Clipping of John James
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Title
Clipping of John James
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Description
Clip of John James speaking during the Celebrating a Legacy panel discussion on November 12, 2020. John James (Class of 1990) describes being a Black student at Tech and in Cookeville in the 1980s as tough. He recounts an incident at a restaurant when a white employee assumed that he and his friends must be athletes at Tech rather than there for an education.
Clip transcript:
John James: When I first got to Tennessee Tech it was… tough, is probably the best word. And what I mean by that—and this is actually a little bit of a story. Richard—you know, this was several years back—Richard and I believe James and I we met relatively early. And there was times where we would try to go out just to get something to eat. I recall going to a restaurant. This may not be 100% accurate, my memories are fading. But I remember we would go to a restaurant—I think it was Mrs. Winter’s if memory serves me correct—the chicken place to go get some food. And you have to remember, James, Richard, and I let’s just say we’re not the uh--we don’t have football physiques. But we went to go get something to eat and behind the counter, there was a white guy serving us and he said “Oh, you guys the new Tennessee Tech basketball stars?” And you know, I’m not that tall, Richard’s not that tall. We’re like, “uh, no.” And he’s like “oh, you play football?” “Uh, no.” And he was like, “well, why are you here at Tech?” And we looked at each other. “Cuz we’re engineering students” or in James’s case, “business students.” Like, “we’re students.” And he was like “oh.” So, we were like, ok. But that was part of the introduction and that just gives you one small sliver of many things. Frankly speaking, there wasn’t a lot of diverse representation, so.
Clip transcript:
John James: When I first got to Tennessee Tech it was… tough, is probably the best word. And what I mean by that—and this is actually a little bit of a story. Richard—you know, this was several years back—Richard and I believe James and I we met relatively early. And there was times where we would try to go out just to get something to eat. I recall going to a restaurant. This may not be 100% accurate, my memories are fading. But I remember we would go to a restaurant—I think it was Mrs. Winter’s if memory serves me correct—the chicken place to go get some food. And you have to remember, James, Richard, and I let’s just say we’re not the uh--we don’t have football physiques. But we went to go get something to eat and behind the counter, there was a white guy serving us and he said “Oh, you guys the new Tennessee Tech basketball stars?” And you know, I’m not that tall, Richard’s not that tall. We’re like, “uh, no.” And he’s like “oh, you play football?” “Uh, no.” And he was like, “well, why are you here at Tech?” And we looked at each other. “Cuz we’re engineering students” or in James’s case, “business students.” Like, “we’re students.” And he was like “oh.” So, we were like, ok. But that was part of the introduction and that just gives you one small sliver of many things. Frankly speaking, there wasn’t a lot of diverse representation, so.
Source
Office of Multicultural Affairs records
Date
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Type
Identifier
MC_20201113_microagressionclip
Citation
James, John, “Clipping of John James,” Tennessee Tech University Archives and Special Collections, accessed May 16, 2024, https://tntecharchives.omeka.net/items/show/389.
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