Harassment by white segregationists
Simkins describes some of the harassment he faced as a black civil rights activist. White activists sent him products and services he had not ordered, and one white contractor sought to exploit the segregated court system to swindle Simkins.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with George Simkins, April 6, 1997. Interview R-0018. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- KAREN KRUSE THOMAS:
-
You mentioned that some lawyers were hesitant to get involved in civil
rights cases. Did you ever suffer any repercussions from this case? Did
anyone give you trouble afterward?
- GEORGE SIMKINS:
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I was president of the [Greensboro chapter of the] NAACP for 25 years
here. I brought suit against the schools, the golf courses, the
hospitals, the swimming pools and everything. I was constantly getting
threats. At one point, we filed a suit to integrate Longview Golf
Course. They would send a fleet of cabs here to pick up my party. They
said it was my wife's birthday, and dozens of roses and new
cars would be charged to me.
- KAREN KRUSE THOMAS:
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Who was doing that?
- GEORGE SIMKINS:
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That right wing group out in California, I think it was the John Birch
Society. I would answer the phone, and I wouldn't even say
hello, I would just say, "I did not order anything."
The phone was just ringing. You can't imagine all the stuff
that they ordered, all to be charged here. Some of the guys got mad,
because they said, "They're trying to hurt you, but
they're hurting us." They would put me through all
sorts of things like that. You find out that they use various
governmental agencies like the IRS. When school integration was to take
effect, one man called me and said, "If anything happens to my
daughter, you are dead. Because we're going to kill
you." It's like I'm going to have
something to do with whatever happens to his
daughter. It ends up in court, to give you an example. I had a piece of
land out on Guilford-Jamestown Road, and I was going to develop it for
HUD [Housing and Urban Development] for a public housing project. This
white architect came to me and asked to do the work. I said,
"As long as you take it on a contingency basis, you can do
it." His name was Kabotnik. He was from Czechoslovakia, and
he'd been here about two years. He took the work, and the
Housing Authority was changing the plans on us. He said, "I
need some money, because I'm doing this work, and HUD
hasn't paid me yet." So I knew the man was doing
work, and I told him I'd give him $7,700, and when
HUD pays you, you're to pay me back. He agreed to it, I had
legal papers drawn up. The builder finished building the project, HUD
paid him, but they held back the $7,700 from his pay. He got
about $65,000 for the project, which was 110 units, I think.
The man sued me for the $7,700. The lawyers get an all-white
jury.
- KAREN KRUSE THOMAS:
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He sued you for the $7,700 he owed you?
- GEORGE SIMKINS:
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He sued me because the contractor had held back the $7,700 so
that I could get my money back. The judge said, "I want the
jury to answer three questions. Did Kabotnik have a contract with
Simkins?" We'd made copies and showed each member of
the jury the contract, so the jury said yes. "Did Kabotnik
renege on the contract with Simkins" The jury said yes.
"How much money should Simkins get?" The jury said
zip. The judge said, "Wait a minute. This is not
right." This was about quarter of five in the afternoon.
"You all are going to come back tomorrow and rule on this
thing, and answer these questions correctly." So they came back
the next morning, and the first question, "Did Kabotnik have a
contract with Simkins?" the jury said no. The judge threw the
case out. So I said the hell with it, and just gave him the money, and I
wasn't going back in court. But I have had a bad experience
in court, I'm sure because of my civil rights activity. This
case was much later than the hospital case, in the '70s.