Association considered linking all of these things together, one, and two, have you explored the potential that the legacy, the positive legacy, uh, of Briggs versus, um, Elliott—when I say the po- positive legacy, um, for some people there is a—various people have various points of view. And I'm saying this this way because if you're trying to bring whites to the table, there are many of them that are not going to understand—even if they have gotten over the animosity or the resentment, they're not going to understand why they as a white person would want to commemorate—a white Southerner—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - would want to commemorate the Supreme Court date or to celebrate the courage of Briggs, DeLaine, and Pearson. And I wanna ask that first if you're looking for ways to use this story to do that, and again are you trying to link those various, uh, points?
Leola Parks: Okay. Um, first of all let me tell you about the Downtown Development Association. Uh, being chosen to represent the school district on that association, I started attending the meetings. The attendance, uh, of the active members—now your- your businesses would join. They would pay their membership fee, but they opt not to attend. And, uh, in attending those meetings, the active membership, with the exception of the- the town administration, was all Black. And after becoming chairperson, uh, a year or so ago, it was my goal to—and I had some- some, uh, feedback, but it was my goal to make that group, the small—the core group, diversive. We have to work with each other if we're working for a cause for each other. You understand what I'm saying? To restore this town to be not only for the Blacks, but for the whites, and we—
Oloye Adeyemon: You'd also want to attract people who've left back and also tourists.
Leola Parks: Tourists. Correct. Um, formerly the Black businesses was on Railroad Avenue. That's where we stayed. We would walk across town to the theater where we had to sit upstairs. Uh, well, were we upstairs or downstairs? Wherever we were.
Oloye Adeyemon: Certain section.
Leola Parks: Yeah. We- we had to sit in our section. That's correct. And then you came back to Railroad Avenue. You didn't hang. All the hanging was done on Railroad Avenue for Black people.
Oloye Adeyemon: Were the- were the businesses on Railroad Avenue owned by Blacks?
Leola Parks: That's correct. Well, they were, um, run by Blacks. I assume that most of them owned. But, um, it is our desire to, uh, [unintelligible 18:12] people to p—and- and- and after becoming president, uh, or chairperson for that organization, we have, uh, been instrumental. What I do when I send out the- the, uh, membership letters to get them to join, I ask them, "Can you attend our meetings or who can you send as a representative?" And I've gotten responses. We have been active in getting, um, because we've proposed a redevelopment plan to the town of Summerton that the town of Summerton has adopted, which means that we kinda got our act together. Um, uh, we have been able to attract whites. We had to hold these public meetings, so that brought awareness. They want to know, you know, what these Black- Black people are trying to do with Summerton. A- and when they saw the plan, they read the plan, they said, "Okay. Okay, this might be something intelligent that I can join." If you're doing something good, you can get support. So we do have white participation in our group now.
Um, we will have to do this—now, we have developed a redevelopment plan, and after that redevelopment plan we have developed a- a plan by which we will redevelop the town and the phases. Main Street is, uh, our main goal, so you know of course we have to start there. And then we want to get people off the interstate, and we can't get them off the interstate until we have something to offer them. That's why Main Street is first. Then we plan to beautify, you know, the- the- the- the throughway from- from the interstate, our main interstate, uh, exit, uh, 108, to get them into town.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm.
Leola Parks: Then we're gonna do the other areas. But we have a- a- a four-phase plan to- to do that, and that—we are already attracting businesses to downtown. We have people that's looking into buying the old abandoned building. But our major goal is to restore it, um, to a period. We're going to research the history of those buildings.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: See what the oldest building—you know, see the period, determine the period that we want to. And we have a young lady that works with our organization that's restoring—she thought she was restoring, but really it was so bad that she's almost rebuilding. But she took down the awning—
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm.
Leola Parks: - and had it sandblasted and redone and put back up.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Those are things that we want to look at. We want to look at the history of the buildings. Um, uh, the lawyer Rogers's office who defended the Elliotts.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: See if we can get moneys in to- to- to- to restore. That would be an excellent museum area, you know.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm. So if I'm understanding you, you do have a plan to tie these things together.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: How would you be able to use this story—because this story is obviously gonna have an appeal to people from outside of the county.
Leola Parks: That's correct.
Oloye Adeyemon: But how can you use this story in such a way that whites will buy in to being told—in other words, told in such a way that whites would feel a part of it, that they would feel it wasn't- it- it wasn't something where they were on the oppo—losing side and now they have to come to celebrate the winners [crosstalk 21:54]—
Leola Parks: Okay. What you have to- to realize about that time, and the little bit—
Oloye Adeyemon: And is that—is it the case that whites in the county are still looking at that? 'Cause I've- I've- I've met many people—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - since being in South Carolina that still feel very strongly that the South should have won the war. So—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - you know, um, uh, is it the case that there are still a lot of whites that would like things to be how they used to be?
