Full Transcript: Reverend Darla Swint on Being Voted Homecoming Queen
Darla: By the time I got to Hamtramck High School, I ran for Homecoming Queen three years straight, and the first vote— just say a white girl and myself would have maybe a vote of ten difference, and so there would also be a recount. And in that recount, the school cared so little for the blacks, let’s say the whole freshmen student body was 200. Well they might give me 50 votes and give her 200, yet the student body was only 200. But they had to make sure that the European girl won, because they had, you know, we had, this Labor Day Celebration here in Hamtramck, well even back then they would have a parade in Hamtramck. And they would march down to Hamtramck Park where the park is named after Colonel Hamtramck, who is a Polish man. And the thing of it was it wouldn’t look right to have a black girl riding in a Polish parade. And we had a real real big car dealer here in Hamtramck, and uh, he was Polish. He did not want a black person riding in his car, because he would loan the cars to the parade. So I could never be the Queen. By the time I got to my senior year the class officers volunteered to build me a float because they came— and times were changing, don’t forget, rapidly— and they let me know that they knew I had won all those years. And the girls who would win were my friends.
We were good friends, I could call a couple by name, but I won’t. They would even come and say Darla, I am so sorry. But there was nothing we could really do. I remember one year, and to this day, when I think about it, I wish I would have let my dad say something. I think it was ninth grade, the first time it happened. He had been told by some of the older guys in the community how they did and that she didn’t lose. So my dad came to the school to talk to the principal about the elections. And I just happened to be in the office and it was a half a day, he wasn’t going to say to me that he was coming. So I’m like, daddy what are you doing up here? So he was like, well what are you doing here and not in class? And I said, well we only had a half a day, we’re out. And he said, well I come to pick you up. And I never thought about it until sometime later my mom told me what my dad had planned to do. He had talked with the NAACP, back then we had a strong body of the NAACP here, and my father was a Mason. So he had good backing, but I stopped him. And, I wish I had not done that for the sake of not just me but for black girls in the future. So, in my senior year the officers wanted to build a float for me to ride, not alongside but at the end of the parade. So I told my dad. I was a daddy’s girl, and he says, well that’s nice of the class but how do you feel about it? So he says, that’s a decision you’ll have to make on your own Darla. So I prayed on it and I thought about it. And I went back and I told the officers, I said thank you, I appreciate it and different things, but you guys know and I know I didn’t lose those years. And if I can’t ride where I’m supposed to I can’t ride at the end. And, I didn’t do it. I didn’t allow them to because I’m not your last nigger. I belong to be in my proper place.
We were good friends, I could call a couple by name, but I won’t. They would even come and say Darla, I am so sorry. But there was nothing we could really do. I remember one year, and to this day, when I think about it, I wish I would have let my dad say something. I think it was ninth grade, the first time it happened. He had been told by some of the older guys in the community how they did and that she didn’t lose. So my dad came to the school to talk to the principal about the elections. And I just happened to be in the office and it was a half a day, he wasn’t going to say to me that he was coming. So I’m like, daddy what are you doing up here? So he was like, well what are you doing here and not in class? And I said, well we only had a half a day, we’re out. And he said, well I come to pick you up. And I never thought about it until sometime later my mom told me what my dad had planned to do. He had talked with the NAACP, back then we had a strong body of the NAACP here, and my father was a Mason. So he had good backing, but I stopped him. And, I wish I had not done that for the sake of not just me but for black girls in the future. So, in my senior year the officers wanted to build a float for me to ride, not alongside but at the end of the parade. So I told my dad. I was a daddy’s girl, and he says, well that’s nice of the class but how do you feel about it? So he says, that’s a decision you’ll have to make on your own Darla. So I prayed on it and I thought about it. And I went back and I told the officers, I said thank you, I appreciate it and different things, but you guys know and I know I didn’t lose those years. And if I can’t ride where I’m supposed to I can’t ride at the end. And, I didn’t do it. I didn’t allow them to because I’m not your last nigger. I belong to be in my proper place.