i think i'll give this story telling a try,y'all be gentle with me now,think i'll title a few stories "people that pass us by"

[david(tx)]

as a kid growing up in mckinney,texas i met a few interesting people.mckinney had about 16 or 17 thousand people in the mid 60's to early 70's,it was a cotton mill town and cotton was still the primary agricultural crop still,although the sprawl of dallas was inching it's way out.
we use to go to town as kids on saturday's to shoot pool,or just mess around,it was the county seat so the courthouse was at the center of the town square.
once while walking around downtown,there was an older guy who must of been in his 50's or early 60's dancing on the street corner doing a little jig and people,usually men throwing coins at him,he wore a suit coat and pants and a wide tie,that was long.after people left the corner i heard a kid about my age say,hey sidney,how's it goin',that was my first encounter with sydney.

they integrated the schools there in 67 but i really hadn't paid to much attention to stuff like that before because they had already painted over the white and colored only signs at the restrooms at the courthouse that were accessible from outside.
one saturday i went to the movie downtown at the theater,the ritz,and a friend and i were waiting on the movie to start,when there was a commotion and a lot of laughing and cackling going on in the the balconey,it was the first time i was actually aware that black folks sat in the balconey and white folks sat below,it wasn't to long before things changed but people were still carrying on in their same routine.
the laughing and cackling was over sydney,he would dance and jump around and the black folks would throw him coins,i forgot to mention that sydney was white.
i would see sydney almost every saturday for a year or so downtown following the same routine,at that time the goodwill was on the square and i think he bought his suit and ties there.
the last time i remember having seen sydney he was at an older park there in town that had an older little league baseball field,tennis court that i never saw anybody use,and a replica of the log cabin of the man the city and county were named after.
the baseball field i don't think was used for league play anymore,but high school boys would go there and practice on weekends and since the fences were short,they could hit one over the fence and think they did something
sydney was there that day and the high school boys were mocking him and giving him a hard time,throwing coins at him and telling him to dance.i thought to myself if my parents ever saw us doing something like that to someone they would beat our a double s.
i saw some of the ugliness of human nature that day,it wouldn't be the last,but i never knew where sydney came from or where he went,he was just one of those people that pass us by.

 

[Wayne in BC]

memory and my conscience.
As a kid i was "running with the crowd" a few times and am not proud of those days, most of us grow up to tell our kids the same things we would not listen to.
Thank you for the story
Wayne

 

[VT Dave]

they're the person who without even knowing it shapes our future and our feelings. Thanks for the story! Keep bringing us back to your youth with you, it's good to remember those times.

Dave

 

[david(tx)]

n/t

 

[Anonymous]

most on the forum do, remember things similar that happened during our childhood. I remember the day that all us kids were at the city pool, which they don't have many of now, but when the african americans came walking into the pool, all the white people got out of the pool. It was really not our fault, just ignorance. It's a shame to say some of us grew up in very prejudiced households. Things that were enforced in our parent's homes.

My children found it unreal. How the black people had to sit in the balconey and drink from different water fountains. I really don't think this is the way God intended for it to be, but it was just the way of the times. They all have friends of all ethnic backgrounds, and I am glad they did.

And, we all had a Sydney. I just cannot stand for ANYONE to make fun of someone else, because of the color of their skin, or a disability.....it is not right. However, kids are cruel, some intentional, some not, but still they need to watch how they treat anyone that they may encounter during their life. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Again, I will look forward to your future stories!

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

of earlier times in Texas. Many of my friends were black, but we really did not think much about it, we were friends. The first time I encountered racism, was at a gas station that my Father had pulled into to get gas for the truck. There were two water fountains, one for whites and one for color folks...back then blacks were called color people.

The only time that there were problems with my black friends were when we would play cowboy and indians...everyone wanted to be an indian, but my black friends ended up always being the indians because their parents owned the mules that we used for horses...they had the upper hand! That all changed when I received a football as a gift one Christmas...that was the only football in the area and I owned it. I struck a deal with Leroy, he could be the quarterback and I would be one of the indians when we played cowboy and indians. Those were some great times, possibly the best of times compared with the day and age that we now live in.

David, I enjoyed your story, hope that you will share some more stories. Please have a great weekend! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Royal]

I remember those days and I grew up in a prejudiced time. I guess I was as bad as any of them too. Well maybe not because I never abused a black person but I grew up thinking they were less than a white person in some way. I never knew what way it was but it was just understood.

We didn't have separate bathrooms or drinking fountains, I never even knew that went on until I was stationed in Jacksonville Fla in 57. Sure supprised me!! I was in a Bus depot in Platka Florida and just waiting for a bus when a black lady came over to me and said, "Uh Sir, I thinks you are in the wrong place" I had no idea what she was talking about and looked around. There were only blacks waiting for a bus it seemed but I thought nothing of it.

She indicated that this was the Colored waiting room and pointed out the White side. I was a bit embarassed and thanked her. I went into the White waiting room and there was a few whites in there and they gave me a dirty look. Pissonum.

I also remember being on a bus going from Jville to Platka and there was a young black man that got on the bus and sat in front. Nothing was said to him but I did see the bus driver eyeballing him.

We drove out of town and were in some pretty remote area, all swamps and nothing else, when the driver pulled the bus over and told the black man to get to the rear of the bus. It sorta made me unconfortable as I had never seen that happen in Michigan. The sat where the heck they wanted.

The black told him that he was not getting to the back of the dang old bus and the driver told him to either get to the rear of the bus or get off. The man chose to get off the bus.

It must have been 11 or 12 at night and I just know that the driver waited until he got way the hell out of town before confronting the man so he would have a tough time getting back. That just did not seem right to me.

I never knew a black man as a friend until I joined the Marines. I never had a problem with them but they always went their own way on liberty. We never pulled liberty with them and they never came into our bars. I don't know if it would have caused a problem or not, just never thought about it.

I was a Marine MP for a year and I don't remember ever having any problem with them.

I have a feeling that I would not have taken the crap they did back then either.

Thanks for posting