GUILTY TO ASSAULTING AN OFFICER AND DISORDERLY CONDUCT. THIS MORNING, WE’RE
DIGGING DEEPER INTO THE
DISPARITIES. THE BLACK
COMMUNITY FACES WHEN IT COMES
TO SWIMMING HERE IN NORTHEAST
FLORIDA.
>>JENNIFER WAUGH: SO IT WAS A
SKILL THAT WAS LARGELY DENIED
TO BLACK AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY
IN THE SEGREGATED SOUTH AND IS
JOINING US NOW TO MANDATE. YOU
SPOKE WITH 2 PEOPLE WHO WERE
SOME OF JACKSONVILLE’S FIRST
BLACK SWIMMERS, INCLUDING ONE
OF THE CITY’S FIRST BLACK
LIFEGUARDS. LESLIE ADDED TO
LEE TOLD ME WHAT IT WAS LIKE
LEARNING TO SWIM WHEN THERE
WAS NO POOL FOR BLACK PEOPLE
IN THE CITY. IT REALLY GIVES
MORE INSIGHT INTO HOW
JACKSONVILLE’S PASS CREATES A
RIPPLE EFFECT WITH JOHNNY
RATES TODAY. ALSO AN
EYE-OPENING LOOK AT JUST HOW
MUCH IT TOOK FOR THE BLACK
COMMUNITY HERE IN JACKSONVILLE
EVEN GET A POOL.
♪
>>MELANIE LAWSON: 87 YEAR-OLD
WARNER SINGLETON, LEARN TO
SWIM IN METAL, WATER, TANKS ON
PHILANTHROPIST EARTH, THE
WHITES PROPERTY ON MONCRIEF
ROAD IN THE LATE 1940’S. AND
THEN THEY HAD A BIG.
>> THE GROUND RULES OUT NOW.
BUT ON IT WAS JUST ONE LEVEL
ONE DAY OUT.
>> THESE METAL TANKS, WHICH
HISTORIANS SAY ALSO USED FOR
BAPTISMS WITH SOME OF THE FEW
OPTIONS FOR BLACK AMERICANS IN
JACKSONVILLE DURING
SEGREGATION. ANOTHER PLACE
WHERE BLACK CHILDREN COULD
SWIM WAS PART OF THE CITY
TRASH SITE CALLED BROWN’S
DUMP. IT WAS A RESERVOIR FULL
OF CHEMICALS ON PIERCE STREET
NEAR THE OLD MARY MCLEOD
BETHUNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. ALL
OF IT WAS POLLUTED. 84
YEAR-OLD PEARL WHITE REMEMBERS
CHILDREN GETTING IN THAT
WATER.
>> THE KIDS ARE IN THE KNOW
NOTHING ABOUT POLLUTED WATER
WHAT IT CAN DO TO EVEN IF YOU
SWAT AT SOME OF IN COULD DO TO
LONG ANY OF OTHER BIDEN, THE
ALL GUNS.
>> THE CITY POOL IN THE
SPRINGFIELD NEIGHBORHOOD,
WHICH FIRST OPENED IN 1922.
WAS WHITES ONLY.
>> WE KNOW WE WERE AFRAID.
>> WHITE SAYS THE RACIAL
TENSIONS ARE PALPABLE.
>> IN THE BACK OF AND YOU
ALWAYS GET THAT LITTLE FEELING
THAT.
>> SOMETHING MIGHT HAPPEN TO
ME OVER IF OVER CLEMSON
UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR IN
JACKSONVILLE NATIVE ABLE
BARTLEY WROTE A BOOK ON THE
CITY’S PAST AND SAYS LOCAL
LEADERS TO A HARD LINE IN THE
SAND WHEN IT CAME TO THE
WATER.
>> WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN IS A
LONG HISTORY OF AFRICAN
AMERICANS BEING DENIED ACCESS
TO THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT.
AND WARNER WAS OF THE DEFINING
LIED DURING THE 1948 ELECTION
SEASON. BARTLEY SAYS ARE THE
WHITE AND OTHER BLACK
COMMUNITY LEADERS WORKED TO
CHANGE THAT.
>> EFFORTS TO CHANGE THAT
STARTED IN 1948. WHEN
COUNCILMAN CLAUDE SMITH
PROMISED THE BLACK COMMUNITY
LEADERS, THE CITY WOULD BUILD
THEM A POOL IF THEY VOTED FOR
HIM INSTEAD OF THE BLACK
CANDIDATE. ONE OF THE THINGS
THAT THEY HAD TO THEY HAD
ARGUED FOR SINCE THE 1940’S
WITH THAT THEY THEY WANTED A
SWIMMING POOL, A PLACE KIDS TO
GO PUBLIC WITH DOING SOME
WORK.
>> SMITH WON THE ELECTION IN
THE POOL ON JEFFERSON STREET
WAS BUILT SHORTLY AFTER IN
1951.
>> AND ON THE FIRST DAY, IT
WAS SO YOU WERE HERE WHEN THIS
POOL FIRST OPENED. I WAS
>> THIS WAS AN OUTLET FOR US.
THAT WAS.
>> SAFE FOR YOU TO BE
SINGLETON AND WHITE CLIMBED
THE RANKS, GETTING
CERTIFICATION AFTER
CERTIFICATION.
