She was filmed in 1989 as part of a television series that I was making asking baby boomers to reflect back on their upbringings in the 1950s and 1960s. We selected about 200 people to interview at length from thousands and she was selected because she was such a thoughtful and kind person with an understanding, and some sympathy, for those segregationists in her family who she described as having intense fear – a fear of losing control.

All of my career of interviewing thousands of people, I never found anyone as blunt and direct describing what was her people feared so much. As she described it, her family and the South feared any change in the status quo. There were politicians local, state and national politicians, who publicly stated these fears and fueled the flames.

She makes a statement in this interview which is much debated in the comments. that good people can be racist. She describes people who heard conspiracy theories from the Reconstruction time after the Civil War, people who saw the murder of Emmett Till as "fake news". The concept of integration, of equality and fairness and civil rights was an anathema to her people. It all frightened and they were convinced that they could stop it and return to things as they had been.

I'm sure she would not say today exactly what she said back then with all that has changed and all that has been revealed about those times and her people. I respect her courage for expressing to us what she had witnessed and experienced in the relatives in her own family and those who lived in her town including those who fueled the flames of fear and the racism that came as a result.

if you search the word "segregation" on my YouTube channel you will find more comments from others with different points of view.

Although I have not shared her name (she has not given me her permission) I want to thank her for sharing her thoughts and feelings with me.

If you found this interview of interest, please support my efforts by clicking the super thanks button below the video screen. That support allows me to continue posting clips from my archives.
Thank you
David Hoffman filmmaker