Parting the Waters

Parting the Waters William Archer This is possibly the city of Bluefield, West Virginia's most uncomfortable story. People remember, but they are uneasy when the subject comes up. Times have changed since then, but in many ways the legacy lingers on. It is an unresolved issue—one many would prefer not having dredged up again. Still, it stands as one of the most important stories in the early days of the civil rights movements in the city and state history. And much of the story has not yet been told. It was thirty years ago. In 1964 the U.S. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act which, among other things, gave all American citizens regardless of race, religion, or country of origin equal access to public facilities. In a segregated nation, a "separate but equal" policy had been employed throughout the South in an attempt to stem the growing tide of racial unrest. But the status quo was unacceptable to the leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People—NAACP. The struggle for equality had gone on for a century since President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The fight intensified in the mid-1950s. It appeared as though African Americans had their best chance for the passage of antidiscrimination legislation with the election of John F. Kennedy in 1960. An assassin ended that dream on November 22, 1963. However, the extended period of national mourning following Kennedy's death aided the civil rights movement in an unexpected way. President Lyndon B. Johnson, a skilled legislator, pushed Kennedy-inspired bills through Congress in memory of the slain leader. The sweeping civil rights legislation of June 29, 1964, which would most assuredly have faced stiff opposition, was passed with little compromise out of respect and honor for JFK. The stage was set for things to come. Laws on the books were one thing, but effecting this kind ofdramatic societal change would require tremendous effort. NAACP strategists William Archer is Virginia desk editor ofthe Bluefield Daily Telegraph. A 1972 graduate of West Virginia University, he has just completed his first novel. 21 reckoned they would have to test the new laws in a gradual, step-by-step series of planned confrontation. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech on August 28, 1963, was a prelude to the initial Long Hot Summer of 1964, with freedom bus rides and restaurant and theater sit-ins as well as other events. The Watts riots of 1965, Detroit in 1966, and Washington, D.C, riots after King's assassination in 1968 would follow. But in 1964 the civil rights movement was center stage, and Bluefield was the focus of a little-known yet very important part of a story known more through rumors than in fact. From a physical standpoint, not much has changed in the city since 1964. Beautiful tree-lined streets with lovely homes accentuate residential South Bluefield. An urban esque skyline dominated by the thirteenstory tall West Virginian Hotel—now the West Virginia Manor—lends a big-city flavor to Bluefield. Broad avenues and boulevards open wide to welcome huge volumes oftraffic. But even rush-hour traffic is light, and the town of some 25,000 souls in 1964 has been cut in half by 1994. Yet, the racial mix is roughly the same balance—about 25 percent black and 74 percent white. Local civil rights organizers had numerous targets for integration in the summer of 1964. Since the end of World War II, returning black veterans had already organized effective boycotts against the city's segregated theaters, but those activities didn't yield the desired results. A plan was developed to target three city institutions for integration: Kresge's famous lunch counter, the YM/YWCA, and Bluefield's city pool. Deloris French of Bluefield High School was an unwitting participant in one Kresge's incident. As a young girl, she and a friend had been to a big parade downtown. Not old enough to know the rules of segregation , the two young girls went to the lunch counter, where each ordered a hot dog and a glass of water. French and her...