Oral History Interview with Raymond Clement, July 6, 1983 Page: 15
79 p. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this book.
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Clement
15
Surely, you talked about the fact that the Jackie Robinsons,
and the Don Newcombes were playing in the major leagues with
white players at that time. What were some of their reactions
and attitudes toward that?
Clement: Basically, just like mine. It was just a different world.
You don't really understand what I'm telling you when I say
the black was in a different world than we were. We didn't
see him; we didn't know about him. He didn't exist as far
as we were concerned. He didn't compete against us. Just
thinking back on it, I probably didn't give the black credit
enough for being the good athlete that they turned out to be
because we had never competed with them or saw how they could
play. So I just assumed that the white was a superior athlete
to the black until we started competing with them and against
them.
That may sound funny, but it never entered my mind that they
could be better football or basketball players than we were.
And when we'd read about the good times that they were turning
out in track, well, you know, we figured they were keeping
their own time or they were not smart enough to read the
clock or whatever it is. You just couldn't believe it. Not
too long after I started coaching up there, Wichita Falls had
a sprinter--Reginald Robinson--that ran a 9.0 in the hundred-
yard dash. I couldn't believe that kid ran that fast because
he was timed at the black UIL meet. He wasn't timed at the
white meet. When I went to the state track meet, the whites
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Marcello, Ronald E. & Clement, Raymond. Oral History Interview with Raymond Clement, July 6, 1983, book, July 6, 1983; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth223649/m1/17/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Oral History Program.