Kent Merritt

Things were pretty separate back then, and we didn’t have a feeling that there were certain places that were accepting of us that we could go to or we could be a part of.  But after desegregation, you thought at least that you could, that you were being more accepting and acceptable to folks.  But it was not a smooth transition at all, simply because you didn’t know each other before it happened.  You’re just thrust together with no plan, and the expectation would be that the Black kids would assimilate into this environment no problem, no teachers to help with, just no plan, so I think it could’ve been done better.