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Historic prep game was felt far beyond sports world
Quotes on integrating sports in Tennessee
“We (whites) have our association and they (blacks) have theirs. I don’t think they will be interested in giving up what they have.” — TSSAA executive secretary A.F. Bridges at the state basketball tournament in March 1962 when asked by media about the future of the organization and integration. “I remember we got to have a scrimmage against Notre Dame my senior year and that was a big deal. I didn’t really get to play against the white schools much, but by the time I came back home after college I liked watching the best teams and players play each other. I thought it was great that those kids got to compete against each other from then on.” — Charles Ballard, a senior running back and co-captain on Howard’s 1965 football team “Personally I am glad that I was on the cusp of that integration and got a chance to experience that. We had good rivalries with the white teams, but now you find integrated teams just about anywhere you go and that’s the way it should be. I get emotional talking about it. The kids today have more opportunities than we did, and I just want them to take advantage of it and realize how fortunate they are.” — Charlie Parks, an all-state guard on Riverside’s 1967 basketball team “The white schools would get write-ups in the newspaper and a lot of attention around town. We all wanted to play them so we could see how we measured up. We wanted to get some of that ink in the newspaper, too.” — Randell High, an all-state player on Howard’s 1967 basketball team “I didn’t really understand the significance of it at the time, but I knew it was special. We used to go to the park to play against black kids because we were curious. Now to get the chance to get to play against them in a regular game was big.” — Stan Sumrell, an all-city player for Notre Dame in 1965, the year the Fighting Irish hosted Howard in the city’s first interracial prep sporting event “Sports was the reason people began to accept integration. Sports did more to keep things calm at that time than the churches did or could. Through sports, I saw attitudes change. After the games, kids would shake hands and even have conversations after a while. Now you see kids slapping each other on the back, congratulating and hugging each other, regardless of color. They’re all on the same team and that’s the only color those kids care about — which is the way it should be.” — Legendary former Howard coach Henry Bowles, who won 616 basketball games in a 29-year career “You owe a debt of gratitude to the men with the foresight to realize sports could be a great way to bring the two races together. And for the young men from both races who played at that time, I want to thank them so much for what they’ve done because without their wisdom and overcoming all the challenges at that time, I wouldn’t be sitting where I am today. I don’t personally think that I’m a black leader of the state association. I tend to look it at as I’m a qualified individual who just happens to be black.” — Bernard Childress, TSSAA executive director “When you think back on everything that happened, had those things not taken place I never would’ve had the opportunity to attend an integrated public school and play for a man like Tom Weathers. It opened the doors for me just to have the opportunities beyond high school. As a younger guy I never had to deal with segregation or the things those people endured, but I know history and I appreciate what they did for my generation.” — Gerald Riggs Jr., who helped Red Bank claim the 2000 Class 5A state championship and later played running back at Tennessee and in the NFL and CFL
Down at Bear’s Barbershop, just off Alton Park Boulevard, the only thing sharper than the scissors are the opinions when a good debate breaks out. Regardless of where the conversation begins, whether politics or religion, you can bet at some point the topic of the day will drift back to memories of yesterday.
And that’s where things get fun as the volume rises and the conversation heats up.
A television that sits in one corner is always tuned to sports, and across the red and white checkered tile floor a group of men whose salt and pepper hair and beards are getting saltier by the day play cards and hassle each other over who were the best teams and players to step foot on a basketball court or football field in Chattanooga.