Kathy Atwater and Mae McLendon - On their school experiences

"...informed me to take this letter home to your mama ‘Cause you are going to Chapel High School next year.’ And I said, ‘No, I’m not’. And they said, ‘Yes you are.’ Cause they hand-picked the Blacks that they would send to Chapel Hill High School."

- Mae McLendon

In this oral history, Ms. Mae and Ms. Kathy share their experiences growing up in the Northside and Pine Knolls communities. They provide an incredibly nuanced understanding of the social impacts of the education system as they grew up during the transition from voluntary to mandatory integration. Both women provide especially salient insights into teen pregnancy, the importance of community and family, and the discrepancies between the way they were raised to the standards today. Both women remember the very strong stance their families took in shielding them and the other children in the community from some of the harsher realities of the time they were living in, to allow them a chance at a normal childhood. Especially, how this has impacted them as adults and how grateful they are for their parents' protection. Without it, they would have had to learn about critical historical events such as Ruby Bridges attending a white school, the Civil Rights Movement, etc. from media that was not kind to Black people or their stories. This transitions especially well into the discussion regarding media today and the importance of seeing people in nuanced ways. While communities today are generally more open-minded, there is a push to categorize people, professions, etc. For the sake of social and political gain, Ms. Mae and Ms. Kathy advise against that. They end the interview by discussing the importance of being open-minded, learning from elders, and embracing the communities that we are a part of.