He attended segregated schools in Savannah, through his sophomore year in high school, and shortly before his sixteenth birthday in late June 1964 decided he wanted to attend a private high school, the Catholic St. John Vianney Minor Seminary, from which he graduated several years later
Integration of the Savannah public school system began in 1963 -- so it's difficult to understand how Thomas can say today, To my knowledge, I was the first black kid in Savannah, Georgia, to go to a white school
One might, I suppose, note that he was merely a high school sophomore in 1963; but many people of that age are aware of the larger controversies of their time; and it was really big news at the time -- and it's rather difficult to imagine he was unaware of newspaper, radio, or TV coverage
In any case, fifty years having passed, he's had ample opportunity to learn something about the era in which he came of age, beyond his recollection of being the only black student at St. John Vianney Minor -- and it tells us something about him that he hasn't done so
Slow journey into desegration
... Almost 10 years after the U.S. Supreme Court mandated equal access to public schools, seven black teens - all seniors - registered to attend previously all-white Groves High School on Savannah's westside. Twelve others followed a similar path into all-white Savannah High across town ... Parents of 36 black students, led by the Rev. L. Scott Stell, went to federal court Jan. 18, 1962, to challenge the segregated Savannah-Chatham public schools ... Pupils entering Groves found Garden City and other police department officers waiting for them on those first days. They also found the glare of media coverage. The blacks selected for Groves had been taught non-violent techniques during the summer, and had been told not to respond to mistreatment ...
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