Alexander, Alfred L., 1952-

Desmarais, Melinda H.

Charlotte, North Carolina

J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2001-05-10

1 audio file (1:06:43) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (24 pages : PDF)

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Alfred Alexander was a 48-year-old man at the time of interview, which took place in his mother’s home (Margaret Alexander) in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was born in Charlotte in 1952. He was educated at West Charlotte High School, North Carolina Central University, and Gupton Jones College of Mortuary Science; and was employed in his family’s business, Alexander Funeral Home.

Alfred Alexander describes his early life in Charlotte, North Carolina during the 1950s-1970s as the son of prominent civil rights pioneer Kelly Alexander Sr., a leader in the Charlotte and the North Carolina branches of the NAACP. As a child he lived in the Brooklyn neighborhood, and he recalls having limited access to certain public spaces and separate public facilities in the downtown area because of the local laws that enforced racial segregation. The Alexander family was central in the fight against racial discrimination in Charlotte, and Mr. Alexander discusses how his father gained strong local support for the NAACP’s core philosophy of using legal action to bring about change and promote interracial cooperation. He also discusses his experience as a student at West Charlotte High School during the first years of school integration. He talks about the lack of physical violence in most student disputes, the school administration’s implementation of integration policies and student assignment plans, and his work on the NAACP Youth Council to protest busing policies that were disproportionately unfair for black students. However, Mr. Alexander recalls that while racial violence was minimal in schools, it was not absent from the Charlotte community. He describes the night his home, and the homes of his uncle Fred Alexander and two other civil rights activists were bombed in 1965, and vividly recalls it as a frightening and emotional experience. Mr. Alexander goes on to explain that the attack ultimately had a positive effect on race relations in Charlotte because it united black and white members of the community together in their efforts to combat violence.

MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on minidisc and digitized using a Digidesign 003 rack.

Executive
Entrepreneurs

Alexander, Alfred L., 1952-
Alexander, Kelly M.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Black Panther Party
Second Ward High School (Charlotte, N.C.)
West Charlotte High School (Charlotte, N.C.)

African Americans--Segregation
Civil rights movements
Segregation in education
School integration
Bombings
Busing for school integration
Discrimination in public accommodations
Group identity
Race relations

North Carolina--Charlotte--Brooklyn
North Carolina--Charlotte

Interviews
Oral histories

1950-2010

Civil rights and desegregation in Charlotte

Living Charlotte : the postwar development of a New South city

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Digitization made possible by funding from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

audio/mpeg

Margaret Alexander oral history interview 1, 2001 April 30, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A339); Margaret Alexander oral history interview 2, 2004 April 27, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Margaret Alexander oral history interview 3, 2007 April 2, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Kelly Alexander oral history interview 1, 2001 May 1, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte; Kelly Alexander oral history interview 2, 2007 April 2, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Kelly Alexander, Sr. Family papers, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/4/resources/583); Kelly Alexander, Sr. papers concerning the NAACP, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/4/resources/701)

OH-AL0002