Madelyn Wilson describes her experiences growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina, particularly as a student in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system as it underwent the process of integration during the late 1960s and early 1970s. She explains how being raised by her grandparents in the Druid Hills neighborhood of Charlotte shaped her understanding of race relations, discrimination, and social conventions. She recounts her experiences during the desegregation of West Charlotte High School in her senior year. Ms. Wilson explains that high tensions and emotions were felt throughout the city as everyone was impacted, both positively and negatively, by the process of school integration and busing.
