The Changing of America: Let’s Thank the Class of 1967
by The change to an inclusive nation didn’t begin when Barack Obama was nominated for the Presidency. There were those who endured great struggle and sacrifice so that their children could achieve and so that the nation could embrace its diversity. So let’s thank the class of 1967 from whom we can all learn.
All of this movement towards the light of true political and social freedom didn’t begin with the candidacy of Barack Obama. It began more than 150 years ago, continued for the class of 1967 and is bearing fruit today.
There were six young people who courageously decided to be the first to integrate Natchitoches High School, now Natchitoches Central, in 1967, from that special class. They were Pedro Guy, Charles Cornwell, Juanita Gordon, Velma Morris, Ellen Marie Payne, and Joyce Elaine Walters. That period of time was difficult for all of them because they were isolated by their black friends and threatened by white students. Some teachers didn’t like integration, and there were those who literally laughed at the struggles of the African American students. Nevertheless, there were numbers of white students and teachers who took personal risks to secretly help these new students. Although some townspeople voiced long and loud complaints about integration, there were also many who aided the transition. Numbers of those who didn’t help, or who were antagonistic to integration at the time, are remembered by their black classmates with some degree of fondness and respect since apologies have been made over the years to try to bring new understanding for everyone.
It’s now 2008 and counting, 41 years and more since the Class of 1967 left the adolescent safety of high school, the security of friends, and settled, some in Natchitoches and others in Texas, California, Virginia, the Carolinas and other points around the country, from which numbers of them went to their reunion in a small Southern town. All of them, however, are leaders in a world where those who can’t change will be left behind, because the Class of 1967 was out in front to lead the way.
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