Being a white 21 year old sailor in 1967 I was sent to N.A.S. Memphis for electronic school. My first day in town I walked into a place with an “L” shaped lunch counter and evidently sat at the shorter end of the lunch reserved for coloreds. This was when the ‘signs’ had been removed. On the longer side were three other older white guys. The black waitress asks, “Can I help you, sir” I reply, “Yes, mam, I’ll have a coffee and some pie.” in my usual Northern Yankee dialect. The one asks, “Why you mam’n her fo..” “Where you from, boy?” I said “Washington” He then says, “DEE CEE ?” (Thinking I’m a left over Freedom Rider probably)“No, Washington State. Then says, "You know where all you Northern Boys hang out around here ? I said no. His reply was “I guess you didn’t see that big tree when you came into town.” His buddies laughed and smiled.
So that was my first time of social distancing and “Racist” distancing with Southern whites. I paid the tab, thanked the waitress and left her a couple dollars tip that was more than the bill and said, “Have a nice day, mam” as I left with my knees knocking together. Never went into town alone after that. Hated the South. MLK was murdered two week after I left in the Spring of 1968. He was in Memphis to support the Black garbage workers on Strike.
Being a white 21 year old sailor in 1967 I was sent to N.A.S. Memphis for electronic school. My first day in town I walked into a place with an “L” shaped lunch counter and evidently sat at the shorter end of the lunch reserved for coloreds. This was when the ‘signs’ had been removed. On the longer side were three other older white guys. The black waitress asks, “Can I help you, sir” I reply, “Yes, mam, I’ll have a coffee and some pie.” in my usual Northern Yankee dialect. The one asks, “Why you mam’n her fo..” “Where you from, boy?” I said “Washington” He then says, “DEE CEE ?” (Thinking I’m a left over Freedom Rider probably)“No, Washington State. Then says, "You know where all you Northern Boys hang out around here ? I said no. His reply was “I guess you didn’t see that big tree when you came into town.” His buddies laughed and smiled.
So that was my first time of social distancing and “Racist” distancing with Southern whites. I paid the tab, thanked the waitress and left her a couple dollars tip that was more than the bill and said, “Have a nice day, mam” as I left with my knees knocking together. Never went into town alone after that. Hated the South. MLK was murdered two week after I left in the Spring of 1968. He was in Memphis to support the Black garbage workers on Strike.