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Robert Allen: from Segregated Atlanta to UC Berkeley, a Life of Activism and African American Scholarship

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Robert Allen: from Segregated Atlanta to UC Berkeley, a Life of Activism and African American Scholarship Oral History Center University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Robert L. Allen Robert Allen: From Segregated Atlanta to UC Berkeley, A Life of Activism and African American Scholarship Interviews conducted by Todd Holmes in 2019 Special acknowledgment to the National Park Service for funding for this oral history, as well as preservation and digitization of Dr. Allen's Port Chicago oral history interviews, and Allen's Port Chicago and Civil Rights collections in partnership with The Bancroft Library. Copyright © 2020 by The Regents of the University of California Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley ii Since 1954 the Oral History Center of The Bancroft Library, formerly the Regional Oral History Office, has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Robert L. Allen dated June 5, 2019. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1,000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://ucblib.link/OHC-rights. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Robert L. Allen, “Robert Allen: From Segregated Atlanta to UC Berkeley, A Life of Activism and African American Scholarship” conducted by Todd Holmes in 2019, Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2020. Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley iii Robert Allen, 1967 Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley iv Abstract Robert L. Allen is an award-winning journalist, author, editor, and professor of African- American Studies. Born in 1942, Allen grew up in segregated Atlanta where he experienced firsthand both the harsh realities of racism and the growth of the Civil Rights Movement within the Black community. Upon his graduation from Morehouse College, he moved to New York City and began a career in journalism as the first Black reporter for the National Guardian. He became a leading voice in documenting the intersection of the Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements during the 1960s, and even helped create the anti-draft group African Americans for Survival after he formally refused his own draft notice in 1967. That same year, his reporting for the National Guardian took him to the International Peace Conference in Czechoslovakia as well as a tour of North and South Vietnam. Allen moved to San Francisco in 1968, where he earned a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, San Francisco, and transitioned from a career in journalism to one of scholarship focused on the African American experience. He served as senior editor of The Black Scholar from 1975 to 2012, a publication long-considered one of the most influential journals of Black Studies, and held professorships at San Jose State, Mills College, and the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of numerous books, most notably The Port Chicago Munity (1989), which played a significant role in the creation of the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial. In this oral history, Allen discusses growing up in segregated Atlanta; the impact of the Emmett Till murder; the rise of the Civil Rights Movement; Harlem and the Black community in New York during the 1960s; traveling to Vietnam in 1967; activism in California’s Bay Area; editorship of The Black Scholar; academic career in African American Studies; the Port of Chicago book and memorial; as well as his other books and writing projects. Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley v Table of Contents Interview 1: April 18, 2019 Hour 1 1 Birth in 1942 in Atlanta, GA — Changes in Indian culture in Georgia — Family’s lack of connection with Indian heritage — Childhood in Atlanta neighborhood Buckhead — Mother’s and grandmother’s white appearance — Grandmother’s store in Sparta, Georgia — Division between light-skinned and dark-skinned African Americans in Sparta: “colorism within the black community” — Attendance at West Mitchell Colored Methodist Church — Father’s experience as a boxer and school dropout — Father’s work as a welding trainee for Lockheed — Grandparents’ experience in illegal lottery business — Grandparents’ “acceptance into the middle-class black community in Atlanta” — Hiring of black men by US Post Office — Father’s alcoholism — Mother’s education at Spelman College — Grandfather’s disdain towards Allen’s father — Memory of hand burn as a toddler — Relationship with his father: “I always felt that I owed him something” — Effects of father’s alcoholism on their relationship — Three younger sisters: Damaris, Teresa, Rebecca — First encounters with segregation — Murder of Emmett Till Hour 2 16 Realization of the existence of white people — Lack of exposure to racial violence before Emmett Till — Civil rights demonstrations on television — Dominance of white actors in television — Exposure to the world through television and college attendance: “that was the great awakening for me” — Segregated elementary schools — First attractions towards girls — Enjoyment of school: “it was my escape from home” — Creation of the Blue Star Club — Attendance at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta — Class differences within the Atlanta black community — Grandfather as his idol and influencer in pursuit of education and community responsibility — Civil Rights Movement in Atlanta — West and East side Black communities in Atlanta — Involvement in demonstrations — Sisters’ school integration struggles after Brown v. Board — White college students during interracial demonstrations —Suburbanization in Atlanta — Slavery not discussed in southern school curriculum — Sisters’ experiences of harassment in newly-integrated high schools — Growth towards African-American population majority in Atlanta — Television content in the 1960s — Atlanta’s “veneer of progressivism” — Familial expectation of college attendance — Tensions over civil rights within Black community — White youth in the Civil Rights Movement Oral History Center, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley vi Interview 2: May 14, 2019 Hour 1 32 Mother’s graduation from Spelman College — Student at Morehouse College — Mother’s transition from ticket taker at Black theatre to switchboard operator at Atlanta University Center — Falling in love with higher education — Becoming an “avid anti- Communist” through viewing the McCarthy hearings — One of the first members of Young Americans for Freedom from the South — Realizing the root of national violence as racial segregation — Influence of Civil Rights Movement on his character development — Exposure to African-American history at Morehouse —Study abroad scholarship to University of Vienna — Developing a deeper understanding of racism and communism while in Europe — Living in a “white world in which [he was] a sort of object at the bottom of” — Visiting Moscow in February 1963 — Leaning towards left ideology — Acquisition of amateur radio license — Internship with IBM in New York — His grandfather as a paternal example — Father’s lack of involvement as a parent — Growing support for Malcom X as a “brilliant teacher” — Witnessing Malcom X’s assassination—First black journalist for the National Guardian in New York Hour 2 47 Intersection of Jewish segregation and Black segregation in New York — Move to Harlem — Segregated, self-sufficient black community in Atlanta — Exposure to white society in college — Welfare work in Harlem before becoming a journalist — Master’s degree in sociology from the New School in downtown New York — Exposure to Marxist curriculum — Draft refusal for the Vietnam War in 1967 — Family struggle with his decision — Creation of anti-draft group African-Americans for Survival — Attendance of 1967 International Peace Conference in Czechoslovakia — Visit to North and South Vietnam in 1967 — Cross-country speaking tour after experience in Vietnam — Heading the National
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