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Steve Simms
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Myles Horton -- A Heroic American
2 stars|4 comments|October 25, 2008|307 reads
 
 Myles Horton, a Tennessee country boy who took a bold action against Jim Crow discrimination in 1928 in Knoxville, was a great American who has been forgotten. I will let him tell the story in his own words.

“I was trying to break the pattern of segregation and decided to organize a statewide (YMCA) convention where everyone could meet and eat together. I knew it was illegal, and I knew that if I let the students and schools know beforehand, they’d be against the convention. I decided to convene it anyway.”

“The conference was to begin with a banquet at a whites-only hotel in downtown Knoxville. I made reservations for the banquet but didn’t tell anyone that we were an integrated group.”

“I arranged for us all to come in the street door that led directly into the banquet room. That way, we avoided going through the lobby and creating a stir before we even sat down to eat.”

“When we entered the dining room the black kids started looking around and the white kids started looking around. They were all the same age, they were all Y members. They did what they were used to doing in a dining room — they sat down to eat. They did the familiar in an unfamiliar situation.”

“Then the waiters came in. They were all black. And they said: ‘We can’t serve you because we can’t serve black and withe people together.’”

“I told them, ‘We’re paying you to serve us. If we get up and leave, you’ll go home without any pay, and if we don’t get any food we’ll get up and leave.’ Now there were about 120 of us, and I asked the waiters what they were going to do with all that food for 120 that was already cooked. They fed us.”

“That was in 1928, long before any civil rights movement activity in Knoxville. I took a gamble: we could have been arrested; we could have been thrown out; the kids could have walked out; the waiters could have walked out. I took the gamble of doing something about a moral problem instead of simply talking about it and over 120 people learned that they could change things if they wanted to.”

 
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Bookish
 Bookish
October 25, 2008

What a wonderful story, Steve.  That "Tennessee country boy" has me standing...er, sitting (breakfast time) in awe at his wisdom/common sense/guts to do the right thing.

One thing I'd love to know: How did the banquet go? Did the black kids and the white kids socialize with each other?

Steve Simms
 Steve Simms
October 25, 2008
The banquet went well and all were served. 
Steve Simms
 Steve Simms
October 26, 2008
And Bookish,  Myles Horton was a very courageous and inspirational fellow.  If you search for him on the web, you will find some good information.
Bookish
 Bookish
October 26, 2008
Thanks, Steve!