Byrd Leavell headshot

Byrd Leavell

Venable School, Lane High School
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We’ve all gone through a lot, and our filters — back then, we were concerned, and clearly wanted to help out, but we had a different perspective, I think the whites doing that.  We were trying to help out a situation.  And we weren’t feeling the brunt of the situation of integration.  So, as an adult looking back on it, I think, yeah, we tried to help out, but you could have always done more.  And we realized that, yes, we’re trying to help get through that, but really, the sense is that it was very difficult for Black community at that time.  And because I forget a lot of things, my friends said, “Well, if you forgot something, maybe it didn’t hit you as strongly.”  I’m curious, when looking back on what you all record this recollections of the Black community versus the white, I’d like to see that because I imagine, I’m sure it’s remarkably different.  And we tried to help out, but we weren’t feeling the brunt of it all.