nothin New Haven Independent | A Litany for a Divided Country

A Litany for a Divided Country

Marcia Chambers Photo

As a young teen with a passion for the hurdles, James Barber (pictured) intuitively understood how to reach high even on the segregated track fields of Washington, D.C., where he grew up.

He came to Connecticut in 1960 from the nation’s capitol to attend college and he found racism here, too, only it was more subtle and indirect. He slowly figured out how they do it in the North. At one point he tried to enlist in the U.S. Coast Guard. I am fourth in line of the young men who were waiting, ages 18 to 25. Even though I am fourth in line and 13 other young men came in behind me,” he did not move up. 

Barber described the arc of his life as an athlete in sports, as player and as administrator – he is now 77 – to a rapt audience at the annual Martin Luther King, Jr., breakfast at St. Therese Roman Catholic Church in Stony Creek. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, 49 years ago. He was 39 when he was killed.

Marcia Chambers Photo

In his honor, the MLK Breakfast Committee paid tribute to King and this year to Robert L. Louie” Burns, an instrumental part of the committee who died last year. The Branford High School Music Makers sang Lift Every Voice and Sing” and We Shall Overcome.” They did so with grace and spirit.

A Litany for a Divided Country” was read, a litany for ” a divided nation, set in our ways, sometimes unable to so much as speak to those who think differently than we. This cannot be the road to justice for all that Martin so desired….”

When Barber arrived at Southern Connecticut State College in 1960, before Southern had become a university, he was one of five black students. He quickly became a star football and track and field athlete. He held numerous records, especially in the high hurdles. Over time Barber, who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees, became one of Southern’s most respected teachers and administrators, first joining the faculty in 1967.

Southern has been his home ever since. He is a leading figure in the athletic, sports, and community action communities.

Barber recapped for the audience the major events of the civil rights era, including the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and before him President John F. Kennedy, Jr. Listening in the audience to the events he knew so well was state Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr., the nephew of John and Robert Kennedy. He said afterward that King’s legacy provides a road map for work unfinished. All of us must take stock about how we can play an important role in advancing the still unfinished work of pursuing a more just and equitable world.”

The Role of Sports

For Barber, sports has always been the dominant passion of his life. It transformed him. He knew the value of playing on a team, especially for kids. 

When he came to the Nutmeg state and wound up living in West Haven, Barber found lots of kids in his neighborhood, who by and large did nothing.
Smiling and outgoing, he had figured out how to engage kids in sports when segregated ball fields were still a way of life. He continued to do so once he came to Connecticut. He described how he created opportunities when there were none, especially for kids who wanted to play sports. He founded the New Haven Age Group Track and Field Program, the city’s top youth track club where he served as coach and coordinator for 25 years. 

He described one summer when all the neighborhood kids did was hang out. No sports, no nothing. He said to himself these kids need something to do. So I told all the young men their age that we were going to start a baseball team. We had one bat… and one ball. The brothers at Notre Dame High School allowed us to use their field. So we practiced every day. One bat, one ball. One bat, one ball.”

He got the kids off the street for the entire summer. But when he tried to give them more bats and balls he ran up against folks saying to hime, what are your qualifications?” Eventually that question led him to get his educational degrees because he knew that without them he was going to run into trouble even though he was a natural athletic leader.

That summer, with his one-ball, one-bat team, he recalled how a long, black car pulled up near where the team was playing. The man at the wheel just sat there and watched. He came back every day. And just sat there. Then the man in the black car decided that he, too, wanted to make a commitment,” Barber told the audience.

He bought all my kids a jacket, he bought all the equipment for the catcher… here is this guy who comes out of nowhere and something good happened.”

The end result was that the kids became a team. They learned how to play together and rely on one another. It changed their way of thinking. 

The President-Elect 

This year’s Martin Luther King Day fell on the week when Donald Trump will become the 45th president of the United States. Barber’s 40-minute talk left no doubt he was deeply concerned about the future facing America. At the same time, he said that like Dr. King people must not be afraid to speak their minds.

He reminded the audience of Martin Niemöller, a Lutheran pastor who survived the Nazi concentration camps.

His words have been quoted frequently since Trump was elected president. Barber said, He was fortunate enough to survive the atrocities, having served time at two concentration camps”. Barber said he will never forget his words:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.
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