John Hancock oral history interview, 1997 November 25
Description
John Hancock recounts his experiences as a high school student during the first years of integration of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. Mr. Hancock attended Garinger High School from 1970 to 1973 and explains that while most of the students just wanted peace and quiet, there was a vocal minority of "extremists" on both sides and together the two groups were large enough to cause major disruptions at the school. He describes several violent fights he witnessed and explains how the violence and social unrest impacted the school's learning environment. Mr. Hancock concludes by expressing mixed feelings regarding desegregation, stating that it was important and necessary in order to achieve many of the educational goals for African American students, but he did not think that it has had the desired positive effect on race relations that people had hoped for.
