The Class of 1968

Book excerpt: Born in the late 1940's and early 50's and raised in a segregated town in southern Mississippi, a group of Black girls and boys came of age together, and graduated from high school in Hattiesburg as "The Class of 1968." Now in their late 60's and early 70's, they have chosen to reflect on their families, community, and school experiences. Together, they experienced one of the most tumultuous eras in U.S. history, and they reflect on those experiences in these personal essays. They think back on the Vietnam War, the draft, the assassination of their neighbors and national leaders, and the Civil Rights Movement. The fact that they came of age during these tumultuous events makes their experiences all the more vivid and profound, since the tender adolescent years typically mark us more profoundly than other phases in life. Perhaps most significantly, the era suddenly brought racial desegregation to Hattiesburg, in early 1967. Under "Freedom of [School] Choice," some Black Hattiesburg students saw their lifelong friends choose to attend the white high school for their senior year. Their stories bring forth a rush of memories, some that will make you laugh, others that will make you cry, and many that will make you wonder how things may have turned out differently had racism not poisoned their day-to-day lives. Although the contributors dealt with these formative experiences differently, all were touched in some way by the same forces in the dying days of legalized segregation. The essays here also reflect on our present moment: although racial segregation has lessened, it still persists in Hattiesburg and throughout America, leading to an era we might call racial resegregation. Yet the 1950's and 60's have ended. "We don't want these memories to die with us," says lead editor Mrs. Doris Gaines. "We want the next generations to know our thoughts and feelings and to understand how the past helped make us what we are today, and what made us tick." The Class of 1968: A Thread Through Time explains how these citizens negotiated their youth in Hattiesburg and, in doing so, offers us wisdom about how to move through life with grace and integrity.