Tiger Weekly - Serving Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Professor recounts his experience of being black in a different America

By Clifton Lee

With the election of Barack Obama in November 2008, African Americans across the nation felt a new level of success and achievement. But this moment of glory was not achieved overnight. It finally came after many generations of blacks struggled to gain their place in American society. Many adolescents today learn of this struggle through textbooks and documentaries, but no piece of literature or film can reproduce the true reality of racism.

Born and raised in Plant City, Florida, during the 1950s, LSU Professor Marvin Broome experienced racism and its institutions on a daily basis.

When asked about his childhood in the deep South, he replied, “In that southern farming environment I grew up in, it was truly segregated … we had the traditional downtown area with segregated water fountains and we did not have access to lunch counters and soda fountains.”

After witnessing widespread discrimination against his race firsthand, Broome became inspired to make a difference by the civil rights movement of the 1960s. A watershed moment in his life came when he saw the March on Washington being televised in 1963. As he watched Martin Luther King, Jr. make his historical speech, he desperately wanted to be a part of history.

“I do remember sitting home wishing I could be there to take part in that march because I felt that I had a potential role to play in tearing down those artificial walls of apartheid,” Broome said.

Broome’s desires to make a difference led him bring the movement into his own neighborhood. Against the wishes of his father, he and a group of friends organized and executed their own local events in order eliminate segregation in his hometown.

By working together with their community, Broome and his friends organized a successful boycott of a local grocery store which had a reputation for refusing to hire blacks and scamming them through the usage of payday loans. The group of young activists also helped integrate a local movie theater by being the first blacks to enter the local business and subsequently violate the unwritten racial rules of the town.

After fighting against the scourge of racism in his hometown, Broome was drafted into the military in 1969 due to America’s involvement in the controversial Vietnam War. In addition to leaving Plant City, he also left the open racism of his childhood behind for good. But while his earlier days may have been a harder time for blacks to succeed and thrive in, Broome also recalls experiencing a greater sense of togetherness among his race than he feels exists in the black community today.

“There was indeed more unity or coherence … we used the front porch more than we do now.” stated Broome. “Because there’s more mobility in the community, people can now live in different neighborhoods so there are fewer and fewer role models for our youngsters to see.” This lack of accessible role models for young black Americans does worry Broome when he considers the future, but he does have faith that African American youths will rise to the occasion evolving into role models in the same fashion that he has during his lifetime.

After basically being forced into the military in 1969, Broome turned his obligation into an opportunity to better himself. During his time abroad, he gained skills through enrolling in electrician programs and pursued his higher education which included earning Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tuebingen and a Master’s degree from Penn State later.

After living in various areas across the country, Broome became a professor at LSU in the fall of 1999.

His journey also enabled him to finally visit the nation’s capital for the 2008 Presidential Inauguration 43 years after he watched the March on Washington as child. These significant events which highlight Broome’s life truly stand as a testament to how much our society can change for the better as time moves forward. As long as African Americans such as Professor Broome live in the America, there will surely be good reason to celebrate Black History Month for years to come.

Originally Published: February 18, 2009

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