The Modern Civil Rights Movennent A Study of Racism Through the Eyes of David Mitchell
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Interviewer: Daniel Khan Interviewee: David Mitchell February 10th, 2006
OH KHA 2006 Khan1 Table of Contents
Statement of Purpose 2
Interviewee Release Form 3
Biography 4
Historical Contextualization 6
Interview Transcription 13
Interview Analysis 42
Appendix 48
Audio/Video Time Indexing Log 51
Works Consulted 52 Khan 2 Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this oral history project is to better understand the origins of the
Civil Rights Movement and the experiences of an individual during the Movement through the following interviev^ w/ith Mr. David Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell was a police officer who had involvement in many aspects of the Movement, from riots, to arrests as well as the shooting of Gov. Geoige Wallace. His account explains the intensity of racism and the racial climate throughout the country. By sharing his experience, Mr. Mitchell explained the importance of the Movement and why it was a significant time in
American Histoiy. St-Andrew^'s EPISCOPAL SCHOOL
American Century Oral History Project Interviewee Release Form
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on . I understand that (student interviewer) (date)
the purpose ofthis project is to collect audio- and video-taped oral histories of first-hand memories ofa particular period or event in history as part ofa classroom project (Tiie American Cenlury Project). 1 understand that these inten'iews (tapes and transcripts) will be dc|5osited in (he Saint Andrew's Episcopal School library and archives for the use by future sludeiits, educators and researchers. Responsibility for the creation of derivative works will be at the discretion of the librarian, archivist and/or project coordinator. 1 also understand that the tapes and transcripts may be used in public presentations including, but not limited to, books, audio or video documentaries, slide-tape presentations, exhibits, articles, public performance, or presentation on the World Wide Web at the project's web site wWW.americaneenUiryproject.org or successor technologies. ]n making this contract I understand that I am sharing with St. Andrew's Episcopal School library and archives all legal title and literary property rights which 1 have or may be deemed to have in my inteniew as well as my right, title and interest in any copyright related lo this oral history interview which may be secured under the laws now or later in force and effect in the United States of America. This gift, however, does not preclude any use that I myself want to make ofthc infomiation in these transcripts and recordings. 1 herein wanant that 1 have not assigned or in any manner encumbered or impaired any of the aforementioned rights in my oral memoir. The only conditions which 1 place on this unrestricted gift are:
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8804 Postoak Road • Potomac, MD 20854 • Phone 301-983-5200 • Fax 301-983-4710 » ww^v.saes.org Khan 4 Biography
David Mitchell was born on September 17, 1950 in Allegheney Hospital in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh was an industrial city, and he learned that nearly most of the students who he attended school with, had fathers that were working in a steel mill or for a railroad. His stepfather was in the military, which was something different. His stepfather was reassigned when he was twelve years old, but he said that life was very blue collar and there was a not a substantial amount of wealth in the neighborhoods that he lived in.
At the start of the Civil Rights Movement, with the Brown vs. Board of Education trial, Mr. Mitchell lived in Pittsburgh and attended an Integrated school there. He had many experiences with racism there.
Mr. Mitchell received his police training after he graduated from Laurel High
Rchrinl in ^flan/lan/^ Mio foth-^r v^ •„ Cr^^ KA. — " -,l! then joined the Prince George's Police Department in 1971. At the Police Academy he received his basic training and attended college at night after that. In his heart, he did not know if being a police officer was what he always wanted, but he felt he should become one, because of his father. His father played a vital part in his decision to KfianS become a police officer.
Mitchell married in 2000 and had three children. He received his Social Arts
Degree and Bachelor Science Tech Degree at the University of Maryland. Throughout his life, he had many jobs including being the Superintendent of the Maryland Police from 1995-2003 and working a span of twenty four years (1971-1995) as an officer in
Prince George's County. He is currently the Secretary of Homeland Security in Dela ware. He achieved numerous accomplishments and received prestigious awards for them Including being a past Chairman of the Board of the Special Olympics of
Maryland, the former President of the Kawana's Club of Prince George's County, the
President's Award from National Conference for Communtiy Justice and he recently received a National Award from the Government and was elected the Alumnist of the
Year at the University of Maryland. He did volunteer work by working for the Delaware
Hospice, American Red Cross and an organization called C.O.P. Overall, he made a tremen-dous contribution to his community.
As a person, Mr. Mitchell is a unique individual, with a passion for books.
He is fond of history novels, including books based on World War II and Civil War history. He also has a fondess for 60s and 70s rock bands. Khan 6 A Time of Change A Look Inside the Struggles of the Civil Rights Movement
The importance of the Civil Rights Movement is misunderstood by many. While it was a time of segregation and racism, blacks were becoming more determined in their ideals and had leaders to drive their beliefs and spread them across the nation.
Many key events ted to the start of the Movement. The Modern Civil Rights Movennent actually began in 1954, with the Brown v. Board of Education decision and lasted until
1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assasinated and when President Lyndon B.
Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which outlawed the discrimination in sales, rentals, and finances of houses. Many restrictions still remained in effect on
African-Americans. It was important for blacks to have a voice in the community, and many leaders, such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks helped contribute to this. Therefore, in order to understand the perspective of someone who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, it is important to first examine the origins of the movement and the events that took place.
At the start of the Movement in 1954, with the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, blacks were striving for equal treatment. Blacks were first brought to the U.S. in 1609 by sea to Jamestown where they were sold as slaves. There is always the question as to wny DiacKs were made slaves. The Europeans saw blacks as dis similar from other people. Their skin color was the problem, since it seperated them from others. In Europe, their culture connected "Blackness with the devil, immortality and dirt" (Weber 9). In addition, they were not Christians. Throughout the 1700s, slavery was tolerated in the Britain's North American colonies. Essentially slaves were Khan 7 used to earn money and had no rights.
After the Civil War, blacks were emancipated, but it was not successful.
Reconstruction was not successful for blacks. A deadly terrorist group known as the
Ku Klux Klan was founded. They functioned throughout the South in the late 1860s and early 1870s. They took part in many lynchings and lethal crimes were committed towards blacks. The Civil Rights Act was passed on April 9th, 1866 which stated that blacks were citizens of the United States and assured them the same protection of the law as white people (Field 19). More attempts to give blacks opportunities were made, such as the Second Civil Rights Act of 1875. It was introduced by Charles Sumner and
Benjamin Butler, and was not made an official law until March 1st, 1875. It promised all people accomodations, in "inns, public conveyances on land or water, theatres, and other places of public amusement" (Boyd 20). The Freedman's Bureau was created on
March 3rd, 1965. President Andrew Johnson tried to veto it, but an additional act passed in July 1866 which gave the Bureau a final form by tolerating its existence until
1870. The Bureau's mission was to help free people, by offereing educational and medical assistance. Nearly 4,500 schools were built (Winters 5). Though the Bureau was no onger in effect in 1870 and blacks were taken away their opportunites for
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The Modern Civil Rights Movement began in 1954 as stated eariier. The
NAACP's Legal Defense Fund (LDF) was another organizaiton, apart from the
NAACP. It tried to lessen the conditions that blacks lived through by using litigation.
