Oral history interview with Ned Irons, March 16, 1999
Subtitle: interview K-0170, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Grundy, Pamela, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2006
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Students; Education (Secondary); Attitudes; Multicultural education; School integration; Race relations; West Charlotte High School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Other titles: Interview K-0170, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Ned Irons, March 16, 1999; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Ned Irons, a high achieving white student at West Charlotte High School in Charlotte, NC, discusses his experiences as a member of a racial minority at this historically black school. Irons was lured to West Charlotte by its sports programs and glowing reputation, and once there found an intellectually stimulating and socially challenging environment. Irons sees West Charlotte as a school that finds its identity in African American culture, and in learning about that culture, he jettisoned many of his prejudices. In addition to sharing his personal experiences, Irons discusses race in Charlotte, including his belief that socioeconomics can help explain segregation and his conclusions that neighborhood schools will doom Charlotte to resegregation.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on Nov. 29, 2007).

Interview participants: Ned Irons, interviewee; Pamela Grundy, interviewer.

Duration: 00:47:23.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Mike Millner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 78.2 kilobytes, 86.8 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series K, Southern communities, interview K-0170, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Sharon Caughill. Original transcript: 21 p.

Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.