Karen L. Parker
"Most Black students wanted to go to historically Black colleges or universities because there was a sense of belonging. Because one thing about being one of the handful of Blacks on a predominantly white campus socially you can be very isolated."
- Karen L. Parker
Karen L. Parker - On her childhood, family, college experience, and race
Karen Lynn Parker was the first African American woman undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She discusses her childhood; family history; moving to Los Angels; three marriages; division of race in her neighborhood; parents encouraging her to attend a predominantly while male institution; academics at Women's College; hardships for African Americans in the South; affirmative action process of getting into UNC Chapel Hill; social issues with students on campus; interracial students; foreign students; editor of the Journalism school for Mass communications; courting and dating on campus; the campus uniform; dorm life; gender relations.