Leola Parks: Um—
Oloye Adeyemon: And would not—or is it the case that those—you- you said earlier a lot of the older people have been passing away—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - and the younger people are having a different attitude. Is the t—has the time come when they would be prepared to do that, and how would you have to present it so that they would be comfortable, and is that important?
Leola Parks: Mm.
Oloye Adeyemon: Is it important to do things to get them involved in particularly this commemoration of this event, which I think would draw a lot of tourists to—
Leola Parks: Right. Let me tell you, because, um—or make one statement before I answer your question. Because a lot of the kids, the white kids from this area attend the public schools in Manning, okay, my s—I- I represent Clarendon School District One on Downtown Development Association. This is my home, but I live right across the lines in Clarendon School District Two. My children attend Clarendon School District Two. But we spend most of our time in Summerton, church, my parents' home, you know, that kind of thing. And when my kids are here, they see their classmates, so they're talking, you know. The dialog is beginning with Blacks and whites in actually this area. Uh, so the attitudes of the kids, if they remain here—and that's where Downtown Development comes in and where we're going to branch off with, um, with, uh, uh, uh, economic development. Okay? Once these kids get to changing the attitudes, they see these kids—my family's home is here. Who knows? My son may choo- choose to locate here. They could become friends, you know.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Which attitudes are changing. But, um, um, and I've- I've- I've lost my train as to your—the- the question itself. But we will have to get, um, Blacks and whites together.
Oloye Adeyemon: Is there a way in which this story can be presented—
Leola Parks: Okay. Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: - that both would—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - be able to celebrate together?
Leola Parks: Okay, and that's what I was about to say.
Oloye Adeyemon: And I'll- and I'll share with you why I'm asking that.
Leola Parks: Okay. Um, I understand back there, and from what I've been told, that there were a lot of whites that helped the Blacks. There were a few radical people of course, but there were some that didn't do anything.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: And there were some that did something without everybody knowing it, and those people, even though, uh, the petitioners are all deceased now, they've told the story that Mr. So-and-so, um, gave us a tire for our car, or Ms. So-and-so gave us some food.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: They helped. Uh, but it wasn't popular at that time, so what they did had to be kept confidential. And even some of the whites that were known to have helped were, um, uh, uh, chastised by their own, you know.
Oloye Adeyemon: Yeah. I ask that because yesterday, uh, both Mr. Pearson and Mr. DeLaine talked about the fact that by the time the case got to the Supreme Court, uh, the people that were appealing were the NAACP for the cases in South Carolina, Virginia, um, Washington was on the side waiting, and Kansas, it was the school district of the state of Delaware that was appealing the fact that they had lost the case, and then on the side that wanted things to remain the way that they had been through the previous court. There were the school districts in South Carolina, Virginia, Kansas, and the NAACP, because they had won Delaware.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: And I think that it's very, very important that when you talk about 1954 in particular, we talk about the case that challenged the way in which the constitution was being, um, compromised. It was not, uh, by that time, uh, simply an issue of school desegregation. And think that that's extremely important because what had they were saying happened was that people were not, uh—they were allowing the constitution to not be fully—the protections of the constitution- constitution not to be fully, uh, realized because of custom, southern custom, and e- in other areas of the country too. And they had the best constitutional lawyer, John Davis, fighting, and the- and the judges respected him, you know. And they used that strategy that if he's here, they won't dare dispute him. But the fact of the matter is it was indefensible, so that the people that were in these cases around the country were actually not just desegregating the schools, but making the constitution the—making people, uh, allow the constitution to be a determining factor, not social custom.
And if that's the case, then the whites would be [unintelligible 28:05] because that's something that they gained from. And I- I don't—I know most people, uh, would not think of this as const—challenge to, um, what had become a compromise the constitution. It w—it- it was a desegregation case, but desegregation case forced those judges to do something that they would have preferred perhaps not doing, which was to deal with the c- what the constitution said as opposed to what the customs. As long as nobody challenges, then they just would turn their heads.
Leola Parks: Right.
Oloye Adeyemon: And if that's the case, then everybody was made more free through that. And I guess that might be one of the points where, you know, everyone would be able to celebrate that case regardless to how they felt, you know, about desegregation, because it made them free. Is that type of, uh, discussion about a commemoration both of that date and of the things that took place in general, because also, uh, segregation hurt whites in a variety of ways. Have those kinds of discussions been taking place with the white community in an effort to put something together that can, you know—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - reach, you know, everyone and everyone can agree to?
