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サマリー
あらすじ・解説
School integration caused trauma and
fear for Carolyn Mason and rightly so.
She lived in Overtown’s “Black
Bottom” located at the corner of 8th Street and Central Avenue in segregated
Sarasota. There was a dividing line at 3rd Street or present day Fruitville
Road. “I call it the Mason-Dixon line. North of Fruitville was the Black
community; and south was downtown for the more affluent community.” The
communities did not mix. “My senior year in high school should have been my
best year, but it was full of apprehension. I couldn’t think past the fear of
being around people I had never been around before. I didn’t know what I was
afraid of, but I was afraid. Somebody should have talked to the children – all
of the children – about what to expect. Somebody should have said, ‘You don’t
have anything to worry about.’”
Mason began a career in public
service after viewing a theater production in Sarasota that lacked a diverse
cast. Frustrated, she became the go between for talented African American
artists and arts organizations. “I offered myself as a bridge. I was probably
on the board at one time of every arts organization in Sarasota County.” She
was elected to the Sarasota City Commission and served from 1999 to 2003. She
was Mayor of Sarasota from 2001 to 2003. Mason is the first African American
elected to the Sarasota County Commission in 2008 and served as chair in 2013
and 2015. Social issues are the focus of her work. Carolyn Mason’s oral
history was provided by interviewer Hope Black.