[Durham INC] 51 years later, recalling the courage of desegregation (Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

51 years later, recalling the courage of desegregation
By Matthew Milliken, Herald-Sun, 21 August 2010

An event Sunday at the Durham County Library will let Durham residents of long, short or no standing hear tales of public school desegregation and share their own experiences and impressions.

The library is hosting "A Community Dialogue about School Desegregation" as part of its Commemorating Courage series. The event originated with a May 31 Herald-Sun column in which Charmaine McKissick-Melton, an N.C. Central University English and communication professor, lamented that there was no commemoration of the events of 1959-60. That was the year a handful of students became the first African-Americans to attend, and in two cases graduate from, previously all-white schools in Durham's city district.

A 2009 Herald-Sun feature described the circumstances surrounding the first day black children attended previously all-white Durham city schools, but no event marked that anniversary or any other from 1959-60.

"I'm really excited that we at least have some recognition of the 50 years," McKissick-Melton said this week. "And honestly, I was a little put off that nobody was willing to recognize it in any significant way. I thought that it was almost a matter of gosh, look how far we've come."

She should know. One of her older sisters, Andree McKissick, was among the very first five African-American students to cross Durham's educational color line; another, the late Joycelyn McKissick, was Durham High School's first black female graduate. McKissick-Melton and her brother, Sen. Floyd McKissick, though not at the very forefront of desegregation, were still part of an early group that helped to integrate local schools.

Sunday's get-together will involve some reminiscences from black -- and possibly white -- students who participated in or witnessed those initial desegregation waves. Then the audience will divide into groups so members can exchange memories and thoughts.

Attendees will also be able to inspect and add to a timeline of events in the desegregation of local schools.

Lynn Richardson, Durham's North Carolina Collection librarian, asked McKissick-Melton to help organize the event after reading her newspaper column. She isn't quite sure what to expect Sunday, saying, "This is new territory for us."

Barbara Lau is director of the Pauli Murray Project, a Duke Human Rights Center affiliate that got involved in organizing Sunday's event because McKissick-Melton is on its steering committee. She hopes Sunday's dialogue changes attitudes about the past, present and future.

"We're trying to model a way of thinking about history -- that history is not just about the past, that history continues to impact our community," Lau said. "And that it's really important for us to understand that our experience of past events, our experience of things, is really different, and that really does have an impact on our lives today."

History's continuing resonance, in fact, makes it likely that Sunday's event won't feature any of the handful of living individuals who broke the color barrier in 1959.

"One of those people includes my sister ... Andree," McKissick-Melton said. "She is not thrilled about speaking about it, period. I think it was a very traumatic experience for all of those participants."

GO & DO

"A Community Dialogue about School Desegregation," the final event in the Durham County Library's Commemorating Courage series, will be held Sunday at 3 p.m. at the main library at 300 N. Roxboro St. The event is free and open to the public.