Tess DeCosta and Leigh Anne Carr
Recorded
May 16, 2023
Archived
May 16, 2023
41:53 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
dda003185
Description
Leigh Anne Carr (29) asks Tess DeCosta (61) about what it was like to grow up in Boston during the desegregation efforts of the 1970's. DeCosta remembers the fear she had when her mom worked as a crossing guard for one of the newly desegregated schools at the time.Subject Log / Time Code
Tess DeCosta (T) talks about her earliest memories of desegregation efforts. She says the entire experience was one of fear.
T describes the protests and organizations behind them. She felt more afraid than her mom, who was a crossing guard for one of those schools.
T recalls memory of running every day after school to her mother who was working as a crossing guard.
T remembers her experience teaching a diverse population at Sunday school with her mom.
T was angered by people not getting along, and became more angry the more she learned about systemic racism.
T tells story of kids throwing things at busses, and one kid chasing the bus with a spear and a gorilla mask.
T talks about her juxtaposed and confused sense of identity with Boston.
Leigh Ann Carr (L) asks T about when T knew she was gay. T describes how she communicated her relationship with her wife to her family.
T talks about why it's so important to continue this conversation now. She wishes she could have apologized to the students for being a bystander at the time.
T claims desegregation efforts were a dismal failure, but shares a sense of hope for Boston's future.
Participants
- Tess DeCosta
- Leigh Anne Carr