>> RIGHT HERE AT THE POOL, ALL
WE THOUGHT ABOUT WAS TRAINED
IN OTHER PEOPLE TO BECOME
SWIMMERS.
>> AND EVERY TIME YOU TURN
AROUND, SOMEBODY WAS IN
STRUGGLE THE FROM THE
BEGINNING. AFTER A WHILE, IT
BECAME LESS AND LESS AND LESS
BECAUSE,
>> YOU KNOW, MOST PEOPLE WOULD
LEARN HOW TO DO DO YOU THINK
THE POOL CONTRIBUTED TO MORE
BLACK CHILDREN LEARNING TO
SWIM? DEFINITELY DEFINITELY.
WE LESSONS EVERY MORNING FROM
10 TO TOIL THIS PLACE WOULD
PACKED.
>> SINGLETON SAYS THE
JEFFERSON STREET POOL DID MORE
THAN JUST CREATE SWIMMERS.
>> THIS THIS WHOLE THING WAS
VERY, VERY I GUESS YOU SAY AND
LIGHTNING THERE AND MAKING US
WANT TO BE PEOPLE. WE WANT TO
BE MORE THAN WHAT WE WAS HE
EVENTUALLY BECAME CO-CAPTAIN
OF THE JEFFERSON STREET SWIM
CLUB. THE CITY’S FIRST BLACK
SWIM TEAM.
>> WHITE WAS ON THE FIRST
WOMEN’S TEAM.
>> DID YOU THINK YOU ARE
MAKING BLACK HISTORY AT THAT
TIME? NO. WE JUST HAVING FUN.
>> AND IT WASN’T ANY OF THE
BLACK TEENS FOR US TO JUST PAY
TO GET IN SO WE HAD TO COMPETE
WITH EACH OTHER.
>> AND IT WAS JUST FUN. A KEY
FIGURE IN TRAINING SWIMMERS,
JACKSONVILLE’S FIRST BLACK
AQUATICS DIRECTOR JULIUS GET
YARD. A MAN WHO SPENT
COUNTLESS HOURS MENTORING
NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS AT THE POOL,
WHICH ALSO DOUBLED AS A
RECREATION CENTR DO YOU IS
GETTING ARE? WAS IT A HUGE
PART OF OF THIS?
>> LET ME JUST TELL WHAT I DO
IS AGAIN, WE ARE. A LOT OF
PEOPLE WERE NOT BE THAT’S WHAT
HE WAS. IT WAS A BIG FATHER.
FIGURE THE POOL IS NOW NAMED
AFTER HIM. DESPITE THE
PROGRESS MADE BY HAVING THE
JEFFERSON STREET PULL IN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD.
>> BARTLEY SAYS THE STAIN OF
SEGREGATION SURROUNDING
SWIMMING POOLS CONTINUES TO
CREATE A RIPPLE EFFECT IN THE
BLACK COMMUNITY. MOST BLACK
AMERICANS STILL DON’T KNOW
THEIR WAY AROUND THE WATER
BEING ABLE TO SWIM WORTH NOT
BEING IN THIS WINDOW. THAT WAS
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT PUT THE
ONE THING ONE GROUP.
>> IT’S A VERY FOR YOUR
POSITION. AND THERE’S NEVER
BEEN INCENTIVE TO MAKE UP FOR
THE GROUND THAT WAS SINGLETON
IS HOPEFUL, ESPECIALLY SEEING
THAT THE JEFFERSON STREET POOL
IS STILL HERE.
>> AFTER ALL THESE WITH GOING
YOUR MIND NOW THAT YOU SEE THE
POOL HERE THESE YEARS LATER.
>> FEEL I DON’T KNOW. I JUST
FEEL GOOD JUST TO BE HERE TO
SEE IT IS SAYING THAT STILL
SURVIVE. WHEN I WALKED IN, I
JUST FELT THAT A WARM FEELING
THAT HATE I WAS A PART OF
MECHANISM THAT WE’RE HERE
>> FROM THE BEGINNING, A
CIRCLE MOMENT.
>> AND I LOOK AT HOW PUSHING
FOR EQUALITY IN THE WATER HERE
IN JACKSONVILLE CAME TO BE.
>> MEETING FOR OUR FIRST
INTERVIEW WAS THE FIRST TIME
SINGLETON HAD SEEN THE
JEFFERSON STREET POOL IN 25
YEARS. HE AND WHITE STILL SWIM
EVEN IN THEIR 80’S. AND
TOMORROW ON THE MORNING SHOW
WILL FOCUS ON HOW A LOCAL
ORGANIZATION IS WORKING TO
MAKE SURE THOUSANDS OF BLACK
FAMILIES LEARN TO SWIM HERE IN
JACKSONVILLE. THAT INCLUDES AN
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, ITS
PRINCIPAL AND EVEN THE CITY
COUNCILMAN. SO DON’T MISS THE
RIPPLE EFFECT TOMORROW. DURING
THE 8 O’CLOCK HOUR. AND IF
YOU’VE MISSED ANY OF OUR PAST
COVERAGE OF THE RIPPLE EFFECT,
YOU CAN CATCH UP AND WATCH THE