Oral history interview with Fred Battle, January 3, 2001

Fred Battle recalls growing up and attending school in segregated Chapel Hill, NC, and taking his experiences to college in Greensboro, where he participated in civil rights protests. Battle describes the pre-integration African American community as one in orbit around the all-black Lincoln High School and the church. Battle fears that these two institutions lack the character they once had: schools are losing their moral character, and churches are the most racially segregated sites in any community. Battle believes that racial progress has faltered since the 1960s and 1970s. This interview offers a useful gauge of the character of the African American community.