In the 1930s, the LDF assisted two blacks in entering all-white schools in states Khan 8 where no black law schools existed. In 1950, the LDF had vicitores in two im
portant cases that dismantled segregation in higher education. Their case was
centered around Linda Brown, who lived in Topeka, Kansas and had been com
pelled to ride a bus across town to attend an all-black school, even though there was
a white school closer to her. The Supreme Court ruled "that states must integrate their schools in order to provide equal educational opportunities to all students" (Winters 20),
The blacks were pleased with this ruling.
In 1955. another key event took place, the Montgomery Bus Boycott. On
December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested on a Montgomery Bus for sitting in the wrong section of the bus. She chose to sit in the the area that was designated for whites, and she refused to move when ordered to. This in some ways helped, since the
Montgomery NAACP chapter had longed to find a case in order to dispute the bus seg
regation laws. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was elected as the President of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). The MIA tried to fix a system of car- pools and taxis to transport blacks to their jobs and home again, and it was able to continue the boycott for a full year. Blacks no longer rode on the buses, and they re
mained largely unoccupied. On December 20th, 1956, the buses were finally inte-
moments when blacks united together to overcome oppression and fight the system.
After the boycott, in earty 1957, King and other clergymen formed the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). For many years, the SCLC helped the battle against segregation and the denial of blacks' right to vote (Currivan 45). Khan 9
Dr. King used forms of expressing freedom by the use of non-violence which was
inspinng to other blacks. A quote from an article of the time explains his use of non violence in rights protests "It is one of frustration and determination but this determina tion does not have to express itself in violence" (Currivan 46). Here, King emphasizes
his use of non-violence and its importance in negotiating issues. King was an advocate
of Gandhi and other leaders who utilized non-violent ideals. This was one of King's
most famous ideas and how he was able to inspire others to use non-violence in
America was crucial. He inspned other blacks to use words to express themselves
rather than violence which caused more bloodshed. This quote explains and shows
King's immense fondness for non-violence and the significance it played on him as a
person and leader for his people.
Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, many key events took place which demonstrated blacks fighting against white oppression. Many led to important, judicial rulings and legislations, but all played a significant role by having blacks
defend and state their ideas and ways of fighting oppressive forces. They united
them and inspired others to follow in their footsteps.
At the time of the Movement, there were many who agreed and disagreed with
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were fair and just. George Wallace, the governor of Alabama in the late 1960s has
been known as "the most influential loser in American politics" (Carter 1). He ran for
governor and President four times. George Wallace was a radical leader who fought
for segregation. "Segregation forever" was one of his memorable statements, and he Khan 10 was a strong advocate for it and garnered some support, mainly in the South. A columnist of the time and now historian Garry Willis tells of his impression of Wallace saying he had the, "dingy, attractive air of a B-movie idol, the kind who plays a handsome garage attendant.,.He comes out rubbing his hands on an invisible garage rag (most of the pit grease out of his nails), smilling and winking, Anything-l-can-do-for- you-pretty girl? His hair is still wet from careful work with comb and water in the gas station's cracked mirror" (Carter 341). Willis, who understood Wallace and his ideas comments on Wallace's image and how he tried to impress others. Though he mentions that while Wallace might have been hated in many places, he had a certain amount of charm and likability. He was widely known during 1963 when he attempted to block two African-American students from being admitted at the University of
Alabama. In 1964, he garnered much attention by entering the Wisconsin Democractic
Pnmary. though he was not very successful, as he only obtained less than five percent of the vote. Later on, in his career, he advocated for unity and abandoned his racist ideas and called for more traditional American values. In 1968, he created the
American Independent Party and received support from nearly fifteen percent of the electorate. In 1972, his political ideas had reached many: tax cuts for the middle class,
••• ' -^ -- ' -••••' -.•• --^ , --•-. : i.^u^w _ _._, . _ , political career finished at the Laural Shopping Center when a man by the name of
Arthur Herman Bremer shot him and he became paralyzed. While his career may have ended, he played a significant role in the Civil Rights Movement and essentially re shaped American politics in the 1970s and 1980s (Carter 468). Khan 11
One key event, the desegregation in June of 1963 at the University of Alabama was crucial to the Movement of Gov. George Wallace. The following is an excerpt from Gov. Wallace of Alabama to President Kennedy on May 13th, 1963.
There is no precedent for the use of federal National Military troops to enforce an
alleged agreement by unauthorized, anonymous individuals working in the secrecy without the authority of any duly consituted officials.
In my judgement your duty is to guarantee the right of this State and the City of
Birmingham to handle their own domestic affairs, and any intervention into the
affairs of this State or the City of Birmingham, whether by the use of National
Military troops or otherwise, is in direct violation of your constitutional obligation.
(Boyd 155).
The U.S. Justice Department was obstinate in allowing these students to enter, since
Wallace was determined to block them from entering the campus to register. Deputy
Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, told Wallace that he was in violation of the federal court order and requested that he step aside. Following that, the head of the state's national guard also asked him to remove himself from the entrance, and so
Wallace left the campus reluctantly. An aritcle of that time explains that Wallace made
"a lengthy statement Sunday night decrying spread of desegregated classrooms"
(Washington Post A2). Wallace still felt passionate about his ideas and still advocated racism after the University debacle, but later on, he changed his ways and advocated for integration of schools. James Hood and Vivian Malone became the first black students at the University of Alabama. The advance led to President John Kennedy's Khan 12 new civil rights bill which he sent to Congress on June 19th. This was also a week after an activist named Medgar Evers was assasinated in Mississippi. He was the NAACP executive secretary and was viciously shot in his driveway (Field 94).
Though the Civil Rights Movement had one goal in mind: to spread equality for people of all colors and unite them together, there are many different viewpoints on this significant time in history. Jerome Teelucksingh, a historian, stated that white involve ment helped the Civil Rights Movement. He said, "Without participation of whites, the
Civil Rights Movement would have seemd to benefit solely blacks and appear as exclusive of whites. Their contribution was seen in the March on Washington in which of the estimated 250,000 invovled, between 75,000 and 95,000 were whites
(Teelucksingh 2). The involvement of whites helped gain momentum for the Move ment. So the whites should be recognized for their assitance, since, there were some of them who agreed with the ideas of the Movement. It would be unfair and unjust to say that all whites were racist, since there indeed was support from them.
Overall, the Movement had a significant impact and was an important event in
U.S. History. It showed how a group of Americans could unite and fight an oppressive system and strive for equality. New laws and legislations were passed and people were
a stronger, safer and welcoming nation. Khan 13 Intetview Transcription Interviewer/Narrator: David Mitchell Interviewer: Daniel Khan Location: Mr. Mitchell's home, Centreville, MD. Date: December 31st, 2005
Daniel Khan: This is Daniel Khan and I am interviewing David Mitchell as part of the
American Century Oral History Project. The interview took place on December 31, 2005 at Mr. Mitchell's residence. So, we'll start with background information.
David Wlitchell: Okay.
DK: Where and when were you born?
DWI: I was born September 17, 1950 in Alaganity General Hospital in Pittsburgh. PA.
DK: What was like growing up in this place at that time period?
DM: Well, my first twelve years were spent there, and Pittsburgh is an industrial town/city, it was heavy in the steel industry at the time and generaly, kids I went to bui luui Will 1, puoiic scnooi witn were either, their dads were either working in the still mill or were working for a railroad. My stepdad was in the military, which was different, we got reassigned when I was twelve years old, but it was very blue collar and you know there wasn't a lot of wealth in the neighborhoods that I lived. Khan 14
DK: I see, ok, so moving on the Civil Rights Movement, so where did you live when the
Civil Rights Movement began, which was in 1954?
