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I grew up in the 1960s in the South . . . in Alabama. Being a child during that decade, I could not fully understand the political or racial issues playing out around me. I heard and saw snippets on the news about Gov. George Wallace, bus boycotts, freedom marches, and segregated lunch counters. Of course, the elementary school I attended was segregated. It wasn’t until my sixth-grade year in 1968-69 that schools in our town were desegregated. There was not a huge change at my school, only a few African American children switched schools that year. The following year the entire city was redistricted which meant many students went to schools they were not expecting to attend. It did not change the school for me—however this greatly enlarged the number of students and included kids who were from other areas of town besides my own. This change included more well-to-do families as well as black families.