1949:  Is it a Crime to be a Negro? 

Student Patricia Bragg wrote a letter to a Muncie newspaper that questioned acts of discrimination.  Bragg’s letter was titled “Is it a Crime to Be a Negro?”  She recounted a personal story about discrimination.  Bragg was at the Varsity restaurant and was refused service because she was an African American.  She went to the restaurant with the French Club at Muncie Central High School to learn French table etiquette.  Everyone in the group was seated except Bragg.  She was told by the waitress that they did not serve African Americans and that she must leave.  Bragg stated, “I had never been in such an embarrassing position, and I didn’t quite know what to do.”  Bragg went to her French teacher’s apartment, which was a few blocks away, to wait for her classmates to finish their lesson and meal.

Cited by:  Marrow, T. A., III (2004). Reconciling the Past:  A Brief History of Race Relations in Muncie. Muncie, IN: TEAMwork for Quality Living.