It was spring 1960, in Rock Hill South Carolina. I already knew spring wouldn't compare with spring in the Philadelphia....I was right. When I heard, "did yall see thad paink tree?" I just remained quiet with a smug look on my face.
During my time at Winthrop I came to the realization that Tennessee, where I lived until I was 14, was a border state...not a true southern state. Living in the deep south was a shocking experience. Dixie and the Confederate flags were an accepted part of everyday life....the flags were seen in dorm rooms, cars, public buildings and proudly waving over most occasions.....southerners singing Dixie with sounds of love and pride in their voices. It was now 1960 ..didn't they realize their side had lost?
The depth of opposition to integration was surprising to me....the fact that this opposition was so intertwined with hatred was a shock. It was an issue people fought against without any doubts in their conviction...jesus and the bible were on their side....how could it be questioned? ...amazing! I was
certainly expecting a negative reaction to integration but not from 90% of the people I encountered.
Meanwhile, I was horribly bored! I could have studied but I don't think I thought of that as an option. Then I caught wind of, what I believe was called, the National Student Association.Winthrop was a member of the association but because the student association had endorsed a statement supporting integration they were withdrawing. In its place, they were joining a southern organization that "knew what the south stood for" I was disgusted and decided to see what I could do to stir things up in favor of the national organization.
Why do this? Boredom. For fun. A bit of "the devil made me do it" What would be the reaction be? Could I start a ball rolling? What would the dynamics be? Was it possible to manipulate the facts? Could I be convincing enough to be listened to? Most importantly, would students believe what I wanted them to believe....and take action?
The more I thought about it the better it sounded.
The issues involved in withdrawing from the National Student Association
Winthrop remaining in the national association..or joining the southern association.
The students who will be most effected by the decision were ignored...had no input in the situation and were not allowed to vote on the matter.
The seniors were putting something over on us...power play...abusing their power...our rights were taken away
There would need to be a targeted audience, especially at first. The appeal would be made to underclassmen...freshmen, sophomores, maybe some juniors. No seniors.
Visiting in dorms was the route to take, starting with my own dorm. I was testing out the.. voice of reason and persuasion...sense, sensibility, no sense and nonsense. Seniors were to be avoided...the less they knew the better.
Why did the executive of seniors decide to give up and move to the southern association rather that stay and fight for what they believed in?
We found most people didn't even know about "the problem....being deceived and excluded." Which was in our favor, we could present things how ever we wanted to, with in a certain amount of reason.
Why were lower classmen excluded from the issue and not made aware of voting? Was there deliberate exclusion? Only seniors were involved, why?
Why were the seniors so involved and secretive? Weren't they exerting power about something that wouldn't effect them because they would have graduated?
We went on and on making up numerous reasons for lower classmen to be furious. Our petitions were filling up rapidly. There were four or five of us in the core group; we were amazed how simple it was to have people "join" our side, want to stay in the National Association and become convinced the seniors had deliberately deceived them. It was the most fun I had during the nine months I was there.
It took the seniors about two days to realize something was happening; they tracked me down and were none too happy with the yankee troublemaker. Why in the world was I doing this? They couldn't understand.
They' become more involved...save their good names. A new vote was called for but not until the senior council had met with students in each dorm explaining why it was better to stay with southerners and promote segregation, which they knew was the right way to believe. We lost, which I was certain we would; the vote was closer than expected.
Groups are much easier to influence than I'd thought.
During my time at Winthrop I came to the realization that Tennessee, where I lived until I was 14, was a border state...not a true southern state. Living in the deep south was a shocking experience. Dixie and the Confederate flags were an accepted part of everyday life....the flags were seen in dorm rooms, cars, public buildings and proudly waving over most occasions.....southerners singing Dixie with sounds of love and pride in their voices. It was now 1960 ..didn't they realize their side had lost?
The depth of opposition to integration was surprising to me....the fact that this opposition was so intertwined with hatred was a shock. It was an issue people fought against without any doubts in their conviction...jesus and the bible were on their side....how could it be questioned? ...amazing! I was
certainly expecting a negative reaction to integration but not from 90% of the people I encountered.
Meanwhile, I was horribly bored! I could have studied but I don't think I thought of that as an option. Then I caught wind of, what I believe was called, the National Student Association.Winthrop was a member of the association but because the student association had endorsed a statement supporting integration they were withdrawing. In its place, they were joining a southern organization that "knew what the south stood for" I was disgusted and decided to see what I could do to stir things up in favor of the national organization.
Why do this? Boredom. For fun. A bit of "the devil made me do it" What would be the reaction be? Could I start a ball rolling? What would the dynamics be? Was it possible to manipulate the facts? Could I be convincing enough to be listened to? Most importantly, would students believe what I wanted them to believe....and take action?
The more I thought about it the better it sounded.
The issues involved in withdrawing from the National Student Association
Winthrop remaining in the national association..or joining the southern association.
The students who will be most effected by the decision were ignored...had no input in the situation and were not allowed to vote on the matter.
The seniors were putting something over on us...power play...abusing their power...our rights were taken away
There would need to be a targeted audience, especially at first. The appeal would be made to underclassmen...freshmen, sophomores, maybe some juniors. No seniors.
Visiting in dorms was the route to take, starting with my own dorm. I was testing out the.. voice of reason and persuasion...sense, sensibility, no sense and nonsense. Seniors were to be avoided...the less they knew the better.
Why did the executive of seniors decide to give up and move to the southern association rather that stay and fight for what they believed in?
We found most people didn't even know about "the problem....being deceived and excluded." Which was in our favor, we could present things how ever we wanted to, with in a certain amount of reason.
Why were lower classmen excluded from the issue and not made aware of voting? Was there deliberate exclusion? Only seniors were involved, why?
Why were the seniors so involved and secretive? Weren't they exerting power about something that wouldn't effect them because they would have graduated?
We went on and on making up numerous reasons for lower classmen to be furious. Our petitions were filling up rapidly. There were four or five of us in the core group; we were amazed how simple it was to have people "join" our side, want to stay in the National Association and become convinced the seniors had deliberately deceived them. It was the most fun I had during the nine months I was there.
It took the seniors about two days to realize something was happening; they tracked me down and were none too happy with the yankee troublemaker. Why in the world was I doing this? They couldn't understand.
They' become more involved...save their good names. A new vote was called for but not until the senior council had met with students in each dorm explaining why it was better to stay with southerners and promote segregation, which they knew was the right way to believe. We lost, which I was certain we would; the vote was closer than expected.
Groups are much easier to influence than I'd thought.
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