Mimi Jones of Roxbury remembers that the summer of '64 in Saint Augustine, Fla., was a literal and figurative hotbed of racial injustice. The Klan and the police were one and the same: attacks at segregated places, like beaches, were common place, and people like Dr. King were squarely in the crossroads of Jim Crow. It was in St Augustine where Mimi and others marched at night for justice and equality. Mimi recalls "being in the narrow streets of Saint Augustine, and having Klansman...even children attack us with rebel flags as we marched." But nothing was more vivid to her than what happened when she and five others jumped into a segregated motel swimming pool. "I had difficulty breathing, and I turned, and it was somebody pouring this substance that turned out to be muriatic acid in the pool on us." A fully clothed police officer then jumped in to arrest them, and the incident became national news, prompting a response from the White House. President Lyndon B. Johnson, at a loss, cautioned that "our whole foreign policy and everything else will go to hell over this."
We are almost two weeks away from the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act— the landmark legislation that outlawed racial segregation on the job, in the classroom, and in other public places like parks, hotels, and restaurants. Now, in the midst of the Donald Sterling controversy, WGBH News reporter Clennon King talks with two former foot soldiers in the fight for equal treatment— now living in Boston— who fought racism on the front lines in Georgia, Florida, and Virginia.
Find this story, as well as Emily Rooney's conversation with two women whose mothers flew down from Boston to join in protests here on Greater Boston.
