Reply #12: Well, sorry to say that "darkies" was very liberally used lingo in the South while I was growing up.

[Radio_Lady]

Remember, the expressions "Blacks" or "Afro-Americans" or "African-Americans" were not being used then. They were simply Negroes or the N----- word in disparagement. It was pretty ugly. Oprah Winfrey has done several shows on how the lighter skinned women (and men, too, probably) were considered "high caste" and were sought after more than the dark skinned women.

Incidentally, I appeared in a starring role on the first children's TV show to desegregate its audience at Channel 4, WTVJ, in Florida. That was in 1957-58, when I was in college. Here are "Skipper" Chuck 'n' me, "First Mate" Ellen, along with "Glumbo Despair" the sad clown -- in my first job.



There used to be Negro days and white days on "Popeye Playhouse" too. Chuck Zink demanded that the management allow us to integrate the audience. Chuck was from Indiana, by way of Pennsylvania, and I was born in Pittsburgh, but my parents moved to Florida in the early 1940s. I was raised in North Miami. There were separate schools, separate drinking fountains, separate seating everywhere, and "red line" housing.

First publicity shot (January 1957)