Vernelle Brooks Jones and Charles Brooks - Segregation (clip)

Vernelle Brooks Jones: I will say, tell a little story about this. My father shared this with us, he always went with his dad wherever he went because he was the one that took up the building aspect of the business. He was browner in complexion, and he said he would go in downtown Chapel Hill to one of those cafes where they would meet and have coffee, breakfast, whatever. He would have to stay outside because Chapel Hill wasn’t integrated then. And he would stay outside and wait for his dad to finish his meeting and they were always asking who is that little boy that is waiting for you. He would say oh he is a friend of mine. He is just waiting for me. You know? So that opened a lot of doors for them. Unfortunately, it had to be done a different way. He didn’t live to see integration take place before he died. But he did a lot of things to make sure they have a future in building and construction.