Stanley Whitted is a man without a surname. He goes by the name of Whitted, as his father did before him. And everyone in Narcoossee - where he was born 74 years ago - knows him as Whitted. But when he tried to track down his family tree, he found out that isn't his real name. It belonged to the white man who enslaved his African grandfather.
This week Whitted, who never has discovered his own surname, told the tale to some seventh graders at Parkway Middle School to help them understand what it was like growing up as a black in the South.
For the next few weeks, he and six other African-Americans will tour some local schools to share experiences children seldom hear about firsthand. "Most of the schools touch upon black history in the month of February, but this brings it to life", said Laurel Pate, who coordinates the OASIS volunteer program that sponsored the Black History Month event. Linda Johnson, the Parkway teacher who invited Whitted, said she wanted her students to see history "face to face" so it "becomes real to them."
When Whitted held up rusty metal signs that said, "Whites" and "Coloreds," the reality of the bleak side of black history drew stares from dozens of blue, hazel and ebony eyes. They used to hang on the bathrooms outside a local hardware store, Whitted told the children who were born little more than a decade ago. Two bathrooms served the white customers, he said. Black men and black women had to wait in line for a third. But Whitted didn't concentrate on the misery. He told the children how he succeeded in life by going back to school on the GI Bill and how he sent his kids to college. Even when he had to ride in the rear of a Greyhound bus, he managed to make the best of it. "It didn't bother me," he said, "I enjoyed it. I could sleep." The Sunday school teacher also used his talks to pound home a favorite theme: Kids today may have it much easier - but only if they work hard in school.
Whitted's colleague Claude Woodruff also enjoys talking to the youngsters during Black History Month. The well-known coach, who helped steer about a dozen high school football players to the NFL, likes to tell them about his own role models: "Sergeant Huff" one of the first black Marines, and his uncle Lawrence Silas, who built the first black schoolhouse in the county and became a prominent cattleman. "We've had black people who were successful ever since we came over here - despite the circumstances," said Woodruff. "When I was a boy growing up, they had black water (fountains) and white water (fountains) ... But if a guy was positive and he was honest and fair, people treated him that way."