Oral History Interview with Glennon Threatt, June 16, 2005. Interview U-0023. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
Audio with Transcript
Listen Online with Text Transcript
(Requires QuickTime and JavaScript)
Transcript Only (50 p.)
HTML file
XML/TEI source file
Download Complete Audio File (MP3 format / ca. 174 MB, 01:35:07)
MP3
Abstract
Glennon Threatt describes his experiences with racial segregation in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Threatt, a lawyer in Birmingham, was one of three gifted African American students who integrated an all-white elementary school gifted class. His presence at the school both helped propel him to academic success and made him a double target for violence and intimidation. Threatt left Alabama to attend Princeton, leaving behind a city where residential and school desegregation seemed to nurture, rather than erode, racism. When he returned to Birmingham twenty years later, he found African Americans in leadership positions, but also golf courses that continued to refuse them membership. Researchers interested in the Birmingham experience with segregation, one African American's experience with racial discrimination and violence, and reflections on the life of racism in America will find this interview very useful.
Excerpts
Desegregating a gifted education class
Desegregation hurts educational opportunities for blacks
Life in segregated Birmingham
Desegregation roils Birmingham
Poor whites end up at desegregated schools, sparking tensions, but many whites support movement
Boycotts drive desegregation
Violent response to civil rights movement
Law versus custom in South and North; economic ramifications of protest
Desegregation hurts community coherence
Various forms of white resistance to civil rights
Endurance of white power structure in Birmingham
Legacy of racism in Birmingham
Integrating Indian Springs High School
Socioeconomic dimensions of desegregation's legacy
Continuing taboo on interracial romance
Persistence of community segregation
Convoluted idea of race
Learn More
Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews
Subjects
School integration--Alabama--Birmingham.
Interracial dating.
Civil rights--Alabama--Birmingham.
Gifted children--Education.
The Southern Oral History Program transcripts presented here on
Documenting the American South undergo an editorial process to remove
transcription errors. Texts may differ from the original transcripts
held by the Southern Historical Collection.
Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.