William Gattis - On discrimination (clip)
Interviewed on April 16, 2026
William Gattis (WG): We call that urban renewal. You see, so when we look up and if we really want to be realistic, they are synonymous in terms of the outcome, you see. So what I’m suggesting, as a kid, even if I’m young in the late 40s and the 50s, I’m still relegated to a place, you see. As a child, I don’t have the intellectual resources to understand what’s happening, but I do know there are places in the community I can’t go. I do see fountains that say “For Colored Only.” I do see places like Sears where you can’t put on the clothes in the store because of who you are and your background, you see. I see around me, as a child, I’m living in a part of the community where I only see who we are and what we are about. You see, so now, as a kid, I neither have the experience or the vocabulary to put this in the place, but I do know there are places that I can’t go. I do know that after sundown I need to be at home and it’s because my momma knows that if I’m outside of her care that I could be hurt by people, as we have suggested already Courtney, who come into the Black community and create pain for people just because they can do it and there’s no… I don’t have any resources to make sure that they pay for what they are doing, you see.
