In September, Wayne was enrolled in the first grade at
Lowell Elementary School in Lorain, Ohio. As an extremely timid and shy child,
he was terrified at the prospect of leaving home and being in class with other
children. To make matters worse, he still had a pronounced Southern accent
which would serve to make him stand out among his classmates.
2 Now, as a child of the South, Wayne had certainly
been exposed to prejudice and discrimination against Blacks, but he was not
prepared for what awaited him in Miss Smith’s classroom. The teacher began by
having each student stand at their desk and say their name. When it was Wayne’s
turn, she got a disgusted look on her face.
3 “Now, children, I want you to lift up your desktops
and see how your books, papers and pencils are neatly arranged inside of your
desks,” she continued. “You will be expected to maintain good housekeeping in
this classroom and to keep your desks neat and in proper order,” she told them.
“I will not tolerate laziness and poor housekeeping,” she said as she looked
directly at Wayne.
4 Later, as Miss Smith began to work with the children
on their alphabet and writing skills, she walked around the room to make sure
that the students were correctly copying what she had written on the
chalkboard. She paused by Wayne’s desk and watched him struggle with his
writing. Unlike most of the other children in the room, Wayne hadn’t attended
kindergarten or had any other kind of preparation for school.
5 “No, no, no!” she said aloud. “Are you that dumb?”
she asked. “Pay attention and follow my directions!” she demanded from the
bewildered little boy. “You haven’t written your name at the top of the paper,”
she pointed out. Wayne was too afraid to tell her that he didn’t know how to
write his name.
6 Over the weeks that followed, things went from bad
to worse. Wayne struggled to keep up with the other children, and the teacher
continuously berated him in front of the other students.
7 “I am going to go around the room and examine your
housekeeping,” she announced one day. “When I come to your desk, you will raise
your desktop,” she instructed. “All of your books on one side, Jimmy!” she
snapped at the first little boy. “Straighten those papers,” she told the little
girl who sat in front of Wayne.
8 Wayne’s stomach fluttered, and he slumped down in
his chair. She stopped in front of his desk and a look of pure contempt
enveloped her face. She snatched his papers out of the desk and threw them on
the floor beside it.
9 Then she grabbed his chin and dug her thumb nail
into the skin. “You dirty little hillbilly!” she screamed. “You had better
clean this mess up and do it quickly,” she demanded.
10 The tears streamed down Wayne’s cheeks as he
struggled to pick up the papers and straighten up the contents of his desk.
“What a little pig!” she mumbled to herself as she moved on to the next
student.
11 Later, Wayne overheard Miss Smith talking to one of
the other teachers. “I do wish that we didn’t have to deal with these ignorant
and filthy hillbillies,” she told her. “They can be a trial,” the other woman
agreed.
12 Over the months that followed, Wayne eventually
caught up with the other children, but he had to work twice as hard as the rest
of them to do it. And, of course, there was no praise or acknowledgement from
Miss Smith for his efforts. His teacher had made up her mind about
“hillbillies” long before she had ever laid eyes on Wayne, and it was a
foregone conclusion that his first year of school would be miserable.
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