President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order No. 9981 on July, 26, 1948 which stated, “it is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.” This order also established the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. Ten years later my Uncle Sigurd Jett, a tech sergeant in the Air Force found himself to be the highest-ranking Black enlisted soldier stationed at the base in Charleston, South Carolina. He recalled that although Charleston was about 65 percent Black at that time, the closest thing to any level of protest was happening about 90 miles up the road at the HBCU South Carolina State University where the younger people weren’t shackled with the constraints of the ever-perpetuated confederacy.
So he and his friend, Hank Bolden, saw a tennis court just outside of the base and decided to go and use it, within full view of the “locals.” After a short while they heard a siren and saw a man on a motorcycle speeding toward them who hopped off when he arrived and hollered at them, “Ya’ll get out of there!” My Uncle Sigurd responded, “Is there a problem sir, this is the municipal tennis courts, right?” The motorcycle man then said, “You ain’t from here are you? I don’t care if it says ‘municipal,’ the police chief sent me down here personally to get you out of there.” He then proceeded to take my Uncle and his friend, Hank to another area and pointed out to them, “There’s ya’ll’s court,” which had two posts with a tattered rope in between it with tall grass growing up through the asphalt.” Not far from that court was a single-story building that served as the “colored” library where my Uncle Sigurd said, “We could smell the wet books from the outside.” However he knew there was a brand new five-story library that was just completed in the downtown area. His wife, my Aunt Gladys, was teaching in the “colored” school district and had been complaining about the lack of resources she had available so they decided on the weekend they would go to integrate the new library and get library cards, to which she proudly informed her colleagues.
My Uncle Sigurd stated that on the Friday night before their scheduled act of resistance, they were paid a visit by the superintendent of the “colored” schools who offered, “You not from around here and you can leave, but the rest of us can’t so please don’t go stirring up trouble, trying to integrate that library.” He pleaded with them not to go to that library, but my uncle only promised to “think about,” what the superintendent was saying. Needless to say, on Saturday morning he and my Aunt Gladys, and their two children, Anthony and Denise, who were 6 and 2 years old at the time, put on their Sunday best and headed downtown and walked right into that five-story library where my Uncle smiled and proudly announced to the receptionist, “We are here to get library cards.” “Wonderful, she said, step right over here.” And they all were given library cards.
There is a point that I considered as my Uncle Sigurd told me this encouraging story – and that is “Sometimes we can be blinded in the dust of our own raising.” While it is very clear that institutionalized violence and oppressive conditions exist that deliberately marginalize people in ways that seem impossible to tackle, there are measures that can be taken that are certain to defeat any obstacles – getting a library card, being one of them.
There is a discernible difference between those who are well read and those who are not yet well read. This is their use of language, ability to tap into a remarkable imagination and the ability to analyze the lessons of the past so that they can move forward with courage through the world, seeking their own truth and tackling the real battles that are certainly there.
Dr. Terri Jett is an associate professor of political science and special assistant to the Provost for Diversity and Inclusivity at Butler University. Comments can be sent to tjett@butler.edu.