DIW; Hmhum.
DK: Witht the erow/7 vs. ...
DM: Board of Education.
DK: Trial.
DM: Yes, I was living in Pittsburgh and I went to an integrated school in the city of
Pittsburgh, but many Schools in the country, in the 50s were not integrated. And there was racial tension in the city, as I remember, that, for example, there was an amuse- park, and there was a swimming pool and only whites were allowed to swim there and that was challenged. And I remember when it was, I was about eight or nine years old and I remember the news about it and of course it was order integrated by the courts out tnere were definite feelings of separateness in many ways back then and Brown vs.
Board of Education, certainly was a landmark decision that called for the integration of
African-Americans and to mainstream schools. Khan 15
DK: Yea. Did your family hold any racist positions or outlooks or beliefs?
DM: Well, I jokingly say that my grandfather didn't discriminate because he hated everybody, whether you were Jewish, Polish, especially Catholic, black, white, he had an opinion about everybody. But, not so much my family, as I recall other families and when I noticed, and what I have noticed is that often times generation that are coming up, growing up adopt the racial views of their ancestors, of their parents or their grand parents and you know it's been my life's experience that that is not uncommon, especially in policing, for example I had a partner who had never seen an African-
Amencan until he was twelve years old. All he knew was is father said, "you can't trust em." Now, I'm working a majority black neighborhood with him as a police officer. I got to tell ya, that was tough, that was tough, that was tought, because people come with preconceived ideas and we're seeing certainly today but back then especially, when you knew there were separate water fountains, had to know as you know, Rosa Parks, able to give up her seat and go to the back of the bus, and so forth, so yea, there were definite views and my grandparents had them, my dad did not, excuse me, I believe because of the military. The military was intergrated after the the Second World War and I think when you fight alongside, brothers and sisters of any color that brings you
but my grandfather definitely had opinions, but he had opinions about everybody.
DK: Right, where and when did you receive your education for police training? Khan 16
DM: My education came after I graduated from Laurel High School, here in Maryland.
My dad was assigned to Fort Meade and retired there and I ended up going to Laurel
High School and graduating from there and I joined the Prince Georgia's County Police
Department in 1971 and the Police Academy was six months long, that's where I
received my foundation of training and I went to college at night after that.
DK: I see. Did you always want to be a police officer?
DM: I don't know that I always wanted to be a police officer, but I started gravitating towards that because my dad was a military police officer and he was a blue collar guy as mom was blue collared. They had not gone to college, as many in their generation did not and my dad's advice to me was you got to get a job with a pension, something's
going to give you a retirement income and I had several friends that joined the police department and that influenced me as well.
DK: So, that inspired you to become a police officer?
uiwi. UN ytja, on sure, yea aermite intiuence trom my dad and friends of mine that joined.
DK: As we know, there was corruption in the police department, as by 1970, there was
no urban police force, as blacks constituted about 10% of the police force. Khan 17
DM: If that.
DK: Yea, and Irish, Italians and Eastern Europeans, were usually police and they held racist outlooks.
DM: Oh yes, well if you look at the first police department in the United States, which is
Boston, and if you look at New York City, it use to be, if you weren't Irish, you weren't getting a job and if you were lucky enough to get on the job and you weren't Irish, you weren't going to make a lot of rank, but Unions were that way to. Unions were strongly dominated by ethnic groups and you had to know somebody. Somebody had to vouch for you to get in the Union, if you were going to work in a still mill or you know __+, I had mine workers, because those jobs by Union wage were paying pretty good money. But you're exactly right, the make up of the Institution, definitely forms a position on integration of any ethnic group, that's not a part of but is a part from, especially African-
Americans. In my class, there were forty-five, no women, no African-Americans, all white males.
wix. I o"^".:;, ow, ail u no OUM Ufjuui i I idfJjJCl IN ly, WUUIU yuu tocfy Lllctl. UtJIIiy H pUtHJtJ UlllUfcJI was that a popular job at that time?
DM: Nope, heck no. It wasn't popular at all, because of several things. One, there was tremendous unrest in the country at the time, beginning with feelings of disenfranchise- Khan 18 ment by Afncan-Americans, who challenged the system, through Brown and other cases and through civil disobedience, being led particularly by Dr. Martin Luther King, who did not advocate violence in any stretch of the form, but would advocate peaceful d demonstration and of course the police, often times were the tool on behalf of the sys tem to put people in their place or to disperse a gathering of whatever the case may be or in the case of, for example in Alabama, George Wallace, using the police state troopers as well as the National Guard to keeps blacks out of their colleges, same thing in Arkansas and so, yea policing was not very popular, in fact if you had short hair back then, you were either a cop or you were in the military and neither one of them was good. Cause you remember Vietnam was going on back then.
DK: Right, assuming with all the corruption and the riots, was this a difficult job, did it cause problems with relations with your family?
DM: It was awkward, not so much with my family but with my friends. Friends who were not police officers, grew distant and I probably helped that. I tended to have friends who were only in police work or in the military, because a lot of my friends went on to uv.iwjj<.^ uii>^ is^i^vjiiiM^ utit\A <^«-> ix-dLii C1IIU Ul IC cAciiii^tc lo Lircii I VVC10 Ol il le UMivtiiZJuy ui
Maryland/College Park and there was a demonstration which turned into a minor riot. And all these, we referred to them at the times as "hippies," all these hippies, long-haired guys, a group of them and this one guys said, "Let's get some rocks and hit the pigs," that's what they called police back then. And the nng leader of this group, Khan 19 was a guy I went to high school with and so I walked up to him and I raised the visor on
my helmet, cause I was wearing a fide helmet and I looked I him and he looked at me
and he said, Dave and his name was Dave and I said, "Yea," and he said "It's me
Dave," and he's shaking my hand. So, all these hippies are looking like why are you
shaking this cop's hand? And, I'm going, "wait a minute Dave, you gonna hit me with some rocks?" And he says, "No man I wouldn't hit you with a rock." So, it showed that once we knew each other, that there was no hostility. The police were symbols of authority and yeah, people acted out against us and of course it's hard to not take
it personal if somebody's hitting you with a rock
DK: I see, do you regret becoming a police officer?
DM: Oh no, no I don't regret that at all. You know it's taken a toll in many ways, but it's been far more rewarding. The benefits far exceed the cost and I don't regret being a
police officer or being in my line of work whatsoever. It's my vocation, it's not some thing I do, it's a way I live and especially today with homeland security and as a country
at war, I feel as though I'm doing my part to help keep our states and our community
DK: AInght, that's good. Well, being a police officer has a to be a stressful job.
DM: Very much so. Khan 20
DK: So how were you able to relieve some of these stresses as being a police officer?
