60 years ago today, the elected leaders of Montgomery voted to close the city zoo, parks, and swimming pools.
It wasn't an outbreak of influenza, or a fear of polio that prompted the action.
It was racism. pure and simple.
The city sold the zoo animals and filled in the pool at Oak Park and elsewhere because the courts had ruled black children must be allowed in the parks and pools and all of the other (white and black) taxpayer-supported facilities, same as white children.
The same thing happened elsewhere. There was a pool on what is now University Boulevard--it was called 8th Avenue South---and the elected "leaders" of Birmingham filled it in rather than let black children use it. There is a McDonald's on the site now. Is there a small plaque somewhere marking the spot? I don't know.
The Supreme Court ruling came on December 11, 1960.
Same in Selma, of course.
And once the pools were closed, what did the white kids do?
Those whose parents didn't have a backyard pool went to the "Y", which became the segregated whites-only facilities the cities used to provide.
Yup, the "YMCA".
You can read the story in The Examiner.
A lawsuit forced the YMCA to do the right thing and end their segregation in 1970.,,,the same ruling forced the city to reopen the parks,
Remember, the fledgling Montgomery Zoo at Oak Park also closed, with the animals sold to other facilities. But...
The Official Montgomery Zoo History, according to their website it closed because of "racial violence":
(*Tim's emphasis)
(Watch Alabama News Network tonight at 10:00 on CBS 8 or ABC 32 to hear comments from people who lived in Montgomery at the time).
It wasn't an outbreak of influenza, or a fear of polio that prompted the action.
It was racism. pure and simple.
The city sold the zoo animals and filled in the pool at Oak Park and elsewhere because the courts had ruled black children must be allowed in the parks and pools and all of the other (white and black) taxpayer-supported facilities, same as white children.
The same thing happened elsewhere. There was a pool on what is now University Boulevard--it was called 8th Avenue South---and the elected "leaders" of Birmingham filled it in rather than let black children use it. There is a McDonald's on the site now. Is there a small plaque somewhere marking the spot? I don't know.
The Supreme Court ruling came on December 11, 1960.
Same in Selma, of course.
And once the pools were closed, what did the white kids do?
Those whose parents didn't have a backyard pool went to the "Y", which became the segregated whites-only facilities the cities used to provide.
Yup, the "YMCA".
You can read the story in The Examiner.
"In exchange for taking up such a role, the city offered the YMCA tax exemptions, free water for its pools, free use of parks and reduced sales of property. Membership at the YMCA exploded. Although the city was one-third black at the time, only one out of every nine of its members was black, with the remaining eight white.
The YMCA went from one branch and 1,000 members in 1957 (and no pools) to 18,000 members and eight pools in 1969, including outdoor summer programs and summer swim programs, which were completely off-limits to black children."
A lawsuit forced the YMCA to do the right thing and end their segregation in 1970.,,,the same ruling forced the city to reopen the parks,
Remember, the fledgling Montgomery Zoo at Oak Park also closed, with the animals sold to other facilities. But...
The Official Montgomery Zoo History, according to their website it closed because of "racial violence":
1920 41 acres was set aside in Oak Park for the citizens of Montgomery
1935 Oak Park received the first animals
1960 Oak Park closed for the next 11 years due to racial violence*
1967 New zoo location, 6 acres set aside for new zoo (current land)
(*Tim's emphasis)
Truth: It was closed to avoid desegregating the facility.
When agencies or facilities write their own history, expect spin. Consider the Department of Public Safety's history of The Selma to Montgomery march over the Edmund Pettis Bridge:
Here is The Department of Archives and History version, a much more accurate writing than the original, which included only the last sentence:
"On March 7, 1965, state troopers were involved along with other law enforcement agencies in the attack on civil rights demonstrators during Bloody Sunday, a march that had been prompted by the February 1965 shooting death of civil-rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson by state trooper James B. Fowler. He was convicted of manslaughter in 2010 and served only five months in prison, due to health issues. Troopers were called on numerous other times to maintain order at demonstrations and protests during this volatile period."
(Watch Alabama News Network tonight at 10:00 on CBS 8 or ABC 32 to hear comments from people who lived in Montgomery at the time).
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