by Elaine Grant

Created on: August 27, 2008

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In 195l my first husband and I, both northerners moved from New York and Connecticut and travelled south. There we encountered the ominous reality of segregation between the black and white population in the south. We were "Innocents Abroad" (Mark Twain, 1869) .

Race was not a factor for attendance at the university we attended. So,forced segregation between African Americans and whites especially in schools seemed like a distant problem, not part of our lives. We had other priorities, our relationship and education. We were young, in love and this was a grand adventure. The south was a romantic image of strolling beneath Spanish Moss decorated trees enhanced by the images of historical romance novels" and Stephen Foster's "Way down upon the Suwanee River."

Prior to college I attended, a New York City high school which was integrated with both black and white students attending class together. However, I don't think the school administration used the word integration, because the black students lived within the boundaries of the area from which the school drew its student population.

In high school, however, one thing that might have been interpreted as racial profiling concerned checking for head lice. Only black students were checked. Based on an urban myth that blacks not white had head lice. Consequently, the school always had an excellent lice report. I learned years later when I taught elementary school the reverse was true for lice inspection. At that time, there was and probably still is a thorough check for white students and cursory for African American students (black). Racial profiling in reverse, and I don't remember where the Asian students fit in this equation.

Also, while attending high school there was a section of the lunchroom where all the black students sat, but I suspect that was self imposed. During lunch most people prefer to eat and socialize with friends they enjoy and those with whom they have something in common. I do not remember any fights or hostility among the black and white students.

During class there was no such separation. In fact, one of my fond memories came from a history class. As usual there were not enough seats to accommodate all the members of the class and many of seats were occupied by two students. In one of these double occupancies sat two young African American girls. As it happened their last names were the same as two of the islands in the New York harbor, Miss Ellis and Miss Staten. They thought it was

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