DM: Well, I didn't do very good at that first to be honest with you. I was twenty-two
years old and a rookie police officer when another officer who 1 worked with everyday
was murdered and the police department was not very sophisticated back then as most
were not. So I went through this big gun fight and this officer was killed and I was back to work the next day. You know you weren't put off, on administrative leave or these was no psychological services unit or a special team that came out to help deal with
post-tramatic stress and all that. Nobody knew about post-tramatic stress back then,
and I didn't handle that very well and I had bad dreams about it and then I was involved
in several shootings where 1 used deadly force against people who were using deadly
force and I didn't handle that very well and it wasn't until the police department brought
on board a police psychologist and he was giving in service training and I found out that
it was very common to have bad dreams after traumatic incidents and so forth. You
have a tendency sometimes to doubt yourself but you don't want to bring it to the
department's attention, because they might think you're weird. So you don't say much
and you kind of suffer in silence. We're much more sophisticated today and I helped
...ww^ f^v^jv„,v/.«yi*.^wi ov^i «iv^*j ^oiiici uiiiio III riiiit-c oeuiyict a ouuiiiy anu i nave a
lot to do with PTSD today supporting troops who have been through traumatic
experiences.
DK: That's good, moving on to your friends. Khan 21
DM: Umhum.
DK: So, being a police officer, did you friends hold any racist viewpoints or outlooks during this Movement?
DM: Other police officers yes, but I had seen rookie officers bring that with them to an extent. But the areas that I worked were predominantly African-American, you just couldn't hold that view and survive, you know. And gradually you'd see that view pretty much diminish and a lot of prejudice comes from ignorance and it comes not having the ability to get to know people who are different, different color, different gender, different ethnicity of across the border and that ignorance brings with it stereotypes and there are people who wear badges and guns that have stereotypes and it's not good, it's not healthy. All of us have life's experiences and preconceived notions when we're hired, the question is are we able to deal with that in a fair and equitable way as we enforce the law and that's the real question and some of us handle that differently than others, but yeah I've seen police officers that had stereotypical views, towards women in policing. Oh my God, when the first women came into policing, I sure heard the uproar,
-_-1 i ...- J . j«—1 ^iMi I, i.^n-.i., tj%\^t %. i^t^ jrww i\i luvv Ii vvcto t-\\\ loai i-rMi ici iL»ai i, yUU know, men, women, whatever the case may be, yeah they're definite stereotypes and so forth.
DK: So, the Civil Rights Movement being a pretty significant penod in American history. Khan 22
DM: Oh, no question.
DK: What were some of your fondest/biggest memories of that time?
DM: Well, certainly before, There are certain benchmarks in my lifetime that I recall, before being a police officer. One of them was the Watts Riot in Los Angeles
[interrupted by son calling] and Watts was pnmarily an African-American community.
There was a clash with the police that turned into a riot and it was a loss of life and there was a lot of press reporting, that was around 1965-66 and then of course the shooting..
DK: Gov. Wallace?
DM: Well, yea that came later but the shooting of Martin Luther King in 1968, the shooting of Robert Kennedy and then May 15, 1972, I was there when George Wallace was shot in the Laurel Shopping Center and Gov. Wallace was, heck, when he was introduced, thev would alwavs niau "niYip" ae his hpinn intrnHi ICPH AnH niviP anH nf course the rebel flag, "Stars and Bars" as it's called is symbolic in the African-American community, as a symbol of slavery and so forth. So there was a lot of racial tension about him running for President and so forth, despite the fact that it was a white guy that shot him, who's still serving time here in Maryland, but yeah that was certainly a Khan 23 moment when busing came out through the Supreme Court decision to integrate schools that was the police were used to enforce "busing" so here again you could have your own preconceived ideas as is what's fair, what's right, whatever and yet you have to enforce the law and a Supreme Court interprets the law for us to enforce. So there was benchmarks I recall very vividly.
DK: Umhmm, the Civil Rights Movement, did you agree with the goals and ideals of the
Movement?
DM: Yes, absolutely, fair and equitable treatment for all, regardless of color or creed or religion and our Constitution makes that very clear that all men are created equal and tragically throughout history that's been interpreted different ways than it is today, but yeah I agreed with the goals and objectives and I saw it. I lived it because I could see that if people of color or anybody for that matter, a group of people are held back and not given the same opportunities as others, that there's going to be a consequence for that and it's gonna be lost opportunities, education that they could've had that they don't get. Jobs that they can't get because they didn't get the education and it's a cycle and
DK: Right, did you, well this sort of ties into that question, assuming that you agree with them, you must have appreciated the ideas and beliefs of the Movement at that time? Khan 24
DM: Yes.
DK: And they made sense to you of course?
DM: Yes they did, actually working the street when I was, the officer that worked the
patrol beat next to mine was Afncan-American. You know, those quiet moments, when there's not much going on and you meet together, usually you call it "bumper to tail
pipe" and we're talking to one another. We get into discussions about the Civil Rights
Movement and so forth and it was not easy for this man to be an African-American
wearing a badge and a gun, I mean it was almost as though he was a traitor, how could
you be a cop and so forth and it was very difficult for him. We were viewed as symbols
of authority, "the man" if you will, but yeah I definitely agreed with the goals and objec tives, what I did not agree with was the use of violence to achieve it.
DK: Rights, that ties into another question, which goes with Malcolm X's beliefs that
violence should be used against whites.
ih^iBi. I Kfai
DK: So, as a leader, you didn't agree with his views? Khan 25 DM: No, not as early. He changed his views, which I think led to his death, because Elijah Mohammed was with the Movement at the time, I think Malcolm was espousing the viewpoints of the nation of Islam and after he left the United States and he went abroad and he found that in_fact blacks and whites could live together, could work together and he came back to the United States and starting preaching that. Obviously, that was contrary to what he had been teaching and I think that's in part why several Muslim brothers shot him in the Audubon Theatre, if you studied that piece of history, But he was not the only one espousing violence, I mean Malcolm was just one, there others in the Black Panther party, and Huey Newton and others sang "Violence is as American as apple pie," that was a very famous quote from back then and there were those who honestly believed, the only way we're going to get our rights is to take them by force and of course police aren't going to let you do that, I mean you know, no matter what color the police are we can't let people just take the law into their own hands. There were also issues, shootouts with police by members of the Black Panther party, not only in California but particularly in New York City and there was a period in time during the Civil Rights Movement, cops were being killed because they're cops. They were being shot, with no provocation whatsoever and members of the Black Panther party were doing that. This certainly brought a lot of hostility on behalf of police officers towards members of that group, so no the advocation of violence to achieve means didn't go over well, but Malcolm was iust one of manv but he did rpnnnnrp hie X/IAWC toward the end of his life and tragically I think that helped contribute to his demise.
DK: Yeah, in the Civil Rights Movement, what moments did you participate in or have in involvement, such as riots, those type of things? Khan 26 DM: Well, I was not part of the police department in 1968 when the riots occurred in Washington, but I can tell you that in Prince Georgia's County, the Police Department, which was all white was given orders that if anybody loots or burns anything in Prince George's County shoot and kill them. Well, Prince George's County Police Department is known for being pretty tough anyway, nothing was looted or burned, that's for sure because the troops were lining either eastem and southern avenues and all the looting and burning occurred in the District. I was not part of that, but I was part of the after math several years later, because those feelings were still fresh in terms of police and so forth. As I went on in rank, there was a benchmark in the history of the county police, where a young African-American, young man, fifteen years old, Terrence Johnson, shot and killed two, white Prince Georgia's County police officers in the police station with their gun. Now this brought a lot of hostility, Terrence said, well they were beating me, so I shot them, and the police department had a reputation for brutality and there were those in the community that believed Terrence was defending himself. The facts don't bear that out, the facts bear out that maybe Terrence was afraid, but he was not being beaten of anything of this sort when he grabbed one officer's gun and shot and killed him and his partner, I was a sergeant at the time, and during the trial in upper Marlboro, I had a squad of troops that worked that trial because there were so many demonstrations, demonstrating against the police. So, I vividly remember seeing
which as time went on, I eventually became Chief of Police, I marched in Martin Luther King Day parades, goodness, community marches, often times, I'd be in an African- American church I'm the only white guy there, you know white person there and I have to say I didn't feel any discomfort because I have lived this life in Prince George's Khan 27 County and was very accustomed to working in communities of color. So, I saw a transformation, if you will, from not liking the police to working with the police to eradicate crack, the crack wars that go with it, young men dying and so forth, so I kind of saw the whole 360 view.
