Emory Lee Crews 1939

EYES OF THE INNOCENT

by Emory Lee Crews

While growing up in the State of Arkansas in the 1930s I regrettably saw a shameful act of racial intolerance. My family and I lived in the mid-size town of Pine Bluff which was pretty much equally inhabited by whites and blacks. It was very apparent to those who arrived by train that there were two disconnected races in our town. When anyone walked into the train depot they could plainly see signs on separate drinking fountains "Whites Only" and "Colored."

The blacks had separate public rest rooms, schools, and a swimming pool. I don't recall if there was a movie theater just for black people or not, but if a black person came to one of a regular theaters down town, they either sat in the back row or up in the balcony. Naturally, when they rode the public buses they sat in the back. If a bus was crowded and a black person was sitting down, they were told to stand and give up their seat to a white person or vacate the bus.

As innocent children we didn't think too much about the way things were at that time; we merely accepted them.

I was seven years old when my uncle, on my father's side, took my brother and me to a "Smoker," which was a local prize fight or boxing match. It was probably called a Smoker because of the thick cigar and cigarettes smoke that hung in the air over a brightly lit boxing ring. We sat up high on a row of bleacher type seats and had a clear view of the boxing ring. There was going to be a pre-fight exhibition for the predominately white audience. I only remember seeing a couple of black men standing at ring side.

Several men stood in the boxing ring where they had assembled twelve young black boys ranging from 8 to 10 years old. The boys were blindfolded and boxing gloves were placed on their fists. They were then lined up with their backs against the ropes in a large circle and told at the sound of the bell to start swinging their fists at each other. Because they were blindfolded, they would not know when they were going to hit someone or get hit themselves.

After the men departed the ring, the bell rang and the young boys started swinging wildly at the air. The crowd laughed and cheered as hard punches connected and one by one the boys knocked each other to the canvas. Almost immediately when they got back to their feet, they would get knocked down again. They couldn't duck or dodge a blow because they couldn't see it coming. My stomach turned and I covered my eyes from the sight of the blood that streamed from their noses and mouths. One boy huddled in a corner of the ring too frightened to stand up.

After three minutes passed the bell sounded a second time and the boys stopped swinging their fists. Pennies, nickels, and dimes were tossed into the ring by a jubilant crowd. I heard someone say they saw one man toss a fifty-cent piece into the ring. There was loud laughter when the boys frantically tried to push off the blindfolds and shake the gloves from their hands to grab the coins that were laying on the canvas. It was apparent they were from poor families, and the money was important to them. The black men who were standing by ring side climbed into the ring and wiped up the blood from the canvas in preparation for the regular scheduled fight.

Since the boys in the ring were about my age, I often wonder if this horrible boxing event affected their adult lives as it has mine. What a horrible childhood memory for the eyes of the innocent!