The DeLaine Brothers

Although I am officially in the revision stage of Half-Truths, I am still gathering details from books, interviews, museums and other sources. Yesterday that mean attending a panel discussion at the Charlotte Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum. Featured were Joseph and B.B. DeLaine, sons of Reverand Joseph DeLaine, who filed the historic lawsuit sixty years ago which led to the Supreme Court's landmark decision ending school desegregation in 1957.


B.B. DeLaine



Joseph A. DeLaine

As the brothers remembered their father and the 30's and 40's when they grew up in Clarendon, SC, several things stood out. I was impressed with their tremendous respect for their hard-working father.  Rev. DeLaine was a minister, farmer, school principal, and community leader. B.B. said, "Daddy was strong. He often told us that 'You are your brother's keeper. You have responsibility for those who are less fortunate.'"

In a county that was three-quarters black, and where the children often didn't go past the 6th grade because they were needed back home to work, schools were less than adequate:For more information, you can view a video of Joseph. B.B., and their sister Ophelia remembering their father's role in desegregation.  If you live near Charlotte, NC, visit The Levine Museum of the South to see the award winning exhibit COURAGE which tells this grassroots story through photographs, personal histories, and other artifacts.

As described in an editorial in yesterday's Charlotte Observer: "School was in old dilapidated buildings heated with pot-bellied stoves, with 75-80 students crammed into single classes with one teacher. Falling apart, hand-me-down school books bore the stamp 'colored only' so students knew their place in society. Getting to school required a walk of nine miles or more for many because the public school system refused to provide buses."

This was the system that Rev. DeLaine worked against in spite of the risks to his life and to his family's life. The brothers didn't realize it, but at the time armed black men guarded their home at night--extremely dangerous work.

B.B. said, "Our father was outspoken. He had nothing to lose." As a result of his courage and bravery many children eventually gained access to public transporation to the same schools which whites attended.

Joseph commented on how teenagers today don't know what it's like not to have to go into a restaurant through the back door. In a sense, this is a tribute to his father's legacy; segregation is now a part of our country's history.

But there are lessons about racial prejudice that we don't want to forget. This applies to many cultures and races. As B.B. said, "Like Jews, you have to know the past [in order] to know the future."


And I guess that is why I am writing Half-Truths. It is a part of Charlotte's not-so-long-ago past. A past that we all can stand to learn from.

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COURAGE Returns to Charlotte

In my ongoing quest to inform my work-in-progress Half-Truths, this past week I attended a panel of four civil rights leaders who worked to answer the question, "Courage: Where do we need it now?"



Juan Williams, left, William Winter, Janet Murguia and John Payton 
photo by Jeff Willhelm

The panel discussion was part of the Levine Museum of the New South's 20th anniversary celebration. In addition, the museum brought back COURAGE: The Carolina Story That Changed America, an exhibit which has been traveling around the country since it first opened in Charlotte in 2004.

Although many are familiar with the 1954 Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education which ruled that racial segregation of schools was unconstitutional, the stories behind that story are less well known. COURAGE tells the grassroots story of the Rev. J.A. De Laine who worked with the citizens of Clarendon County, S.C., to bring the first lawsuit in America to challenge racial segregation in public schools. Rev. J.A. De Laine's lawsuit combined with four other national lawsuits resulted in the 1954 decision.

In the "it's a small world" category, I have interviewed one of Rev. De Laine's sons and heard some of his thoughts about this tumultous time period.  In a comment that was repeated at the panel discussion, BB Delaine said, "It's up to today's generation to do something about these issues- so our grandkids can have a better life."

Here is a short video which highlights BB Delaine and the opening of the exhibit:



The issues that were most pressing at the panel were concerns about "resegregation" not only in terms of the African American community, but also with the Hispanic community. In conjunction with the COURAGE exhibit, the Levine Museum is running, Para Todos Los Ninos: Fighting Segregation before Brown v. Brown. This exhibit depicts the 1946 U.S. Court of Appeals case, Mendez v. Westminster School District, which ended school segregation for Mexican Americans.

Athough other issues were raised, the panelists agreed on the importance of providing an equal education to all our nation's students. I agree, but I also know that teachers need to be supported by policy makers and parents in a job that requires a quality that there is never enough of: Courage.

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If you live near Charlotte, I am giving away four tickets to the Levine Museum. Become a new follower of my blog and send me an email at cbaldwin6@carolina.rr.com and I'll send you a ticket. If you are already a follower, tell a friend to sign up and I'll send you each a ticket! First four responders win.

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