Valerie P. Foushee - Speaking about her family, career, and race

"The fact that we have to talk about affordable housing … and how we want affordable housing but how difficult it is to acquire and maintain affordable housing in Chapel Hill, says whole a lot about how much we appreciate or how much we don’t appreciate diversity. And I think it’s a little bit more than, 'It’s just such a great place that everybody wants to live here,' I think it’s more about 'It’s such a great place that only certain types can live here.'"

- Valerie P. Foushee

This interview is part of a project of biographical interviews, 1979-2012, with men and women in North Carolina who have made significant contributions to business, the arts, education, and politics. Topics discussed in Valerie P. Foushee's interview include : growing up in Chapel Hill, N.C.; attending segregated elementary schools; relationship with her grandmother; the town of Chapel Hill, N.C.’s land purchase and creation of the Tandler affordable housing community; early experiences with racism and the development of interracial friendship in junior high; race relations in the Chapel Hill High School class of 1974; changing socioeconomic demographics of Chapel Hill, N.C.; college application process; first impressions of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and difficulty fitting in on campus; marching on South Building to protest a 1974 lawsuit that threatened the Black Student Movement’s funding; lack of social relationships on campus; withdrawal from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and marriage to Stan Foushee; changing views of the University; jobs immediately after leaving the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; birth of two sons; career in the Chapel Hill Police Department; return to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at age 50; experiences as a parent volunteer in her sons’ classes at Seawell Elementary School; decision to run for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS) Board of Education; pride in the CHCCS Board of Education narrowing the achievement gap; reflections on the debate about a possible merger of CHCCS and Orange County Schools; lack of affordable housing in Chapel Hill, N.C.