Today is the day!

The day I get to go to a school that offers classes to both white and black students.

My mom is in the kitchen making me a really good nutritional breakfast for my big first day. She doesn’t seem as excited as I am to be going but I can tell she’s happy for me.

When my mom was younger like me, she could only go to all black schools. She told me it was because of the laws here in South Carolina from a long time ago. Now we have a new law, and separating schools by color isn’t legal.*

You see, throughout my whole life (7 years) I have only been allowed to go to all black schools because of the color of my skin. But today, that all changes. This big 7 year old black boy (me) is going to an integrated school!

I wave bye to my mom as I walk out the front door with my two older brothers to head off to Fort Jackson Elementary School.

I responded by saying, “Um, I don’t know what to do” with a puzzled look on my face.

All of the white students began to laugh at me and make fun of me by calling me stupid. Ms. Lowell faced the white students and told them to stop laughing and stay quiet.

On the plus side, now I can use the water fountain that is in the courtyard just like the white children!** I can even play on the same playground and ride the same bus as my white friend, Tony.

Tony is a white boy in my class. We like to race out on the playground sometimes. He’s a lot faster than me so he usually wins.