Leola Parks: I think what we have now as far as, um, both Black and white community, uh, uh, is the, uh, economic development or the impact that this case can have on the economic development of Summerton. Uh, it is a discussion now that we, uh, research, uh, plan, and promote a program to educate not only the people here, but the people that can come in, uh, to our area to, um, uh, the case and the issues as it, uh, as it pertains to Summerton, and the impact that that will have on our economy, um, for all of these people. Most people that travel, especially with their kids, they're looking for places to stop, for the historical sites on the way, and Summerton will be by 2004, um, marketed to the point where they will come.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. Will—what are your plans here at the district, and do you anticipate future, uh, integration where whites will come to Summerton School District?
Leola Parks: Um, I can't speak for, um, the overall system, but it is my opinion that if we prepare ourselves, prepare our students, our facilities, our- our class acts now, our- our staff—we're- we're, uh, employing, um, top staff, teachers, et cetera. We just have to be ready when the white students come back. There will be a time, and we are moving in- into that direction. Um—
Oloye Adeyemon: Do you think any of that plan would be, uh—would- would there be, um, a marketing of that, so to speak, prior to 2004?
Leola Parks: Yes. Yes. It is our plan. Uh, in our redevelopment plan we have the different sections, uh, uh, of our plan, but our marketing and promotional packet for Summerton will include all aspects of Summerton, the education especially. We want to have this when somebody calls the school system to ask if I move here, what school would my child attend, we want to give them the full packet. We're gonna hit 'em with the ball. Not only the school system, but the plans that we have to redevelop—
Oloye Adeyemon: [Crosstalk 32:28].
Leola Parks: - the town and- and what we have to offer by then. Um, everybody, i- if you would look at our plan, we have partners and the school district is one of those partners. Um, we want to put together a full packet for businesses, individuals, uh, corporations, anybody that want this—that's looking for this.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: We have to look at the, um, economic development portion of it as to, uh, uh—a- and this is not a downtown function, but, um, possibly, um, doing some development around the interstate. Uh, we have the largest body of- of undeveloped shoreland, um, that's left around the lake.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: In the Summerton area.
Oloye Adeyemon: That's good.
Leola Parks: There were plans before by the county to develop that area. Something happened. It fell through. But this is Summerton. This is Clarendon School District One.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: We just w—we're going to have to sit at the table and bring all people that have something to offer to the table and determine how we can do this.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: But it can be done.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. L- looking back at the events that you've lived through, one, uh, do you feel when you entered the school for the first time, your grand aunt had felt very strongly about putting you in the school—
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: - at that point, and can you speak about what your expectation was yourself, what her expectation of you might have been, and what her and other parents had as an expectation in this process that was occurring? What was it that they were hoping would happen, you know, as a result of being in this school—to this school on that day?
Leola Parks: Um, the overall goal was to make sure that we got the best education possible. That was the overall. Um, they wanted to pave the way for other children. Uh, somebody had to start. We were the ones that got started. Um, they wanted the best education possible. I know that that's what was wanted for me, and I feel that that's what- what it was for the parents, uh, the other parents. But it had to start somewhere, and it started with us. And just as the whites had radicals, we did too.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Those were strong, forceful people. Um—
Oloye Adeyemon: Such as?
Leola Parks: Um, John McDonald. We used to call him Old McDonald. He was a- a landowner.
Oloye Adeyemon: [Crosstalk 0:35:47] which John McDonald was, uh—
Leola Parks: John McDo- Donald. His daughter was one of the first that attended, one of the first Blacks.
Oloye Adeyemon: Was he with the NAACP?
Leola Parks: I'm sure he was. I don't know what role he played with the NAACP. But, um, he and a couple of others were the ones that sparked, uh, the interest in the Blacks at- at organizing the—
Oloye Adeyemon: In that, uh, freedom of choice period.
Leola Parks: - the s—uh-huh. Mm-hmm, the desegregation.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm. Mm.
Leola Parks: Yeah. In that- in that—at that time.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. So after you were here, were you looking ahead at that time and had a—and did you have a vision? Did you understand how historic what you were doing was, and did you have a vision—were you aware that this was one of many, uh, desegregation efforts that were result of a Supreme Court bill that focused quite a bit on Summerton? Were you aware of how Summerton played a role in this coming back? 'Cause there were children in other areas of the South. Little Rock was happening because of what had happened in the Briggs case and other cases, at least the Supreme Court. Were you aware of that, and did you have a sense that you were representing something more than yourself, and that whites and Blacks were looking at you? Were you—would you—did you have that sense of that, and was the- was- was there some kind of a special expectation that you had for yourself or a certain, um, responsibility that you felt in that situation, and others were looking at you to perform, uh, so on?
