' ‘ 9 : ;
^ ' :
years after the Emancipation
tarnation, Lincoln's African American
imunity keens moving forward.
#
BvMatthewWaite
Emt§r
Lincoln was not like home for Monique
Strickland.
The 17-year-old high school student came
to Lincoln, a predominantly white commu
nity, from Atlanta, which boasts one of the
nation’s largest African-American communi
ties.
“I’ve never seen this many white people in
my life,” she said, sitting with a group of five
friends at the Malone Center.
Of the friends sitting in a semi-circle, only
one — 18-year-old LaCresha Lee—has called
only Lincoln home. Of those that came from
other cities, all came here to go to “good”
schools. ^ ~
The group of friends came from cities not
like Lincoln. They came from cities like St.
Louis, which have large minority popula
tions. They say their parents brought them
liere to get an education, a chance.
The friends sat talking about that chance as
the Juneteenth festival went on around them
Friday evening. Lincoln’s African American
community was celebrating the day the Eman
cipation Proclamation freed the slaves.
The document became law Jan. 1, 1863,
but it is believed that it was not until June 19,
1863, that all slaves knew they were free.
The Emancipation Proclamation was de
livered 133 years ago. It has been nearly half
a century since the Supreme Court ended the
“separate but equal” practice of segregation
and decades since the civil rights movement
of the sixties.
The history of African Americans is a story
of struggle and triumph. But times change,
and struggles continue.
Black churches in the South are burning.
Many are pointing fingers at hate groups. The
government has launched an investigation.
Hate is making a comeback.
Militant groups — from the return of the
Black Panthers to the resurgence of the Aryan
Nations — are again making news.
Ever since Abraham Lincoln’s proclama
tion, African Americans have been struggling
for a chance. Racism, poverty, crime, drugs
— an nave stood in the way.
Far removed from the charred churches of
the South, some in Lincoln say it’s different
here—somewhat. Some, especially the young,
say at least here they have a chance.
For Brian Thompson, a 25-year old origi
nally from Terre Haute, Ind., Lincoln has
made him want to succeed.
“I wish we could be that way all over the
world,” he said. “Some blacks don’t have that.
“I believe a black person can make it here.”
Got it made
Many would say John Harris has made it.
As special assistant to the vice chancellor
for student affairs at UNL, Harris comes across
many students. His favorite stories to tell are
where he opens a student’s mind to diversity
and understanding.
Harris has a young family of his own. His
wife is a Lincoln native, himself a Missouran.
Active in his church, Harris often talks about
community involvement and personal respon
sibility.
He too says an African-American can make
it in Lincoln — if they try.
“There are more struggles for many who
choose to be affected by the environment than
effect it,” he said from his office Monday.
Some blacks new to the community come
in with a defensive attitude because they are
so outnumbered, Harris said. According to the
1990 census, Lincoln was more than 70 per
cent white.
Harris said African-Americans in Lincoln
had to get used to walking into a restaurant
and being the only minority in the room.
Blacks have to get used to the stares, he said.
"This isn’t the most friendly place for people
of color,” Harris said. “They aren’t rolling out
the red carpet.”
Harris has many stories about things he had
to get used to living in Lincoln. Police officers
following him, white people uncomfortable
around him and people locking their car doors
when he pulls up to get gas.
“You have to ask yourself if she would
have done that anyway,” he said of the woman
at the gas station. “But then you say 'Nah, I
know why she did it.’
“You sometimes try to talk yourself out of
racism.”
But Harris now shrugs off the actions —
direct and indirect — of others.
“You can’t ever really separate yourself
from everybody else,” he said. “Given the
right situation or the wrong one, we’re all the
same.”
Perspective
Leola B ullock has watched the times change
in Lincoln.
She moved here in 1950, before the civil
rights movement. She moved into a house in
the Malone neighborhood, the “black” neigh
borhood of Lincoln.
Back then, African Americans couldn’t
live anywhere else, except for parts of the
Clinton neighborhoods and a small area in
south Lincoln. Red-lining from banks, real
estate agents and loan associations prevented
them from buying homes anywhere else.
Times have changed. Progress — from the
Fair Housing Act to the civil rights movement
of the sixties — has eliminated barriers for
buying a house.
“There are few areas in town (African
Americans) can’t live in if they have the
funds,” she said.
And now, Lincoln’s multicultural educa
tion programs are better than many places in
Nebraska and across the state, Bullock said.
But one barrier still remains, despite
progress.
“We still have a lot of racism in this city
and this state,” she said.
But the progress she has seen has been
substantial. Lincoln’s African Americans have
a better chance now to succeed.
“I’ve seen it go from people who could not
get jobs except menial jobs to professional
people,” she said.
School ties
Terrance Kimbrough’s mother wanted him
to have the right situation.
She brought her son, now 18, to Lincoln to
go to school. She took him out of the St. Louis
neighborhood they were living in and set off
for the Nebraska capital.
The move was not an easy thing to adjust
to.
“It was so quiet,” he said, laughing. “I
couldn’t fall asleep — there were no gun
shots.”
Kimbrough and Strickland share similar
stories of their former home. The five friends
at the Juneteenth celebration all share the ■
same feelings about Lincoln.
They say there are good kids and bad ones.
They say there are things to do, but the bad
kids ruin them and that’s when bad publicity
comes in.
“Some people just be zooming,” Strickland
said. “People come here and act like the fool.
“There are people that want to be hard and
they think with all the white people, they can
just come in and take over. It ain’t that way.”
Good kids are here to get an education —
a chance, Strickland said.
“I never took advantage of academics (be
fore),” she said. “Last year, I was the only
African-American with a 3.5 GPA.
“I have white people asking me 'Monique,
can I copy off you?”’
Looking towards downtown Lincoln,
Strickland said she has a chance here.
“I made it this far,” she said.
“You’re going to have barriers in your life.
You’ve got to fight through them.”