Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Remembering the 1960 sit ins, and how things were still bad in 1968

 I went to grad school in Kentucky at UK in 1967-8. I worked part time at a downtown department store and often grabbed a bite of lunch at the lunch counter nearby. By that time it was way after the 1960 sit-ins and everyone was supposed to be served at lunch counters by then. Well, I sat down next to an elderly black guy and the waitress soon came over to take my order. I had noticed that the guy beside me had been trying to get her attention for some time to make his order, so I told her that I'd wait/ he was first. It wasn't until later that I realized that she had been ignoring him but was serving white people only. She probably took one look at "college girl with long hair probably a hippie" and realized that I was serious when I refused to let her serve me first.

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