I enrolled at NCWC in 1963 and found that there were still some vestiges of racism and conservatism remaining in the area but, by and large, things were fairly tranquil. After attending church each Sunday morning, it was the habit of other students and me to stop by a nearby cafe for a cup of coffee or a Coke before heading back to campus. One morning however, service was refused to one of our fellow students, Helen Chestnut, a full-blooded Cherokee whose skin was "too dark" for her to be served. Helen was a beautiful co-ed--both inside and out--who didn't want to make an issue of the situation. As for the rest of us, we decided then and there, that if she couldn't be served we would not favor them with our patronage. At some point--possibly 1964-65--the Ku Klux Klan came to town and held a rally in an area farm field. I had no interest in going, but several of my college buddies--some of them native Tar Heels--went and hooted and harassed those in attendance from the surrounding woods. They were chased from the area by armed assholes, which made me glad I decided to stay on campus. At another time, Oral Roberts was holding one of his patented tent revivals, at which some of my buddies got "saved and healed" by the "Oralmeister", himself. Such was the life of a bunch of college friends who were exploring more liberal ideas and ideals outside their traditional bringing up.
My term at NCWC was interrupted by the Vietnam War, as I was faced with a possible draft notice after my junior year. I opted to join the Air Force, picking up a semester's worth of college credits and returning in fall 1970 to complete my degree. Still, I regarded North Carolina as a progressive state, insofar as southern states went.
However, that bubble soon burst. Upon graduating and living in a central Wisconsin mill town, my news source was primarily the "CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite". In 1973, firebrand conservative asswipe Jesse Helms--a former conservative commentator for one of the Raleigh TV stations--was elected to the U.S. Senate. This guy was anti-civil rights, referring to the University of North Carolina (UNC) as the "University of Negroes and Communists".
In the meantime, ambulance chaser John Edwards won election to the Senate as a Democrat in 1998. Things were looking up. Hopefully, North Carolina was turning the page and getting ready for the 21st Century. Unfortunately, such was not to be. Helms retired from the Senate in 2003 and was replaced by (IMHO) moderately progressive Elizabeth Dole. Although Dole was a bit less conservative than Helms, she served only one term until defeated by Democrat state senator Kay Hagan in 2008 who, then, was defeated by Republican Thom Tillis in 2014.
The downhill slide of North Carolina has continued, capped by yesterday's signing into law a draconian measure, denying municipalities and other local governments from enacting laws prohibiting discrimination against lesbians, gays, and transgenders. Hopefully, the tide will turn in this once wonderful state. I am the eternal optimist but, as the fiftieth anniversary of my college class will occur next year, with the attendant Homecoming, I wonder if I should spend my good retirement money in a state that is so Middle Ages. Time will tell...
