Charles Alexander
Lane High SchoolBiography
Charles Alexander, who was born in 1952 and still goes by his nickname “Alex-Zan,” was one of the “Charlottesville Twelve” who first desegregated the Charlottesville schools as a six-year old entering Venable School’s first grade in 1958. Looking back to his years in Lane H.S. (from which he graduated as a member of the class of 1970), he admits to a “little back and forth with two white students.” He successfully convinced the superintendent of schools to offer a Black history course at Lane H.S. Alex-Zan has built a career as an effective advocate for students, arguing “The thing is to get children to read, and of course, reading is the basic fundamental foundation of everything.”
Full Interview
Clips
“It just wasn’t no discussion. That was the school I was going to.”
Charles Alexander
“She would send little notes home in my backpack to my mother to share the type of day that I had.”
Charles Alexander
“They went home and they told their daddy, and the daddy came to school looking for me.”
Charles Alexander
“I was considered a threat to the Virginia school system.”
Charles Alexander
“You do what you have to do and we’ll do what we have to do.”