DK: Right, then moving on to the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. What were you impressions after those assassinations took place?
DM: [sighs] With, Dr. King, I remembered being afraid, I was in high school, because I think there was a sense that this white guy, James Earl Ray shot and killed the leader of the Civil Rights Movement, there's going to be some violence, somewhere over this.
DK: Right
DM: And injact it happened, as much as Reverend King espoused the doctnne of peaceful demonstration, there was violence none the less. Malcolm was not seen as, from my view, was not held in the same stature as Martin Luther King. He was killed before, in I think 1966, and was more affiliated with the nation of Islam. Dr. King was more affiliated with the Baptist Church as a preacher. So, I think the reaction was
Malcolm X wrote and said that I realized toward the end of his life, he was not espousing violence. He was not.
DK: Right. Khan 28 DM: And again, tragically, I think that helped lead to his demise and of course Dr. King did not advocate violence whatsoever, civil disobedience yes, yes he would go sit at a lunch counter and be arrested and I had friends of mine that did the same thing. The President of the NAACP in Prince Georgia's County, Cora Rice, she testified in favor of my nomination as Chief of police as matter of fact, but she told me about going to College Park to Albrecht's pharmacy, which was a drug store, going to the lunch counter, sitting down and getting locked up. She told me about going to Bowie to buy a _+, being told you can't buy a _+ because you're black, refusing to leave and getting arrested. You know, I've known folks and have listened to those stories and certainly always remembered those listens learned, but that was all part of that Movement that frankly I lived through.
DK: After these assassinations, would you say there was a huge uprising in the black community?
DM: Oh yea, oh yeah. Again with Dr. King, without a doubt. It was viewed as a racial incident, now Malcolm was shot by two Muslim brothers who are of color, and again Malcolm's view was parallel with the nation of Islam and Elijah Mohammed and others. In contrast, Dr. King, you see his picture with Lyndon Johnson, you see his picture with
shooting, you have this white guy James Earl Ray, who gave every indication, just came across as this redneck, snipping, assasinating, with a high powered rifle, a man just standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel Memphis, boom there he goes, he's shot and killed. There absolutely was a violent reaction in many cities, because I think Khan 29 of anger, I think people saw their hopes and dreams die along with Martin Luther King and yeah there was a violent reaction to that. There were many lives lost in many cities, particularly here in the East Coast.
DK: Oh I see, now moving on to the Wallace shooting.
DM: Hmhm,
DK: What would you say the racial climate was like in Alabama?
DM: The racial climate was still tense, I mean, here you got Wallace running on basically on the Civil Rights platform, this was before he had this metamorphosis and changed into someone that promoted Civil Rights, which he did toward the end of his life. But he was viewed as a segregationist and in fact one of his many quotes was, "Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever," and that's what kept him in office as the governor and the stars and bars were flying proud in Alabama. When he ran for President and he had Curtis LeMay as his running mate, he came to Laurel Shopping Center, here in Maryland and the crowd, you didn't see any Afncan- Americans there, nobody was going to vote for Wallace, you kind of know what George that these were folks that believed in segregation and believed in racist policies, al though George was trying to get everybody's vote at the time. But in 1972, in his home state of Alabama, there's no question that the racial tension existed. It existed far more in the United States in 1972 than it does today, especially in Alabama, especially in the Khan 30 deep south.
DK: You didn't actually live in Alabama, did you just travel through there or..?
DM: No, I traveled through there, and I knew people from Alabama, but I was maybe fifty feet from Wallace when he was shot. He had just finished his speech and was working what we call a "rope line," shaking hands and I had seen Arthur Bremer, who had shot him, I saw him in the crowd earlier, wearing all these Wallace for President campaign buttons.
DK: Right.
DM: And he had this little, funny grin on his face, a blonde haired guy, sunglasses, all these Wallace buttons, he wanted to sell me a button. And that hand's up pulling out this .38, and shooting Wallace, five shots, in_fact one of the shots hit a Secret Service agent in the throat and I remember the five shots. It was over and done in 1.9 seconds, because I've seen the film and the Secret Service timed how long it took and it was 1.9 seconds and it was over. And he carried, by the way, in that, Nixon won that year, but in the primary Wallace carried the state of Maryland in the pnmary. The pnmary vote
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DK: Back to the shooting, how did you end up at the event of the shooting of Gov. Wallace where he was shot? Were you just at Laurel Center? Khan 31 DM: Laurel Shopping Center. I was actually off duty, and I was standing there talking to Steve Watkins who's now a Chief of Police but at the time was an undercover officer at the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. We both to Laurel High School, he was a year behind me and we were both at the shopping center and it just happened. Wal lace is giving a speech, so we just stood there and listened while he gave this speech in the middle of the shopping center and the crowd was maybe seventy-five to a hundred people, it wasn't like there were thousands there or anything and then we heard the shots ring out and we weren't sure what it was at first, then we heard a woman scream and that was probably Mrs. Wallace and ran o^jer and I took my badge out, pinned it on to my jacket and helped apprehend Arthur Bremer, who was the shooter and that's how it happened. May 15, 1972.
DK: Did you have impressions that day?
DM: Crazy, man. Pandemonium, I mean the whole thing was crazy. I was a rookie police officer, I had never been around a shooting before, that's the first time I ever heard shots fired in public, I had never heard that until then. You know, when you go through the Police Academy, it's different today, but at the time you went through the Police Academy, every time you shot the gun, you were weanng ear protection, these Mickev Mouse ears. WPII a nistnl «thot RniinHc; Hiffprpnt w/ith par nrntprtinn ni-> than it does without it. With ear protection, it's more of a deeper thud and without the ear protection it's like a high pitched crack. So when you hear, crack, crack, crack, like that, sometimes there's a tendency, I know that sound now, but a lot of folks think it's firecrackers, well it's not, it's gunfire. So, I distinctly remember that, I remember the Khan 32 pandemonium afterwards, the crowd was trying to get hold of Bremer. They were trying to pull the police, they were trying to get Bremer away from the police. They weren't trying to hurt the police, as much as they were trying to kill Bremer. These were all Wallace supporters and here's this guy that just shot their man, they were about killing him. In the pandemonium, the cruiser keys fell all over the place and we got over to one of the County Police cars there and nobody could find the keys to it. We couldn't find the keys because in the melee rolling around with Arthur Bremer and trying to get people off our backs and all that. The keys to the police cars fell on the ground, because most cops don't keep them in their pocket, they keep it in their gun belt where they can grab them in a hurry and so it ended up here comes this Maryland State trooper pulling into the shopping center, we wave hey man over here, he pull up and it looks like about sixty guys are trying to get into this cruiser with Arthur Bremer and that told him take off, and he took off. Another thing I remember about that time, distinctly was after we got Bremer out of there. I remember a guy, a man holding up a canister of film, as in a reel of film, you know like television reel or movie reel, holding it up saying, I'll pay a hundred dollars to whoever will take me to Washington, D.C. nght now. Well, I remember thinking, man my rent is only $98.50 a month, that's a month rent, well he was a news man and this was back before satellite trucks, so he had to get to D.C. to develop the film, to show it on TV and I distinctly remember that as opposed to todav. where vou have instant news.
