Interview with Larry Walter, July 27, 2023

Partial Transcript: Today is the 27th of July, 2023. My name is William Breeding, and I am here with none other than Larry Walter.

Segment Synopsis: Mr. Walter talks about the day of his and his twin brother's birth, and their unique personalities. He then discusses his experiences in school, including integration, bus routes, and each school that he attended. Additionally, he reflects on his experience playing sports on community teams and how this has become less common.

Keywords: Alps Road Elementary / Bettye Henderson Holston Elementary; Community recreation centers; Community sports; School segregation / school integration; West Broad Elementary; Twins

Partial Transcript: But actually in school, were you math, science, social studies, or--like a lot of us--P. E.?

Segment Synopsis: Walter discusses his proficiency, and eventual disillusionment, in math, and his transition from high school to trade school to become an electrician. He then goes on to describe his professional career, from television at UGA to factory jobs and selling used cars. He also recalls fond memories of middle and high school, and going to work after football practice.

Keywords: Broadcasting; Education; Electricians; Factories; Trade Schools; University of Georgia; Elkins Institute Atlanta

Partial Transcript: Ok, now did you participate in sports?

Segment Synopsis: Walter reflects on his love of sports and the athletic talent in Athens. He recalls spending time with the first Black students to play on the UGA football team, including Horace King, Clarence Pope, Richard Appleby, Chuck Kinnebrew, and Larry West. He then discusses his career in broadcasting and describes race relations in that industry.

Keywords: Georgia Public Broadcasting / WGTV Channel 8; Integration; The First Five; University of Georgia; Sports / Athletics

Partial Transcript: You said that you integrated when you went to the fourth grade?

Segment Synopsis: Walter discusses race relations between white and Black students from integration (which occurred while he was in the fourth grade) to high school, and how tensions differed through time. He also talks about how some Black children treated him and his twin brother differently due to jealousy over their owning a car.

Keywords: Alps Road / Bettye H. Holston Elementary; Public schools; Race relations; Racism; Integration / Desegregation

Partial Transcript: With social media, does that make life more difficult, or easier, or has it had an impact?

Segment Synopsis: Walter shares his feelings on social media, and recalls a time when his Facebook account was suspended for comments he made in regard to the death of Tyre Nichols. He then goes on to talk about his parents and grandparents, and his upbringing under them.

Keywords: Family; Religion; Seventh Day Adventists; Tyre Nichols; Social media

Partial Transcript: Do you remember the people that lived in the projects when you were coming up?

Segment Synopsis: Walter talks about his childhood in the Pauldoe housing project, and comments that members of this community were like one family, a quality which he says is no longer there. He then discusses his desire to engage with young people of these communities, and in some way better their lives or restore the family dynamics he remembers.

Keywords: Community outreach; Community recreation centers; Corene Green / Willie Green; Freemasonry; Low income housing; YouthForce; Pauldoe community

Partial Transcript: I changed from a Seventh Day Adventist to a Baptist, 'cause I got tired of going to church on Saturdays.

Segment Synopsis: Walter discusses his decision to leave the Seventh Day Adventists and join the Baptist Church, and a decline in church membership among young people; a problem that he says was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. He then talks about the negative impacts of integration on Black people, particularly those in leadership roles within the community, and how that has weakened the community as a whole.

Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic; Education; Family; Integration; Religion; Mount Pleasant Baptist Church

Partial Transcript: I'm going to switch gears again, you told me there were ten of y'all, ten kids, right?

Segment Synopsis: Walter talks about his siblings and some of their careers and goes on to explain the jobs available to Black Athenians when he was younger. He states that a job at a plant was the best opportunity for many people. He then goes on to describe how certain positions of power were, and are still, denied to Black people, and those who have reached those positions work against African Americans as a whole.

Keywords: Clarence Thomas; Demond Means; DuPont de Nemours, Inc.; Industrial plants / Factories; Racial discrimination; Rosa Thurmond

Partial Transcript: They--in my opinion, right to this day--will not recruit a black quarterback.

Segment Synopsis: Walter discusses the University of Georgia's racism in their refusal to recruit an African American quarterback. Breeding shares an anecdote in which he advised the father of a Black football player who hoped to be a quarterback for UGA to reconsider his and his sons' priorities and to prepare to be disappointed. Walter then gives advice to his younger self and the interview concludes.

Keywords: Anthony Flanagan; Justin Fields; Racism / Racial discrimination; UGA football; University of Georgia