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by Rebecca A. Mathis
In today’s high-tech, entertainment-driven society,
African-American parents face the tough challenges of
teaching their children about their history and making
sure cultural identity is preserved in an increasingly
multicultural world. Today’s children read about sit-ins
and segregation, but often it’s only a story in their
history books. For some of their parents, however, they
not only read about those events, they lived through
them.
Three native Atlantans share what it was like to grow
up during – and in the aftermath of – the civil rights
movement. While each had different experiences, they all
recognize the importance of sharing not only the history
of racism and the civil rights movement, but also family
stories. As history is made real to children, they begin
to appreciate the sacrifices made by previous
generations. Hopefully, today’s children will be
inspired to move toward developing a colorblind society
for future generations to read about in their history
books.
The Price Family
Janee Price, 37, grew up in a predominantly
African-American community in southwest Atlanta, never
experiencing racism directly. She was a generation
removed from the civil rights movement, which she’d read
about and studied. Still, it was a big “shock” when
Oprah Winfrey did a show about racial attitudes in
Forsyth County. In 1987, the county’s population was 100
percent Caucasian and a white supremacist group was
loudly opposed to integration of the county. She was
stunned to learn people who lived less than 20 miles
away had such strong feelings based on the color of
someone’s skin, she says. Price talked to her parents
about the TV program and ultimately concluded that not
everyone felt like some of the residents of Forsyth
County.
Price makes a concerted effort to let her children
interact with children of different races, even though
their Ellenwood neighborhood is largely comprised of
African-American families. It’s an experience she did
not have until her teens, when she worked at Six Flags
Over Georgia. “I’m…trying to teach my kids at an early
age that people come in all different colors and from
all different backgrounds,” she says. “I just want them
to embrace the opportunity to get to know people other
than people that are in our race.”
She also is committed to passing on the legacies of
those who fought for equal rights. While her 3-year-old
daughter is too young, Price already has begun teaching
her 6-year-old son about Martin Luther King Jr. and
others who paved the way for the freedoms he now enjoys.
When the time is right, Price plans to share stories of
the experiences her parents had growing up in southern
Georgia. One lesson Price hopes to teach her children is
“to accept people for who they are in their heart and
not for what they look like.”
The Dempsey Family
Judge Alford J. Dempsey Jr., 59, grew up in Atlanta at
a time when segregation was mandated. Still, he says his
parents – his father was an Army officer; his mother was
an educator – shielded him from much of the overt racism
of the time.
“We didn’t go where we ‘didn’t belong,’” he says. “We
minimized the opportunity for…having to face the brunt
of racism.”
As a child, Dempsey rode in the back of the bus, but
it didn’t bother him as long as he arrived at his
destination. It wasn’t until he was older and learned
why he had to ride in the back of the bus that his
attitude about it changed.
In 1953, his parents built a house in Atlanta.
Although it was located right next to a park, Dempsey
couldn’t play in it. Instead, he went about a mile up
the street to Washington Park (the black park) to play.
“We weren’t taught to hate white people or anybody
for that matter,” he says. “It wasn’t about the race of
the person; it was about the character of the
individual.”
Dempsey shares the lessons he learned with others,
including his three children (the youngest is 22). He
uses his parents’ life stories to show how people can
improve their lives and make better opportunities for
the next generation through hard work and education. He
also shares success stories of previous generations,
pointing out the challenges and obstacles they overcame
and contrasting them with the advantages given to
today’s youth.
The Hutchinson Family
Gail Hutchinson, 47, who was born in Atlanta and grew
up in Stockbridge, recalls the friction between black
and white students when the schools in her neighborhood
became integrated. She was in middle school in 1970 and
remembers hearing racial epithets at school but refused
to let those attitudes affect her. “I always strived to
be the best,” says Hutchinson, whose parents had taught
her “to believe that I can be anything I want to be.”
Hutchinson showed her commitment to integration,
participating in marches with civil rights activists
such as Hosea Williams while she was still in middle
school.
In high school, Hutchinson was a cheerleader, a
member of the Beta Club and vice president of her class.
She says she was determined not to let racism keep her
from accomplishing her goals.
“You should have pride [in] yourself and respect
[yourself] to know that you can do what you want to do,”
she says. “All you have to do is put your mind to it. So
forget about the color of your skin.”
Hutchinson strives to teach her 11-year-old daughter
to take pride in her heritage. They worked together to
research their family tree, tracing their roots to 1815.
The family also visits places like the King Center and
works on projects that focus not just on famous civil
rights leaders, but also on the unsung heroes of the
movement.
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