Lifelong Las Crucens remember life in the 1940s
POSTED: 10:04 PM MDT Aug 28, 2013   A piece of black history
still stands in Las Cruces. At a time when segregation was the
norm, a small cemetery gave the black community some relief.
The Community Cemetery was built at a time when people were
turned away because of the color of their skin.  "There was a
time when people of color did not have places to bury the dead.
When you go to one place, they'd say we don't have any
availability here or they'd make some kind of excuse not to
accept you," said Grover Pettes, a Las Cruces resident.  The
Community Cemetery was created in 1941. Back when there was only
one school for black children in Las Cruces. Back when some
restaurants had special rules for black people.  "The white
restaurants you could sit at certain tables or you couldn't sit
at all," said Clarence Fielder, another Las Cruces resident.
Despite the segregation, Fielder told ABC-7 growing up in that
time was fun.  "That was just the way of life. Even t