Last night a discussion of desegregation in Appalachia after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling helped Ohio University to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the decision.
Bridges were built during the presentation of Desegregation in Appalachia: Race
Class and Choice Before and After Brown vs. Board said William Smith, a member on the Brown vs. Board of Education Commemoration Committee at Ohio University.
William Drennen, Jr. and Kojo Jones, Jr., co-authors of Red White
Black & Blue: A Dual Memoir of Race and Class in Appalachia
and their editor, Dolores Johnson, spoke about the two authors' conflicting experiences of school integration in Charleston, W. Va.
The committee hoped the speakers could provide a living example of how the ruling of Brown vs. Board affected people at the time of integration and also how it affects people now, Smith said.
We cannot begin to understand the whole unless we understand some of the pieces
Johnson said.
Jones grew up three doors down from Drennen in Charleston, but because of segregation laws, he was forced to walk past the all-white elementary school to his one-room school house.
When schools were integrated in 1954, Jones went to Drennen's junior high school.
The two men were friends throughout their childhood, and Drennen recalled many instances when his parents objected to allowing his black friend into the house.
At the time, I didn't have the courage to stand up to my parents, Drennen said.
Jones remembers the prejudice that remained in the community despite the anti-segregation legislation.
Forty years later, they united to write a book about their different experiences and viewpoints of integration at the time, sometimes even on the same event.
It is refreshing to see two people come together to give both sides of the story to help paint the whole picture
said OU junior Krystle Crittenden, 21, of Columbiana.
It is important to bring speakers like this to OU because they help introduce new topics to people and open their minds to different ideas, said OU senior Candice Call, 22, of Dublin.
It was an interesting and unexpected eye-opening experience
said OU junior Christopher Hunter, 21, of Springfield.
Drennen encouraged students to keep an open mind about life issues. He emphasized that it wasn't until adulthood that he recognized there was a version of events entirely different from his own life that he knew nothing about.
Drennen said people should talk to each other about their different perspectives in order to overcome racial separation that still exists in some communities.
The whole point of us writing the book was to start a dialogue, Drennen said.
We put ourselves out here to be criticized in order to start discussion
he said.
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