Oral History Interview with Raymond Clement, July 6, 1983 Page: 12
This book is part of the collection entitled: UNT Oral Histories and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the UNT Oral History Program.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
Clement
12Marcello:
Clement:
Marcello:
Clement:
Cummings :
Clement:had a sudden heart attack and died.
We've had some incidents in the early sixties or middle
sixties that I didn't like--black and white. Basically, it
was us, not them.
So those racial attitudes persisted in that area long
after segregation was declared illegal and so on in 1954.
It stayed real severe up until the middle seventies, and it's
much better; but until we get out the generation above me,
we'll still be segregationist in these rural towns.
What were your personal attitudes at that time toward blacks?
As I said, I'd never had any relationship with them, so I
had no like or dislike. I didn't know what to expect or any-
thing. It makes me appear to be naive or dumb, I guess, but
I didn't like or dislike them at all either way. They were
just somebody I didn't know or understand. Whether it'd
be a Finnish or a Russian or whatever who just...it's a
foreign group of people, is what it amounted to. That's
just being pure honest (chuckle).
You'd never seen a black person either working on the farm
or...
Now I told you...now in Montague County, I had never seen a
black, and it was very rare that my family ever went any-
where in which there would be blacks. Once or twice we may
have gone to Fort Worth, and once or twice we'd gone to
Wichita; but it was rare when we saw one, you know, in this
part of Fort Worth or in that part of Wichita because the part
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
Marcello, Ronald E. & Clement, Raymond. Oral History Interview with Raymond Clement, July 6, 1983, book, July 6, 1983; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth223649/m1/14/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Oral History Program.