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photo by steed media service
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Professor/Civil Rights Hero
As educator and clinical psychologist Dr. Terrence Roberts sits in his
office at the renowned University of California at Los Angeles, he can
look back at his life and see the cultural impact he’s made on society.
The intersection of the learned Dr. Roberts’ life with a single event
that occurred five decades ago shook the very foundation of this racist
nation, forcing it to live up to the principles upon which it was
founded.
When Dr. Roberts registered for school in 1957, he had no idea that he
was, in fact, registering to become a civil rights champion and
lifelong member of the group dubbed the Little Rock Nine, a group of
nine students who desegregated Little Rock, Ark.’s Central High School.
While his peers were wondering what impression their outfits would make
on the first day of school, Dr. Roberts was in fear for his safety.
Despite opposition from his polarized town and the intimidating
presence of the National Guard barring his entrance to the school, Dr.
Roberts stayed the course. Throughout the school year, he was in
constant physical peril, and faced a stream of verbal abuse and the
seemingly constant hum of the ugliest word in the English language: the
N-word.
“Oh, yeah, I heard it all the time,” says Dr. Roberts. “I didn’t feel
one way or the other about it. To me, words are symbolic [of] feelings
and attitudes. When people speak, they’re telling you who they are. If
people use the N-word or whatever word they use, they’re telling you
who they are.”
Through it all, Dr. Roberts never let anyone dictate what his future
could be.
“I never ran my life according to what other people wanted,” he
explains. “It wasn’t really a factor. They were out there and I was
aware of it. None of [what] they did could factor into that decision.”
– adam jones