Leola Parks: We knew that we were doing something different. Uh, we knew that our former classmates were saying, you know, "You're going to that school? You know, we're not going to that school." We knew it was something different. We didn't know how historic it was. We didn't know what was going on in the country, um, as- as a result of, um, it wasn't a real issue. It was a personal goal of mine to graduate from this school because of the fact that I—they kept telling us that we did not have the background. Uh, my grades especially was not the best, you know. Uh, the A that I got in the, um, elementary all-Black school was a D here. Okay? So we really had to struggle. You know, I was never retained but, you know, it was always borderline. Uh, every grade I only had to do the four years, so I—
Oloye Adeyemon: And you didn't get a lot of extra help.
Leola Parks: No. No. No.
Oloye Adeyemon: Um, not extra tutoring?
Leola Parks: No. No, we didn't. You had to struggle yourself. You went home. You were made to study. [Claps]
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: Uh, parents could help you pronounce words or something of that nature, but they- they did not have all of that foundation that, um, that, uh, to- t- to give us that extra support, so we did not have that. But, um, we did, um, um, uh—I—it was my intentions to graduate.
Oloye Adeyemon: And—
Leola Parks: So I did not—I didn't—in my senior year I did not know that the next year would be the last year of this high school. I was not coming here another year.
Oloye Adeyemon: Is there any connection to your efforts with the Summerton Downtown Development Association, the school district, your choice not to leave this area, that is somehow linked to what you felt about the county, uh, and about the struggles that have taken place that resulted in you being able to attend Summerton High that- that's present in your life today, and what would you like to say to people that listen to this tape in the future about the importance of this?
Leola Parks: Okay. Um, what I'm s—I- I, um—physically, uh, it may be something in my self-consciousness that's keeping me here. Um, because of, uh, the efforts or being, um, educated with whites, I've always had a relationship with whites. I've always had a desire to- to see it better, a better relationship between Blacks and the whites. Uh, I- I've served on several committees. Uh, I've always been the Black person to serve. Uh, right now I'm serving on the Chamber promotions committee where I have to sit with several white men. [Laughter] The only Black—
Oloye Adeyemon: Businessmen.
Leola Parks: Yeah, businessmen, bankers and whatever else.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm.
Leola Parks: You know. Uh, on the Chamber c—uh, promotions committee. It's different, but they listen to me and—
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: - you know, they're open—
Oloye Adeyemon: So you were kind of prepared for that role, the role that you're playing today—
Leola Parks: Y- y- yeah, you're prepared because, um—
Oloye Adeyemon: - by what occurred in your high school years.
Leola Parks: - I've- I've always been exposed to whites.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: You know. And it's- it's- it's—
Oloye Adeyemon: And even before that, there was a great deal of social interaction between whites and Blacks.
Leola Parks: Mm-hmm.
Oloye Adeyemon: It's just that life was segregated in certain ways.
Leola Parks: Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Oloye Adeyemon: What would you like to say to people who have the opportunity to listen to this tape and read the transcript in the future about this whole experience? In a few words, what- what would you wanna summarize?
Leola Parks: The experience of attending what was then an all-white school has better prepared me to, uh, be able to overcome the struggles, to be able to deal with all people on all levels. You know, I don't look down on people. You know, I just—I- I hate to see a hungry person or anything like that. You know, I- I wish I could feel—feed the world. But and it also enabled me to be a better thinker.
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm. What would you encourage other people to do with the information they'll get from this collection? What- what- what would you like to—what would you like the impact on others to be from hearing this, if you had a choice of- of what they get out of it?
Leola Parks: I would want Blacks to be able to listen to the whites, and whites to listen to the Blacks and to understand and to begin the healing. Um, we all had a struggle. I'm sure the whites struggled as much as we did because they were so convicted on the fact that this is how it should be, and it should stay this way. So it was- it was a struggle for them as well as u—Black parents wanted better for their children because the world was going to change, and those men back there and women had vision. They knew that we had to be better prepared.
Oloye Adeyemon: Thank you.
Leola Parks: Okay. Ooh, thank you. I'm finished?
Oloye Adeyemon: Mm-hmm.
Leola Parks: I quit. [Laughter]
Oloye Adeyemon: [Laughter]
Leola Parks: What you doing in here? Ah, this is—
Description
This interview presents information from the perspective of an African American student during the time of forced integration of public schools in Clarendon County. Quite a bit of information is also shared regarding the economics of segregation and integration to the communities located in Clarendon County.
Credit
NPS
Date Created
07/11/2001
Copyright and Usage Info