DK: So, your feelings that day were...?
DM: Just incredible, you know. As a rookie police officer, you know gee whiz, I had no Khan 33 idea I was going to be off duty involved in this, of course I was carrying a gun and a badge, because when you're off duty you do. At first, the uniformed officers that were assigned to that event, they didn't know who I was and then they saw my badge and they knew that I was a member of the Department and it was okay, but I was in rare clothes. But, just the whole thing was chaotic, people screaming, people running everywhere, people trying to get hold of Bremer and me, pulling people off of police officers, you know, police are trying to get the handcuffs on Bremer, the shooter. Wallace supporters are trying to get the guns away from the police, not to hurt the police but to shoot Bremer, to shoot the guy that just shot their man, so I'm trying to get them away and just the whole thing was incredible. Of course, the news was front page everywhere that George Wallace was shot and you know, who was this guy that shot him and why did he do it. Actually he turned out to have stalked Richard Nixon, but he couldn't get close enough so he decided to shoot Wallace instead. So it was just one those things that you experience, when you're twenty-one years old, is I can't believe I was there.
DK: Pnor to the shooting, as you know Wallace was pretty radical.
DM: Veiy, oh very.
DK: Yeah, as in 63, when he sat in front of the University of Alabama blocking two students from registering.
DM: Oh yeah, you look up racist in the dictionary, you're going to see George's picture. Khan 34 DK: Right [laughs]
DM: He's proud of it.
DK: So, since you were in support of the Movement, you didn't agree with his ideas or goals?
DM: Oh, heck no. I knew he was loser, it's a loser. First of all, i went to integrated schools and I couldn't, it was a little more difficult for me to fathom what the problem is, because I only knew an integrated school. So, I didn't have the experience of being in an all-white school, thinking, okay, we're going to admit Afncan-Americans now or whatever the case is you know. So, you know, I didn't agree with his views, and I always thought he was odd and it was just viewed as a racist redneck. He had just, at the time in my mind, symbolized a movement that was unacceptable and way out. You're asking for violence, you know, you affiliate this whole movement that George Wallace symbolized, I mean you think of the Ku Klux Klan, you think of lynchings, you think of all kinds of crazy people, vigilantism, and my God, you know that man I think is crazy.
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» DM: I think people were surprised to find out a white guy shot him, you know. J ) ) DK: Right. J Khan 35 DM: And I say that because a number of people said aftenwards, was he espousing racist views and somebody got mad and shot him? That wasn't what happened, but actually a yeah the whole thing was goofy.
DK: After the shooting, he was paralyzed in the legs?
DM: Yep, wheelchair bound.
DK: So, did you feel any sympathy for him or did you still feel the same way about him?
DM: Well, you know, 1 certainly didn't wish that Gov. Wallace would be shot and I didn't agree with his views, but you know that's one of the things about America, the United States, we can stand up and disagree. All speech isn't free, a lot of people make the mistake of thinking that all speech is free, there are some costs with some speech, for example you can't yell fire in a crowded theatre when there's no fire, obviously. So, not all speech is free, but to be able to speak freely about your viewpoints on religion or race, that is very fundamental in our constitution and you may not like what you're hear ing but people have a right to say it and you as an American have a right to vote against that thrrM tnh ni tl- Kollrvt r\rr\r*/^e*e^ Cr\ uniK I r\( r-ot ir^y-\ I rJii-Jt-i'+mir'Wi Uirv-. r^ny t i)\ inill I ^"i- tainly didn't think he was going to become President, of course he didn't even win the Democratic nomination, although he did get a strong sympathy vote after being shot.
DK: Right, many historians and politicians have called Wallace the "most influential Khan 36 loser in American politics," do you agree with that statement or do you say its accurate?
DM: [laughs] Loser meaning he lost the Presidential election, in that context, yeah I certainly agree that he had a great influence along with Lester Maddox and other white, male, southern elected officials who had racist view points and platforms. Strom Thur mond , for years, years, espoused, and promoted policies of segregation and so forth, and as you know, he lived to be a hundred and died as a Senator, with a different view point, I found out he had fathered a child with as a matter of fact, a African-American woman. Toward the end, Gov. Wallace, promoted Civil Rights, he changed drastically and had to in order for him to say in office because the population had shifted and there were so many African-Americans there that you weren't going to get elected if you didn't have the African-Amencan vote and so he had a choice, either keep the viewpoint and not get elected or change and get elected, now what he held in his heart of hearts, I don't know, but he definitely had a strong influence on this country and he is a major figure in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
DK: Dunng his time as governor, would you say he was a popular figure?
DM: Oh hey, oh yeah. Yeah man, he was, I mean, yeah he was popular, he was nnm I lor fnr ia*/irjr>ih/-irt*/ »«ih*-v U-^/J ^ ^^^f-^^rtr"*^ fl«~ \ ^^~, 4.~ir .,-.. *u^i i ... — . :.--» associated George Wallace with certain movements, that were against the Civil Rights Movement. Yeah, but you'd see him at rallies, and there's film footage of him at rallies were people are giving him standing ovations and so forth and what not and it is you know it's a white crowd for sure, predominantly white male and white women. But folks Khan 37 who are raised to believe that you know, we need to have a separate society and he espoused that and yeah he was very popular. Obviously he got elected.
DK: Right, eartier we were talking about radical leaders, who would you say were other radical leaders of the Civil Rights Movement?
