- Collection:
- Greensboro Voices: Voicing Observations in Civil Rights and Equality struggles
- Title:
- Oral History Interview with Nelson Johnson by William Chafe
- Creator:
- Johnson, Nelson N.
- Contributor to Resource:
- Chafe, William H., 1942-
- Publisher:
- Greensboro, N.C. : The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. University Libraries
- Date of Original:
- 1979-01
- Subject:
- Black power
Greensboro (N.C.)--Race relations
Protest movements--United States
Greensboro (N.C.)--History--20th century
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University
School integration--United States
Civil rights demonstration--North Carolina--Greensboro
Race relations
Civil rights workers--North Carolina--Greensboro
School integration - Location:
- United States, North Carolina, Guilford County, Greensboro, 36.07264, -79.79198
- Medium:
- interviews
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- image/jpeg
- Description:
- This oral history interview conducted by William Chafe circa January, 1979, with Nelson Johnson primarily documents Johnson's opinions on the education system, the 1969 A&T/Dudley protest and the change in activist movements since the sixties. Johnson discusses his opposition to student competency testing requirements introduced by Governor Jim Hunt, the ineffectiveness of busing, how integration masked real problems in education, elements of an effective educational system, and his impression of school board member Walter Johnson. He also recalls the formation of SOBU (Students for Black Unity) in 1969, working with leadership in the NAACP, unity in the black community during the A&T/Dudley protest, the protest investigation by B. J. Battle and A. S. Webb's; the police sweep of A&T dorms; The Greensboro Record's story on Willie Grimes' murder, and police records of the events. He also provides his impressions of Hal Sieber and the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce. While Johnson does mention some of his current projects in Greensboro, such as organizing Cone Mill workers and college students, for much of the interview he expounds upon political and philosophical concepts and his personal ideology. Topics include the legacy of the sixties in regard to social movements, government efforts to quell activism, the ebb and flow of social movements, the divisions within the black community, capitalism, Marxism, the Black Panthers, affirmative action and funding for minority colleges, how the government was able to absorb the movements of the sixties without much change, the potential link between the working class movement and anti-Vietnam War protesters, and what might have happened if Martin Luther King Jr. wasn't assassinated. Note: Due to incomplete labeling, project staff cannot verify that both tapes from this interview were recorded on the dame day.
- Metadata URL:
- http://libcdm1.uncg.edu/cdm/ref/collection/CivilRights/id/741
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- IN COPYRIGHT. This item is subject to copyright. Contact the contributing institution for permission to reuse.
- Original Collection:
- http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/chafe/
RL.00207 William Henry Chafe Oral History Collection
CRG - Contributing Institution:
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro. University Libraries
- Rights:
-
