Ben Jealous, head of the NAACP, talks with his mother, Ann Todd Jealous (left), and his grandmother Mamie Todd about some of the racism they have experienced in their lifetimes.
Originally aired July 17, 2009, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Transcript
Ann Todd Jealous (ATJ), Ben Jealous (BJ) and Mamie Todd (MT)
MT: I went up to the secretary’s desk and said, ”I have an appointment.” And she says, ”well, colored teachers come around the back.” I said, ”beg your pardon?” She said, ”colored teachers come around the back.” I said, ”Well there’s his desk right there, and here’s a swinging gate.” And so I walked on through it and went to his desk. He was sitting there, he didn’t stand up and there was a chair in front of his desk, so I sat there. And he and I had a conversation. And I just told him how I felt, how I really felt about it. And he was a human being; I knew we had that much in common. And I wasn’t afraid of him. And I …
ATJ: Were you ever afraid of anybody?
MT: I don’t know. I have to think about it. I have to think about it. Anyway, the next day a pick-up truck laden with materials, I mean blackboards hanging over the sides, with all kinds of books. I don’t know, he must have put everybody to work at seven o’ clock, because by ten-thirty in the morning I had everything I could think of that I had told him that school needed.
BJ: Well, we’re talking about protests. Mom, tell me about desegregating your high school.
ATJ: When I first went there, I remember being assigned a seat, and there was this other girl sitting in my seat. So I went up to say to her, you know, ”you’re in my seat.” And she fell onto the floor, she was so terrified. And then I remember…
BJ: You’re really not very scary, mom.
ATJ: I was not a very scary girl, and I was less scary then, you know. I’m probably more scary now in my old age. The rumor was that we all carried knives, and she was afraid that I would stick a knife in her for sitting in my seat. And actually, I was asking her to move because I was afraid of the teacher, you know, being upset.
BJ: Mimi, what was it like for you to watch her go through this.
MT: It was very difficult, but she kept a lot of it to herself.
ATJ: I did not want to burden them. I was an only child, and my parents talked a lot. And I grew up with their stories, and so I was very, very conscious of a great deal that they carried as a consequence of racism. So I kept as much as I could to myself.
BJ: Wow. Thanks, mom.
ATJ: You’re welcome, Ben. Thanks for being interested.
BJ: Yeah.
ATJ: Thanks for asking.
BJ: Thanks, Mimi.
MT: Good luck to you, darling. There’s a lot to be done.
BJ: Yeah, that’s right.
MT: There’s a lot left to be done.