Guilford College has always maintained it’s Quaker roots as a firm assertion of where it stood when it comes down to the volatile topic of the Black struggle for civil rights and liberty in North Carolina. However, any educational institution cannot be a pillar onto itself; it is a fixture in the community it resides…with all parties (institution, community) being conversely effected by the climate created by the existence of the other. For this reason, the latest forum in an effort to launch antiracist discussions on campus titled “History of Racism in Guilford County” was one in which every student, faculty, and staff member had a personal stake in attending. The forum was led by Gayle Hicks Fripp, a current consultant on local history who has served as Honorary Guilford County Historian since 1993, and Dr. Claude W. Barnes Jr., who is a published author and avid activist who currently teaches and is in the administration at NC A&T. The forum unearthed some startling facts concerning this area where too few students choose to permeate. Natives of Greensboro probably know that in the early 20th century a library was built for the enjoyment of Whites and a second was also built for the enjoyment of the POC, or People of Color. What many might not know, however, is that the only reason the Black library came to Guilford County in the first place is because Andrew Carnegie, who funded both libraries, refused to build in “a segregated city” unless POC also had a place to read and learn (our very own library is a Carnegie by the way). Also, natives might know that a stunning disparity exists in the time frames allotted desegregation between the police departments and the fire departments (1940 and 1961 respectively), but a lesser known tidbit is the racially conscious motivations behind the decisions that allowed for these changes to occur. Police perform their civic duty and then go home, but firefighters were expected to live together in the station house…thus the reason for different actions taken by the city despite essentially having two very similar jobs in question. Even after 1961, although the firefighting force was no longer completely white, a second station was built specifically for POC to run (and where first black fire chief Ray Flowers began his term and served until 1999, illustrating how this history reverberates into the present) …segregated still none the less.
Though colorful, Guilford County’s struggle to handle it’s racially charged constituency has not all been tales of deception and inability to progress. Resistance to the system is what has characterized change in Greensboro throughout the years, going well beyond the “Fantastic Four” whose lunch counter protests unfortunately have become the sole visage of the movement here in Greensboro. Yardley Warner, an ambitious evangelical Quaker, bought land to sell to African Americans and much of this land became the lifeblood for many of the first Black businesses and churches until redevelopment of the area destroyed the constructs of the neighborhood in the 1960’s. The women of Bennett college and UNCG were the forerunners of resistance here in Greensboro, lining up to march as early as the 1920’s and tackling such obtrusions as Greensboro’s (and North Carolina’s) first McDonalds in 1963 since POC couldn’t even buy food from it’s facility, let alone sit at the lunch counter.
Even now, in the set of the new millennia, Greensboro’s racist past has implications for the present. Dudley, the historically black high school here in Greensboro, was to be torn down (despite a historical 1950’s gym designed by a black architect) while its white counterpart Grimsley was to be renovated even though both Dudley and Grimsley were built the exact same year. It was later found that Dudley was built from poorer materials…a throw back to the overt racism of earlier days. Even looking at our own War Memorial stadium (which has been the epicenter of much infighting), it can be noted that we are so consumed by a willingness to develop a political ‘amnesia’ when it comes to race that a plaque that adorns it’s worn facade has been blacked out where it once honored ‘colored troops’ who fought in WWI. Why are we so willing to pick and choose the parts of history which appeal, creating a ‘manufactured’ storyline that is not conclusive nor complete as it leaves out the greatest parts of the movements of time? We take pride in what we did for the underground railroad, but do we also trumpet the fact that we still did not accept our first African American student until well into the 60’s, even though we accepted POC from other nations well before then. Is it enough to accept that we are a Quaker institution and thusly a ‘bubble’ of free thought, acceptance, and race-blindness separate from the climate of the community at large? Or are we only kidding ourselves? Guilford…you decide.Katrina Weintraub
Mary If you have office hours or if you can see me please let me know. I have to cover the forums as a part of my independent study, and my advisor wants me to utilize the Guilfordian in order to that. I have student quotes on the forum if you want them. Please contact me