Terry Tiamd recalls growing up in the Paw Creek community, which was later annexed by Charlotte, North Carolina, and differences that she perceived before and after desegregation in the 1950s and 1960s. She discusses having to walk a mile to attend Woodland Elementary School during the 1950s despite living within a short distance from another school because of segregation, and being reassigned from Plato Price High School, which closed after desegregation, to West Charlotte High School. Ms. Tiamd talks about other ways that segregation impacted her life, including learning as a child that Black people could eat standing at lunch counters, but not sitting down, and exercising her right to sit anywhere on public buses after segregation on buses was declared unconstitutional. Ms. Tiamd shares her views on how desegregation did not mean true integration and that systemic prejudice in society has not set up some communities and people to succeed. Other topics include school choir, Ms. Tiamd's participation in the Friendly Youth Club, and annexation of Paw Creek into Charlotte.
