First in Southeastern Public School and University Sports
The pioneering courage of the Scarboro 85 athletes broke the color barrier in Southeastern school … and university sports.
Back in 1955, superstar athletes like — Michael Jordan, Herschel Walker, and Candace Parker — would have been totally-excluded from their alma maters (the Universities of North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.) Southern society was stuck in the past, with a ridiculous, but rigid racial model that saw Black Americans as less-than-worthy to compete with Whites.
Then, the brave Scarboro 85 broke-through this delusion … opening the door for advancement through the South.
They were the first Black athletes to break this rigid and strictly-enforced color barrier. It made them subject to ridicule and rejection, but three sports pioneers — Henry Guinn, Lawrence Graham (now Dr. Ahmed Akinwole Alhamisi), and Robert Berry —- led the way.
Back in 1955, The Scarboro 85 School Desegregation Occurred:
1. Five years before Ruby Bridges entered public schools in New Orleans,
2. Two years before the Little Rock Nine,
3. A year before the Clinton Twelve,
4. Several months before Dr. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks rose to national prominence by leading the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, and
5. Six years before the first three Black undergraduates were admitted to the University of Tennessee — (and fifteen years before the first Black UT basketball player!)
Breaking the color barriers allowed a whole new group of highly-talented individuals to contribute to our national sports scene. Celebrating their remarkable accomplishment will help turbo-charge our nation, bringing a wonderful national unity and speeding the dismantlement of remaining color limitations.
Imagine the added benefits when we dismantle other remaining color exclusions!
Please help America celebrate the Scarboro 85’s wonderful impact. Just click: Yes, I would like to help with the monument!!
