Phil Lewis: Another date takes its place in U.S. history

On Dec. 7, 1991, nearly every newspaper in America devoted extra space and special coverage to commemorate the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Remember June 6, 1994 — the 50th anniversary of D-Day? The Naples Daily News and hundreds of other newspapers published entire special sections on the Normandy invasion and the people who took part.

You can mark down Nov. 22, 2013, and July 20, 2019, in your advance planners. Newspapers across the country will be publishing something special on those dates.

Fifty is more than just a nice, round figure.

It's an ideal number of years for a newspaper to reflect on a monumental date in history. Many a newspaper reader was alive five decades ago. They remember how their life changed. They have stories to tell and perspectives to give. Newspapers educate and enlighten when they take time to focus on world events 50 years after the fact.

Another important anniversary fast approaches. Expect something special in newspapers on May 17, 2004 — the 50th anniversary of a decision in the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown vs. Board of Education.

The high court unanimously declared that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and violate the 14th Amendment, which guarantees all citizens "equal protection of the laws." It was the beginning of the end of segregation. America, thankfully, would never be the same.

A documentary broadcast on WGCU-TV (Cable Channel 3) reminded us of that fact and the approaching anniversary.

The 30-minute program first aired Friday night and will be repeated tonight at 11 o'clock. It is part of WGCU's "History of Southwest Florida: Untold Stories" series.

The installment, which focuses on the history of African-Americans in Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties, starts a bit slow, but stick with it or you will miss some powerful testimonies to the evils of segregation.

The people interviewed bring segregation home. They tell of separate schools, restrooms, drinking fountains, restaurants and beaches and the impact that had on their lives.

Perhaps the most poignant recollections come from Dr. Martha Russell Bireda of Punta Gorda.

She describes how segregation was a daunting part of every day life in Southwest Florida.

"We never traveled with less than a tank of gasoline," she says in one interview. "That was important because my father would stop, and my father or mother would go in the gas station and would ask the owner, 'Do you have a restroom we can use?' If the owner said 'no,' then we'd get back in the car and keep driving." She tells how she is still haunted by a Christmas past, when there were rules on who could and who couldn't sit on Santa's lap.

"I hopped right up there and he wouldn't let me sit," she says. "My mother never got over it — not so much as a personal hurt for her, but what it did to her child.

"And that's what segregation did," Bireda explains. "Black parents had to carry pain and anger in their hearts, their minds and their spirits for years because of what it did to their children." She reminds us that we'll have lots of stories to tell this May.

Phil Lewis is editor of the Daily News; his e-mail address is pplewis@naplesnews.com