Growing Up In The Deep South: 1940s vs. 1960s

By: Leslie Tartt

During the early and mid-1900s, growing up in the deep south was an interesting and, at times, difficult experience for people of color, especially for African Americans. Leroy Johnson was born in November of 1943 in South Carolina. Robert Earl Tartt Jr. was born in February of 1964 in Alabama. They both grew up during times of great turmoil in the south and moved to New York, the north, as young adults. Their experiences growing up in the south were different, but there were a few similarities that really reflect on those times.

Leroy Johnson grew up in Bennettsville, South Carolina, a small town. He said that as a child he thought his hometown was nice because he, at the time, did not know anything other than what was in the neighborhood where he lived. He said, “I was a child who didn’t go anywhere, but around the neighborhood or wherever my parent took me.” (Johnson) He grew up in a single-parent home where his mother, Cora, took care of him and his 13 siblings. Robert Earl Tartt Jr. grew up in Butler, Alabama. He described his hometown as “very small, country, farmland, quiet, and there was lots of work to do.” (Tartt) He would often work on the farm feeding the chickens, cows, pigs, horses, and avoiding snakes. He grew up with his parents and his four younger siblings.

Leroy began going to school at the age of seven which was late compared to the other kids who started at six years old. He went to a completely segregated school. When talking about his school life he said, “We were limited to a lot of stuff.” (Johnson) However, he believed that his school was nice and that he didn’t notice any difference because that’s the way life had always been. Similarly, Robert began school at the age of six because they did not have a kindergarten where he lived. However, he went to a desegregated school as schools were desegregated on June 10, 1963, less than a year before he was born.

When asked if he felt like segregation affected his education, Leroy said, “In a way, yes, and in a way, no,” but because he didn’t know how other schools in South Carolina were, he couldn’t tell the difference between his schooling and anybody else's when he was younger. Robert said that his life was school good, but there were a few issues. He recalled that white kids would be given more opportunities and advantages than black kids. He remembered that the white students and teachers would expect the black students to say “yes sir” or “no sir” when speaking to them and would often call him “boy” instead of his name. However, he believes that it was his parents who faced more serious racism and that his parents tried to protect him and his siblings from that experience the best they could. He said that even though segregation had ended, a lot of the trips and opportunities given to white kids were not given to black kids.

Furthermore, both Leroy and Robert grew up during the Civil Rights Movement which began in 1954. Leroy recalls that in 1954 he was still in school. Despite many limitations put on African Americans during this time, Leroy would do everything he could do like explore Bennettsville and he did stuff he “had no business doing.” (Johnson) He can’t say it was a bad time or a good time. At that time, he had a paper route, would mow lawns, and would often do odd jobs to make extra money. Robert had a much different experience growing up during the height of the movement. He said he used to see the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) riding up and down the road with their white sheets on and saw much fighting. He remembered how one day the KKK tried to chase his father in their trucks. His parents ended up having to keep a gun in the house because it was so dangerous for black families living so deep in Alabama. Robert’s parents would try to protect them from experiencing the racism going on around them. He said, “They would tell us to get back in the house.” When Martin Luther King Jr. was killed Robert's school was closed for a long time because it wasn’t safe due to the high tensions and conflict between the black and white communities.

For both Leroy and Robert, the biggest impact that living in the deep south had on them was being told they couldn’t do things. They both learned that you have to work hard to get anything and nothing was going to be given to them. Leroy started working from a young age and didn’t retire until his own kids were grown. For Robert, he was told that he would never be able to go to college because he wasn’t smart enough and his family couldn’t afford it, so to prove them wrong, he worked hard academically and professionally. He went to Alabama State University in 1982 and was the first in his family to graduate or even attend college. He worked straight through college to pay his own tuition. He always worked two or more jobs all the way up until he retired in 2020. “If you want it, go get it. Nobody is gonna give you anything.” (Tartt)

Leroy and Robert both moved to New York as young adults. When Leroy moved to New York, he didn’t have a choice. He moved with his mother who came to the state to find work. He said that he didn’t like New York at first because he didn’t know anybody besides his mother and his brother who moved with him, didn’t have anything to do, and all his friends and the rest of his siblings still lived in South Carolina. “I just didn’t want to be in New York.” (Johnson) However, after he gave New York a chance, he made New York his home, and now he doesn’t want to leave New York. His life is there now. Leroy moved to New York at the end of 1956, got married, and raised his family there. He has now lived in New York for over 60 years, occasionally returns to South Carolina to visit his younger sister who still lives there. Robert moved to New York when he graduated college with his future wife, Leroy’s daughter, Janis. He also got married and had his first child in New York. Since he first moved, he has only lived in northern states such as Massacchuttes and Northern Virginia. However, often returns to his childhood home in Bladen Springs, Alabama to visit his parents and sister.

Growing up in the deep south will always be a part of who Leroy and Robert are even though they made the north their home. There were good times and hard times just like there is everywhere else. They both believe that because of where they grew up they were able to work so hard to provide better futures for their families. The biggest difference between the south and the north for both Leroy and Robert was that “you had opportunities to make whatever you wanted to make out of yourself when you got away from people telling you what you could and couldn’t do. In New York, there were more opportunities to do more. You get more and see more.” (Tartt)