The Seminole: After you first integrated the school, were there many others who followed soon after? 

Ms. Ingrid Nathan: In 1964 I was the first to integrate Sanford Jr. High (now, Sanford Middle).  In 1965 eight of us entered Seminole High School.  I don’t remember all the names, but several were from my neighborhood:

Delores Hodge, Carolyn Mathews, Carolyn Williams, Ishmael Harris, myself and I remember another classmate whose last name was Moore.

Every year after that the numbers increased.  Relations improved as black athletes were accepted and praised for winning games.  If I had been an athlete it may have been better for me, but all I had was brains, and my intellect helped me keep my head about me when all others were losing theirs.

I don’t know how you might end your last question, “How did feel to…”, but I felt lonely at Sanford Jr. High.  The first day when I was escorted by police, the principal, his staff and a student government committee met me and escorted me around the school.  They even ate lunch with me.  I can almost smell the cafeteria now…those milk cartons.  But, after the first day, no one paid any attention to me.  A handful of students made friends with me.

As we sat on the bus we had to listen to some of the white kids say unkind things and use bad language.  We pretended not to hear the “n” word so that they could not get a reaction from us.  None of us was looking for a fight.  We knew well how to fight, but we were not wanting to.

I was pretty much alone at Seminole also, until I got on the bus and saw my neighborhood friends.  When I walked down the halls the crowd would part like the red sea.  One boy would hug the wall to avoid touching me.  That was so ignorant.

TS: In the article, it says that even as a Seminole, you “weren’t a Seminole” but instead “a Crooms Panther.” Could you elaborate on this? 

IN: I was never fully accepted at Seminole.  I was not treated like a Seminole.  I was taunted in my classes by the boys.  I was excluded from the clubs.  I was victimized by team members who threw a drink on me out of a moving car after school.  I received a phone call at home accusing me of being a cheating “n” because I made 100% on my English exam.  I was the object of jealous students who could not stand that a black student could be as intelligent as they were, or even more so.

Simply put, I could not embrace a body that rejected me.  I went back to where I was loved, wanted and missed.  I communicated with my friends at Crooms.  My boyfriend (now husband and Principal Ron Nathan of Altermese Bentley Elementary).  I went to the Crooms games.  I clung to my roots.  I never let go of my identify.  If I had not done that, I would have been a lost, pathetic, empty and unfulfilled soul in this world.  I might not have been able to forgive what was done to me and give myself to all of my students the way that I do.

TS: Could you please describe your experiences at Crooms High, and how it compared to the then-all-white Seminole? 

IN: This question is partially answered above.  To describe my experiences at Crooms would take too long.  I can write you an entire page on this, so I’ll skip this for now.

TS: Over what period did it serve as an all-black school?  

IN: ( I don’t know)

TS: Do you know when it closed for that purpose? 

IN: (I don’t know

TS: What do you think of its transition from a segregated school to an information-technology magnet school? 

IN: We didn’t want Crooms to be destroyed and another school erected in another name.  We wanted the land and the building to still represent the foundation that Mr. and Mrs. Crooms laid.  That was done.  The benefits of it being an info tech magnet school have helped students all over Seminole County.

TS: Do you think the work of integration is done?   

IN: Integration is “personal” rather than “institutional”.  My integration worked.  I’m fine with all people of all races.  I accept all because I want to be accepted.  I believe in doing unto others as you would have others do unto you.  No man is an island.  I am my brother’s keeper.  My beliefs have been fortified by my faith, but my belief also tells me to examine myself every now and then for imperfections. I, a victim of prejudice, am susceptible to prejudice myself.  I read in the book, “White Teacher” that there must be dialog and an open mind when trying to communicate with another race.  I saw that even teachers sometimes unconsciously cater to some students more than to others.   We can’t all assume that people of both races will be always right all of the time.

TS: Are Seminole County Public Schools as integrated as they should or could be?

IN: They are as integrated as they can be.  The Choice department has madated integration.  Only 14% in the county is black, so if in any school you have a population of 14%, you have pretty much integrated that school.  Now, on a personal level,  I would say that the students are getting along fairly well, but with some hidden attitudes among “cultures” and “sub cultures” within and without racial lines.

Based on what I read in “White Teacher”, I have come to the conclusion that the teachers in our county have not received enough training in a “hands on” way as to how to deal with children of other cultures.  ESOL training is the predominant training that they all get, but we need more specific training than ESOL.  Equity training is needed.

TS: Is the current educational system as capable as it could be to welcome and support students of all races? 

IN: There is always room for improvement, but I see the ESOL program as very effective.  I have worked with ESOL teachers all my career, and they are up to date on cultural diversities.