Johnson / Decisions at Graduation
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Interviewer: So, there were numerous incidences leading up to your graduation with your doctorate that you felt like the times just weren’t ready? Johnson: No, not for that. Not for the graduation. Interviewer: So, it wasn’t anything in particular about A&M, living in Bryan— Johnson: No, no, no. I think— Interviewer: —it was just lifetime of experiences? Johnson: I really think that things would have worked out eventually, but I thought it would be better not to. I think, basically, they were relieved that I elected to be out of town. Of course, it would have been a grand occasion, but I think the people that I would want to be there would not have been there. Interviewer: Your family? Johnson: Maybe family, but not much more. Few friends, maybe. I don’t know. It has a heck of a reputation, you know. As we tried to go out there on several occasions to the football game and they would hardly let us outside the gate. Likely it was a deputy standing there, that kind of thing. You just can’t describe the effect that that can have on a person when you look at it reality. There’s no way to explain it or understand it. You just have to live with it because it has consequences.
Interview | Interview with James E. Johnson |
Subjects | Family |
Race Relations | |
Discrimination or Segregation | |
Discrimination or Segregation › Discrimination or Segregation at School | |
Education › Higher Education | |
Education › Education and Integration › Tokenism in School Integration | |
Police and Law Enforcement | |
Tags | Texas A&M University |
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Interview date | 2015-07-21 |
Interview source | CRBB Summer 2015 |
Interviewees | Johnson, James E. |
Interviewers | Acuña-Gurrola, Moisés |
Bynum, Katherine | |
Duration | 00:01:57 |
Citation | "Decisions at Graduation," from James E. Johnson oral history interview with Moisés Acuña-Gurrola and Katherine Bynum, July 21, 2015, Prairie View, TX , Civil Rights in Black and Brown Interview Database, https://crbb.tcu.edu/clips/714/more-thoughts-on-reasons-for-not-walking-at-graduation, accessed November 21, 2024 |