'When it was my turn ... my word was negro'


Shirell Blount, 50, was one of the first black students to attend Smithfield High School in 1965, and the only black student in her sixth-grade class.

Isle of Wight schools were fully integrated in 1969 - Blount says school was better for her then, because more black students came to her classes and black teachers came to the school, bringing back the high expectations for black students that were present at the segregated Westside High School. In high school, Blount was the first black student on the girl's basketball team. She was elected homecoming queen in 1971. Blount graduated in 1972 and attended Virginia State University.

Blount is now a special education teacher at Smithfield Middle School, in the building that used to be Westside. She says her background and the hardships she faced in integrated schools give her empathy for students with special needs. "I think coming up as I did, you sort of root for the underdog."

"My sixth grade teacher ... This is probably one that hurt me the most. You know how you have your spelling assignment, and we'd have to go the board, write the word and the definition. So this particular day she moved me from my normal seat to another seat.

"Lo and behold, when it was my turn to go to the board, my word was 'negro.' I had to go to the board and write that definition: A person belonging to one of the black races of Africa. I could feel the eyes on me and nobody talking. For that moment, she almost made me feel ashamed for who I was. I think to do something like that to a child is just not right.

"It's taken me a long time to get over that. I've gone through being angry about it. Now I am extremely proud of who I am and my heritage. I couldn't be prouder.

"In some ways back then I was angry with myself for letting myself get in that position, but it wasn't me who did that. That was something that they were trying to do to me to try to lower my self-esteem. Or to attack me in whatever way they could.

"In '69 things began to get a lot better, because we had more black students. I think in a way athletics helped that somewhat. When the two schools merged, Westside brought with them an undefeated football team. A small town football team, everyone likes to win. So they would rally behind the football team and support them.

"I was very athletic also, and I was on the basketball team. It seemed like things were OK if you were an athlete. You gained acceptance quicker being an athlete than you did being an academic student. They didn't really want you to excel academically, it seemed. But it was all right if you excelled athletically.

"Now, as a whole, basically I was accepted by the team.

"They would do things in the locker room, say things in the locker room, but by then I knew how to block it out and just keep going. I wouldn't say anything, but just do what I had to do and play the game."

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