Week 3: Research Day

As I stated in my paper, I am shocked when I realized that I used a stereotype right from the start. I thought that a southern newspaper, The Atlanta Constitution, would be filled with stereotypes, especially if I concentrated on the 1950s and 1960s. Boy was I wrong. Little did I know that the editor and publisher of the newspaper, Ralph McGill, was a known for his anti-segregation views shown by his daily column on the front page. The day I chose, July 4, 1956, included an article on the front page about the House passing a bill to cut off school funding if the districts didn't integrate their schools. The article included both sides of the argument and the only questionable word was the use of "negro."

I talked to my Grandpa Borrego in San Antonio about racism when he was growing up and at the time of this article. One of the best things I think he said was that there wasn't that many problems with racism that he could recall because Texas has six flags flying over it with people from all over the world living here. In San Antonio, there weren't that many blacks living there, although he does remember that when he was in high school, they were in a different school. He recalls that "negro" and "colored" were words constantly used and were the proper way to identify blacks unlike today where some even get offended with "African-America." By the time my grandpa joined the air force in the early 1950s, he said that they were already integrated and he went through the same basic training as everyone else.

With Hispanics and Latinos in San Antonio, he said that since they were the majority, they didn't really have any problems. They were considered with the whites and could go almost everywhere the whites did. The only place they couldn't go were a few exclusive clubs such as the San Antonio Country Club where the rich, old money of Alamo Heights would only let them work and never have membership. Even now, it still can be difficult for Hispanics to get membership, but nothing can change as they are a private club. My grandpa said that with the Germans in the Hill Country north of San Antonio, the Hispanics, the blacks and any other culture, it created a melting pot in San Antonio that had little to no problems integrating and remaining that way.