History Commons^™

Unfinished Agenda, Mildred Emory Persinger

Mildred E. Persinger Papers

(excerpt) Why am I still working in the campaigns for civil rights and human rights after seventy years? The question has never come up—until now. Yet it is to be expected. Even as a child I was upset by hearing disparaging remarks about cherished black friends. In college I was stunned to learn that others had raised questions about the propriety of my invitation to a young Japanese student to spend the weekend with me. Later I was ashamed and worried for her that in Virginia she might have been rejected because she was not white enough.