DM: Well, there were several. After, Martin Luther King was assassinated, Jesse Jackson was viewed by some as being radical. Marion Berry was seen as being radical, and 1 have to point out that Randy Davis was a white male, and he was seen as being very radical as a hippie too. So there are a number of radical speat DK: As you say eartier, you agreed with Martin Luther King's philosophy of non violence. DM: Precisely. Khan 38 DK: And in his speeches, DM: Oh yeah, oh if you look, the strategy was brilliant. If you look at the strategy, which is used today, economic power, that's exactly what Rosa Parks demonstrated, I'm not going to give my seat, and we will boycott the buses. We the Afncan-American com munity, now you're going to start hurting people in their pocketbook, now when you start hurting people in the pocketbook, they're going to pay attention and African-Americans had strong economic power. They had the nght and the decision, whether or not to patronize a transit system and they chose not to and demonstration of the arrest of Rosa Parks and it was done very successfully. Not everybody was happy about, of course those in the Civil Rights Movement saw that was a major victory and that's why Mrs. Parks is held up with such high honor and esteem today for her courage. Yeah, I remember back then, people were killed for this, they were killed for less than this and it won't just Afncan-Americans, if you look at any of the pictures of the Civil Rights Move ment, you see a lot of white people there. There were Civil Rights workers, young people, white kids, men in particular working in the Movement and if you pulled over and you were in a car with a couple of African-Americans, you got killed too, they didn't care. They had racist sons and sheriffs, it was horrible. So for Mrs. Parks to do what she did, she got death threats, and of course Martin Luther King got death threats all courage. DK: In closing, this is sort of a hard question to answer I guess, but what would you tell a high school student is the most important thing to know about the Civil Rights Move- Khan 39 ment? DM: Well first of all, that it happened. DK: Right DM: It's not a part of the history of America or the United States that we can say we're proud of in the way that we considered African-Americans to be less than equal and in fact the Supreme Court still held that in a number of cases, and that there was an enormous price to pay in the Civil Rights Movement for progress to be made, for African-Amencans to be accepted as equal and to have a seat at the table in decision making, at the seat of power and that price in many cases was death. So, I think that we need to remember that and heck, it goes back years, look at the Civil War, which was in part over segregation. Years and years, decades and decades, we need to be aware of that. We need to be aware that these are still today very sensitive issues and we need to learn from our history so we don't repeat it. DK: Looking back, how do you feel about your police service and experiences and what DM: Now that is a tough question. Its made me a better person in that I can appreciate the opportunities that were given to me and it's been a lesson that hard work pays divi dends and that education is not an end in itself, its a means to an end. I would not be Khan 40 where I'm at today, I would not have sen/ed as a chief of police or secretary of state police in the cabinet for Gov. Glendening or as the Secretary of Homeland Security for Gov. Mtnner, in those cabinets if it were not for my education, so education isn't an end in itself, it's also a means to an end. DK: I see, so this was a pretty significant part of your life? DM: Oh yeah, sure. Absolutely, still is, it's who I am. DK: And finally, is there anything I forgot to ask you that would be important to know to understand your expenences as a police officer? DM: Well, I'll end on this one note though. I took a class one time at the University of Maryland. At night on campus and its called the "Psychology of Women," and it was an elective and so I took this class called "Psychology of Women" and I'm sitting in class on my first day and I usually sat in the back of the classroom because of my eye sight, and you know other students are coming in and so forth and what not and I'm looking through the book and the professor comes in, a female professor and at the time for her class to begin, she starts by looking up straight at me and she said, "A man," and I wasn't that big and I looked around and then I realized I'm the only guy in this class and then she went on to say, "I hope you'll say, most don't," and I kind of chuckled, there's no way I'm leaving now, you said that. But I've always remembered that moment for this reason, for the first time in my life, I felt what a female police officer feels just about Khan 41 every time she walks into a squad room and comes to work for role call or an African- American walking into an all white situation and I've never forgotten that, that moment, and I've learned from it, learned from it. DK: I see, so that'll be all. So thank you. DM: Well, thanks Daniel. DK: So thank you Mr. Mitchell, and if I have any further questions, may I contact you? DM: I smell an A on this project. Thank you. DK: Alright thank you. Khan 42 Interview Analysis "And gradually you'd see that view pretty mucli diminisli and a lot prejudice cornes from igtiorance and it cotnes not having tlie ability to get to know people who are different, different color, differetit gender, differetit ethnicity of across the border and that ignorance britigs with it stereotypes and there are people who wear badges atid guns that have stereotypes and it's not good, it's not healthy. All of us have life's experiences and preconceived notions when we're hired, the question is are we able to deal with that in a fair and equitable way as we en force the law and that's the real question and sotne of us hatidle that differently than others." (David Mitchell 6). All people carry certain ideals and beliefs, what the concern is. whether they can use their beliefs in fair ways without hurting others, but everyone has a different way of handling their notions or thoughts. As Mr. Mitchell stated, during the Civil Rights Movement, there was a great deal of ignorance and people were not aware of what they were doing. Racism was common and accepted by many, because people did not realize what was was happening, because they did not see it from the perspective of those who were affected by it. David Mitchell, being a police officer was T conflict to this day. Mr. Mitchell saw racism through his very eyes each day, he saw \ violence being committed. He witnessed the shooting of Gov. Wallace, a key figure during that time penod. He experienced the fear and pressures of being a cop and Khan 43 knowing people personally who held racist beliefs. His expenences tell of time unlike today's, a harrowing and emotional period called the Modern Civil Rights Movement "Memory is the core of oral history, form which meaning can be extracted and preserved. Simply put, oral history collects memoires and persona! commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews" (Ritchie 1). In other words, history can have a huge significance, but in terms of oral history, memory plays a key role. Oral history is a way of expressing events through the experiences of a person in the form of an interview. This can be incredibly useful since it offers a first-hand account of the events that occured as well as vivid details that are difficult to find in a textbook or other source. Through memory, the stoiy be told in its complete form, in order for it to be told to other people and play a key factor by contributing to the ever growing information of history. With oral history, another perspective is given that is different from that offered in a textbook, which is a more common and traditional source to use and locate. Interviews offer a person a much greater and deeper experi ence and they also allow for another view or opinion. Of course, depending on the memory of the interviewee, their presentation of the facts can occasionally be skewed or inaccurate. One must be cautious when creating an interview and use valued 1^ hi i^ Throughout the interview, Mr. Mitchell recalled his service as a police officer during the latter half of the Civil Rights Movement He recalled some striking memories of when he viewed racism through his very eyes and the impact that it had on him. Being a police officer was a difficult job then, nor was it a common job for people. Khan 44 "Nope, heck no. It wasn't popular at all, because of several things. One, there was tremendous unrest in the country at the time, beginning with feelings of disenfran- chisement by African-Americans, who challenged the system, through Brown and other cases" (Mitchell 4). The job of being a police offficer was a not a common one for the obvious reasons, of the stress and hardships of seeing racism everyday. The idea of having to kill someone brought about some anxiety. In being a police officer, Mr, Mitchell realized these problems and tried to find ways to battle these stresses and emotional difficulties. At first, it was hard for him, but eventually he found a way to help ease the problem. "Well, I didn't do