Roland and Ronald Woodfolk

RONALD W: We stuck to ourselves.  I mean it wasn’t getting together with the white community, vice versa.  You know, like my wife, she’ll tell you, she couldn’t live in Charlottesville, because she’s not used to someone say, well you can’t go here because of the color of your skin, that doesn’t --

PHYLLIS LEFFLER:  That doesn’t really happen anymore, I don’t think, but.

RONALD W: Well, years later after we got married, she went back home, she had a couple of experiences there, but that’s why she doesn’t like it, but that’s besides the point.  Have I ever told you that how can you go to someplace, live in a place where you can’t go here, go there because of the color of your skin?  I said it never bothered me.  I knew I couldn’t go there, so I wasn’t concerned about going.  I don’t know if that addressed your question, but I really just gave it no thought.  I think the situation now is a lot worse than it was when we were going through the integration part.  Why that is, I don’t know.

ROLAND W:  Well you know, like the tension I believe was there, but civility was there as well, okay?  It’s not like it is now, you know?  But so, that’s why I think it was better than -- it really didn’t -- how can I put this? It really didn’t, I guess for lack of a better word, bother us that much, because we did, it didn’t really hinder us from doing what we normally did.  We had fun, we played, we went to school, we had friends.  Places that we knew that we couldn’t go, we didn’t go.  Didn’t bother us.  If we know, you’re okay.  It’s when you don’t know that there’s a problem.

RONALD W:  And I noticed --

PHYLLIS LEFFLER:  That’s interesting, if you know, if you know, it’s okay, it’s when you don’t know. In other words --

ROLAND W: Right, if you go someplace and you don’t know that you’re not --

PHYLLIS LEFFLER:  That you’re not welcome.

ROLAND W: -- you can't go there, then yeah, that’s hurtful.  But if you know from the beginning that they don’t want you in there, why would you subject yourself to that, you know?  Until integration came along, I guess people said, enough is enough. So you know, then things changed.  But, at least I’m not aware of any racial incidents happening during our time.  I’m not saying they didn’t happen, it’s just that, I’m not aware of it.