Interviews

Sam’s Dad, McCurtis Kelley

What do you remember about the 60’s and early 70’s?

1960’s was a time for change for African Americans. Integration was moving forward for what I like to call African American progressives. But not all African Americans wanted integration. Some were very content with the way things were and felt that there was a line drawn and they knew what side of the line they were on. They felt like integration would blur the line and that their future would hold no security for them.

·      I know you were affected by the Civil Rights Movement? What are your experiences, opinions, or recollections?
Civil Rights Movement was a brutal era. You see I was born in Birmingham Alabama where some of the most brutal attacks on African Americans occurred. In Birmingham there was a sherriff  named Bull Connor, he was either the chief of police or sherriff I don’t remember, and his tactics were to use attack dogs and fire hoses. I was too young to participate in any of the demonstrations but I do recall one of my relatives coming home bloodied and beaten after one of the freedom marches.

·      How about Vietnam?
Vietnam. There was a fear amongst African Americans that they would be drafted first to go to Vietnam. I recall in some instances where siblings were all drafted to serve in the military during this time. My own personal experience: I was drafted but the war ended before I went. I delayed being drafted for 12 months by the lineage law which simply stated that if you’re the last living descendent you could still be drafted but not sent to a war zone. This was after I had moved to LA. Eventually I was drafter but by the time my deployment date arrived, the war had ended and my services were no longer needed.

·      What are your memories about the Watergate Scandal?
When Watergate was happening I didn’t really realize how big of a deal it was. Honestly I thought that political parties spying on each other was a common occurrence. Who knew it would be the downfall of an American president?

Sam’s Mom, Marla Kelley:

·      So what were the 60’s and early 70’s like for you
I was a kid in the 60s so my memories of the 60s are also fond memories of my childhood. I remember the clothes, I had gogo boots. The music: I remember watching the beetles on the Ed Sullivan show. Everybody loved the beetles. I lived in a little suburban neighborhood in New York. I remember watching on the TV when the men landed on the moon. I remember the day president Kennedy was killed and I was the same age as Caroline. I remember the Vietnam war and that it was on the news all the time because my brother went to Vietnam but I didn’t understand it or why it was happening. Only that my parents were scared. As we rolled into the early 70’s I moved to California which was a huge life change. That was the Richard Nixon, Watergate, end of Vietnam era. I was 14. Moving to CA was definitely a culture shock.

·      What do you recall about the Civil Rights Movement?
I wasn’t really exposed to the Civil Rights movement. But there was something underlying, the way I was brought up, in which I knew which side I was on in terms of Civil Rights. It wasn’t discussed or taught but it was understood which was right and which was wrong. I didn’t come from a community with much diversity. Most of the people I grew up with in New York were Irish Catholics. When we moved to LA I was introduced to far much more diversity. I remember the first black man I saw was on the train to Washington DC when I was 8. By the time I got to LA there were far more Jewish families. In the Valley I met more Asians, more Mexicans, more African Americans. That may have been one of the biggest impacts of my move.

Sam’s Grandmother, Annette Lamedman

·      Do you remember anything about the Watergate scandal?
Watergate was Nixon. Did you know that?   Yes grandma I did. They were doing things that were not right.

·      What do you remember about the Civil Rights Movement?
Civil Rights. I read about it. I never did anything. As terrible as that sounds, it just didn’t affect me at the time. There was very much discussed in the newspaper, radio, television…It really got heated and people were trying to correct the problems. I was not very good in following the newspaper in those days, although I was aware.

·      Do you have any personal memories from the Vietnam War?
My son, your Uncle, was in the service and he had some scary experiences. I don’t know how come he never got hit. He used to take stupid chances. I was frightened because I didn’t know where it was going.

·      You used to write him letters, right?
I wrote letters to my son who was overseas, yes. It was WWII where I wrote letters to my friends…but that’s not the war I’m talking about. I was upset because I didn’t know what was going to happen overseas. I didn’t know if he was going to get killed. The kids were all so young. They were all just out of school. 18, 17, 16 even.

And then we started talking about shopping back in the day…

Chloe’s Grandfather, Jerry Laskowski

·      What was your opinion on the civil rights movement?


It was long needed, still up today it ain’t straight. They are still having problems that they had back then.

·      What do you remember about Watergate?


When the President found out that his men were sneaking into the democratic parties office to get info for him, it was against the law. He tried to bypass and ok it til he finally gave up. Then he got thrown out of office.


·      Where were you during the time of the Vietnam War?


I can’t place the years, but I remember that I didn’t have to serve anymore. It was the stupidest thing.


·      Why?


It was the stupidest thing, they called it war but they never gave our troops the ok to fight. They didn’t go in full force so they should have pulled out our troops. Same as the korean war. They did not call it a war at first, they called a “policing action,” but eventually they called it a war.


·      Recollections of 70s?


It was getting to be the end of the great years. Everybody worked, everything was going strong. Then slowly they started passing our work out to the other countries... the music was starting to slip away from my kind of music. To me, it was the end of the great days. But you see I was from a small town in bay city so I didn’t get much action otherwise than what I just told you. When rock came in, there goes the world, there goes the music...

Chloe’s Dad, Phil Deol

·      Tell me anything you remember about the 60s/70s

People had higher values for life those days. There weren’t random shootings in schools and divorce was like a bad word in the 60s. It was a much safer and better time because people meant more to each other than they do now. Gas was 25 cents a gallon for me and Cokes were a nickel. I could go to a movie theatre with 10 bottle caps and watch movies all day long!


·      Opinions on civil rights movement?


I can remember watching on TV that the women were burning their bras to show that they were equal to men. It was more for TV and a symbol than anything else though. I don’t recall much especially living in California though. However women were still protesting for equal jobs and pay.

·      Did your family vote for Nixon?

We voted for Nixon because we liked him and he was a republican.


·      What do you remember about the watergate scandal?


Men went into the democratic offices and tried to steal info but they got caught. They tried to ask Nixon if he knew anything about it and he said no, and they pushed it and pushed it and found out that he taped every recording that he ever had. They kept pushing for the tapes, and he resigned as President right around when they got the tapes. It was a bad day for America...


·      What is your recollection of the Vietnam war?


I was almost drafted into the war. I was listed as a 1A in the draft.


·      Whats that?


1A is a perfect candidate to go. Some guys were 4F, and that means something’s wrong and you are not going. The war stopped in my junior year. It was a war that we probably should not have been in. So we went into help as the ally with the south vietnamese. It was difficult to fight them because they fought in guerrilla warfare. We were used to fighting from the sky and those guys fought in the jungle.


·      Were you frightened when you figured out that you were going to go into the war?
No, but I was anxious because I was only 16 and I would go when I was 18.

·      What did you recall about the hippie movement?


Everyone was wearing peace signs and long hair and they were opposing the vietnam war. They wanted all soldiers to come back. So when the soldiers came back, because of the hippie movement, the soldiers were not considered heroes. So sad...


·      Were you friends with any hippies?


Sure, yeah! I wasn’t a hippie, but I had friends that were.


·      What was the most popular music group while you were in highschool? 

The Rolling Stones and the BeeGee’s were very popular and Steffenwolf.