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Published August 27, 2008 08:56 pm - At age 82, Harry Givens makes no bones about it when he is asked. “No,” he said promptly. “I didn’t think it was realistic in my lifetime. Whether Obama wins the election or not, there is history being made that I thought I’d never see.” For local blacks, Obama nomination signifies change, improvement By Andy Ostmeyer
aostmeyer@joplinglobe.com At age 82, Harry Givens makes no bones about it when he is asked. “No,” he said promptly. “I didn’t think it was realistic in my lifetime. Whether Obama wins the election or not, there is history being made that I thought I’d never see.” For the first time in history, a black American is representing one of the two major political parties in the campaign to be president. U.S. Sen. Barack Obama was nominated by acclamation Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. For blacks who remember the racism and segregation of an earlier day, the moment marks a historic milestone. Givens remembers when he wasn’t welcome in hotels and restaurants in parts of the country because of his race. “Prior to desegregation, I many times was driving down the road, in a good-looking car with money in my pocket. Still, I wasn’t welcome,” he said. “You could buy food, but most of the time you had to go outside to eat it. “We have traveled a tremendous distance in a positive way. I believe it has brought this country to the point where a lot of the past is going to be buried. “I never dreamed it would happen in my lifetime,” he said again. Betty Smith, also of Joplin, said she was more optimistic, although she acknowledged it wasn’t always easy. Joplin schools didn’t integrate until 1954. Restaurants quickly followed. “Restaurant owners got together and just decided they were going to open the doors to everyone,” Smith recalled. “Problems here were at a minimum making the changeover. “The path that we have traveled has been a rocky one. Then it gets better and smoothes out in some places, but it is not as it should be.” Yet, she said she knew that one day a black American would take the podium, and perhaps the White House. “All you have to do is think how many doors were opening in 1954, how many advantages were given,” Smith said. “It was just the way that things were opening up. ... They took advantage of the time, and the time is right now.” 
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