very good at first to be honest with you. I was twenty-two years old and a rookie police officer when another officer who I worked with everyday was murdered and the police department was not very sophisticated back then as most were not. Nobody knew about post-dramatic stress back then, and I didn't handle that veiy well and I had bad dreams about it and then I was in volved in several shootings. It wasn't until the police department brought on board a police psychologist and he was giving in service training and I found out that it was very common to have bad dreams after traumatic incidents and so \ ^ that Mr. Mitchell and his other fellow police officers did and went through. They did a \ service to their county and it was not easy to do nor was it popular. In terms of racism, Mr. Mitchell saw it continuously. It was not something that could be shaken off easily or easily forgotten. He had to deal with racism even in his Khan 45 department, since there were other officers who shared racist beliefs. "Other police officers yes, but I had seen rookie officers bring that with them to an extent, but yeah I've seen police officers that had stereotypical views" (Mitchell 6). The Civil Rights Movement brought a time of much unrest in the United States, which was to be expected. There were numerous riots, marches and boycotts that took place dunng the Movement. Mr. Mitchell shared some fond memories that stuck with him. "Well, certainly before. There are certain benchmarks in my lifetime that I recall, before being a police officer. One of them was the Watts Riot in Los Angeles which was primarily an African-Amencan community. There was a clash with the police that turned into a not and it was a loss of life and there was a lot of press reporting, that was around 1965 and then of course the shooting...of Martin Luther King in 1968, the shooting of Robert Kennedy and then May 15, 1972. I was there when George Wallace was shot in the Laurel Shopping Center" (Mitchell 6). Many important incidents were seen by Mr. Mitchell, including the shooting of Mr. Wallace, which he recalls vividly, since he was only fifty or so feet from where he was shot. As he put it, the day was "Crazy, man. Pandemo nium, I mean the whole thing was crazy. I was a rookie police officer, I had never been around a shooting before, that's the first time I ever heard shots fired in public, I had never heard that until then" (Mitchell 11). When looking back through the eyes of a police officer and how he viewed the Movement, one can only imagine the feelings, stress and anguish he went through. His Khan 46 look at the Movement offers a neat perspective which is valuable, because not every one can say that they witnessed the shooting of Gov. Wallace. While, it may be as sumed what that must have been like, it can never quite be fully captured unless it is told by someone who has experienced it. One also can savor a personal opinion on what Mr. Mitchell felt of Wallace's viewpoints. Through the interview one can understand a certain type of experience that explains to us of what Mr. Wallace was like. His de~meanor and the way he presented himself before speeches and how the crowds either roared in excitement or bellowed in rage. In terms of how it compares to a textbook source, it is a very different type of look on the Civil Rights Movement and its causes and effects. Mr. Mitchell shared his experiences and its impact on him. Overall, the interview was well focused and inter active. It led to some interesting questions and responses and provided good information that would be difficult to locate in a textbook. The interview provided an inside look at a police officer's job near the end of the Civil Rights Movement and the chaos that he witnessed. Some details, which were not offered in the interview, but in the research paper could have been helpful. In the contextualization, more facts were covered, such as the March on Washington in August of 1963. Also, Acts which were — — f~^f the interview offered a greater look on personal expenences as it was supposed to. Some additional follow-up questions could have been useful. The Oral History Project, as long and arduous a project as it has been, has offered much valuable information for me. The interview process has been new to me Khan 47 and informed me about proper ways to conduct an interview. The process of creating questions, including follow-ups was a challenge and I hope to become better at that in the near future. The experience was what mattered most. Though, the interview allowed me to hear a part of someone's life, a part which changed them emotionally, and some thing that will never leave them. The sense of trust and faith was immense and the task of completing it was also huge. Whatever the case may be, I learned a lot, and I have taken something from this project, which other projects have not offered me.This inter-view enabled to me to have a person's story be told, whether it be to the world or otherstudents, it was important and it mattered greatly. Their story shall be carried on to others, so they can learn of the immense courage and strength that Mr. Mitchell displayed in his life. Appendices Khan 48 www.archives.gov Images of the March on Washintgon, which took place on August 28th. 1963. www.edbalisla.coni Appendex 2 Khan 49 V 1II m 1' L- IJ 11> i> I 1) i I c 11 I) C (} t Geroge Wallace ran for President four times and was Governor of Alabama four times. He is known as "the most influential loser in American politics" (Carter 1). 1) www.miiheniichisioiy. 2) u u u. vimauedepotdirccl.coni 1968 Presidential Election Electoral Vote Distribution Candidate & Electoral Vole Totals RicliaiiJlJlKoit(R]3Ci| Hubert HinrFplirey (D) 191 Q Qeoige Wallace (I) 4& '1 KiKovi eloctof f(cpji> I(oit>i Carolnia «a;< Ills vole loi UaNace *<-.^v**- Copyright (o) 1338 Rectoj and Board of Visitors of the Ur^iversiiy of Vriginia llsln.'r.lib.\irt!iiiia.cdii Khan 50 Appendix 3 hUp://www.washin9tonpost.com/wp-srv/national/images/shoL091498r,jpg This image shows George Wallace after he was shot on May 15th, 1972 at the Laurel Shopping Center. http://speakingoffaith.piiblicfadio.org/programs/califano/images/wallace-alabamal963.jpg This image shows when Gov. George Wallace literally blocked two African-American students from registering at the University of Alabama in June of 1963. He vowed for "segregation forever." U\\U,tlSll0J.!^tlV Badge worn by U.S. Deputy Marhsalls during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Khan 51 AudioA/ideo Time Indexing Log 1) Interviewer: Daniel Khan 2) Interviewee: David Mitchell 3) Date of Interview: December 31st, 2005 4) Location of Interview: Mr. Mitchell's residence (Centreville, MD) 5) Recording format: Audio Type: Video Type: Cassette Cassette Micro-cassette Micro-cassette CD CD Digital (DAT) Digital (DAT) Mintute Mark Topics presented in order of discussion in recording. 5 minutes Mr. Mitchell's childhood and where he was raised. 10 minutes Mitchell's family's viewpoints on racism. 15 minutes Mitchell's education. 20 minutes Mitchell discuess his first years as a police officer. 25 minutes Explains how he handled the job and the hardships of it. 30 minutes Discusses his experience in the Watts Riot in Los Angeles. 35 minutes Explains his views on the Movements and its leaders. I vv^ouiio I NO III i^icooiui la tji iviurv di lu ivrdiuuil 11 S assasinations. 45 minutes Recalls the day of the Gov. George Wallace shooting. 50 minutes Explains his opinions on George Wallace and his beliefs. 55 minutes Explains the most important aspect of the Civil Rights Movement in his opinion. Khan 52 Works Consulted Carter T., Dan. The Politics of Rage. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc. 1995. Khan, Daniel. "Interview with David Mitchell." 31 December 2005. Centreville, Maryland. Currivan, Gene. "Dr. King Urges Nonviolence in Rights Protests." New York Titnes 15 March 1964. Boyd, Herb. We Shall Overcome. Naperville: Sourcebooks, Inc. 2004. Weber, Michael. Causes and Consequences of the African Amencan Civil Rights Movement. Hong Kong: Steck-Vaughn Company, 1998. Winters A., Paul.; Bender L., Leone, Bruno; Szumski, Bonnie; Haugen M., David; The Civil Rights Movement. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc. 2000. Field, Ron. Civil Rights In America. 1865-1890. Cambndge: University Press, 2002. "Huntsville, Ala., Schools Admit 10 More Negroes." The Washington Post, Titnes Herald 28 Jan 1964. Images: "March on Washington" http://v\'\\'\\'.archives.gov/MarchonWashington. 8 Feb 2006. "March on Washinlon" http:// wu'w.edbatista.com/MarchonWashingon 8 Feb 2006. "George Wallace" http://ww\v.authentichistory.gov/GeorgeWalIace. 8 Feb 2006. "George Wallace" httD://www.vintaeedenotdirect.cnni/GenrpeWallarR R Feh "1968 Election" http://fislier.lib.virgima.edii/1968election. 8 Feb 2006. "Police Badges" www.iisdoj.gov/policebadges 8 Feb 2006. "Wallace Shooting" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp srv/national/images/shot_091498r.jpg 8 Feb 2006. Khan 53 "Wallace at University of Alabama" http;//speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/ programs/califano/images/wallace-albama1963.jpg 8 Feb 2006. "Civil Rights Movement" http://wv^/w.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/images/br0225 s.jpg 8 Feb 2006.