Letter to the Editor

I realize that this letter is late in being presented, but for various reasons, it has been delayed.  I do think it’s important to put forward, even though it is late.

Referring to the article in Norfolk Now, July 2021, Growing Up Black in Norfolk, I was confused when I read what Shelley Best said about Norfolk Center School (NCS). I went to NCS for eight years in the 40’s and 50’s and I don’t remember anything like that happening there. I was a student there several years before Shelley but I find it hard to believe that Norfolk became a racist town in that short period of time. 

Shelley said that at Halloween she had to go to the side door.  I never, ever saw any house that gave candy out at two doors.  She said the poor kids were called raggies. I was most likely one of the poorest kids in Norfolk at that time. She said the poor kids got the “Negro treatment.” Well, I remember the richer kids and teachers treated me better because they felt sorry for me.  

I don’t know why Shelley said all of those things.  I believe that growing up black in Norfolk is one of the reasons she became successful. I urge anybody who remembers things differently than I describe to let me know or write to the editor.

Larry Leifert