Race Matters Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

'If They Can't Dance, We're Not Going To Play'

Fifty years ago, a band of Black musicians stood up to racism and now they’ve been honored for that action.

Bass player John Smith is the surviving member of “The In Crowd,” a Charleston, West Virginia band that played popular tunes in the 1960s. One night at the Charleston Athletic Club, a multi-racial couple was refused service and the band took a stand.

Smith says, “If they couldn’t dance, we wouldn’t play.”

There were consequences for that action, but now, finally, Smith and his deceased colleagues have been honored for the role they played to push back against racial discrimination.

For this episode, host Trey Kay talks with John Smith at the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. They sat in on a practice session of the Charleston-based band The Carpenter Ants. Practice gave way to conversation as musicians from different generations talked about their experiences past and present. They reflect on a golden era of the local music scene and the unity AND division they’ve all experienced.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council and the CRC Foundation.

Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio — tune in on the fourth Thursday of every month at 8 p.m., with an encore presentation on the following Saturday at 3 p.m.

John Smith on his front porch swing at his home in Rand, WV.

Young John Smith playing guitar while serving in the Army in Germany in 1959.

Michael Pushkin, President of Local 136 of the American Federation of musicians, at the Levi Baptist Church in Rand, WV, apologizing to John Smith and the late members of “The In Crowd” for the actions the union took fifty years ago.

The Carpenter Ants practicing at the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in Charleston, WV. Charlie Tee (vocals), Michael Lipton (guitar), Ted Harrison (bass) and Jupie Little (drums).

Barbara and John Smith grooving to the Carpenter Ants at the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

Carpenter Ants bassist Ted Harrison showing John Smith his five-string bass at the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

Trey Kay with Barbara and John Smith at the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame

COVID-19 Exposes Racial Inequities

COVID-19 numbers show the pandemic has hit Black and Brown people hard. The coronavirus is about three times more likely to put African-American and Latino people in the hospital and they are twice as likely than whites to die from COVID. The reasons for this disparity are as old as they are complex. Inequities in health care are rooted in the historical racism of our institutions. They are part of the reason some people of color don’t trust public health efforts or the healthcare industry in general.

In this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay speaks with Black West Virginians fighting to keep their community healthy during the pandemic.

In March 2020, days before any ‘stay at home’ orders and before we used the term ‘super spreader event’, Romelia Hodges attended a packed church celebration in Marion County. Two weeks later several of Hodges’ friends were ill from the coronavirus and some died, including 88-year-old Viola Horton, West Virginia’s first COVID-19 death.

For decades Rev. Matthew Watts has warned about health disparities between Black West Virginians and white residents. He says it’s been hard to get people to listen and even harder to encourage action. Watts believes COVID-19 can be a catalyst for systemic change so that everyone is well served during the pandemic and once it’s behind us.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.

Friendship Baptist Church in Everetville, WV, where a 30 percent of its members tested positive for COVID-19 after a large celebration in March 2020. Five people, who attended that event, died of the virus, including 88-year-old Viola Horton, West Virginia’s first COVID-19 casualty.

Romelia Hodges attended the celebration at Friendship Baptist Church in March 2020 before the CDC had advised against public gatherings of fifty or more people. Afterwards, many who attended became ill and presented COVID-19 symptoms. Hodges took action and set up contact tracing for the people who attended.

Rev. Matthew J. Watts, senior pastor at Grace Bible Church in Charleston, WV.

Doctors and pharmacists from the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department fill syringes with the Pfizer vaccine to go into the arms of Rand, WV residents in February 2021. The event was held specifically to reach out to Black West Virginians, who are at heightened risk of contracting and dying from COVID-19.

Rev. Matthew J. Watts receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic held by the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center in January 2021.

Us & Them host Trey Kay interviewing people receiving the COVID-19 vaccine at the North Charleston Recreation Center in February 2021.

A healthcare provider from Kanawha-Charleston Health Department injects an African-American woman at the Rand Community Center in Rand, WV in February 2021. This clinic was one of a series events targeted to minority West Virginians.

Us & Them host Trey Kay interviewing Rev. James Patterson, president of the Partnership of African American Churches (PAAC), at a vaccination clinic at the North Charleston Recreation Center in February 2021. This event was the first-ever minority-focused vaccination event in West Virginia.

Us & Them host Trey Kay met up with his childhood basketball hero Mike Jones at the North Charleston Recreation Center in February 2021. Jones says he chose to get the COVID-19 vaccination because he wanted to protect his 81-year-old mother. He brought is mother in for her shot later that afternoon.

Live Event: Summit on Race Matters in Appalachia

The Summit will offer a unique opportunity for people from throughout West Virginia to participate in a constructive, in-depth conversation about the complicated history of race relations and racial inequality in the state. Participants will examine the causes and consequences of structural inequities that exist across social, political, education and financial systems and how those inequities negatively affect everyone. It will encourage strong leaders, working together, to commit themselves to building a community that improves the well-being of all West Virginians.

8:45 – 10:30 a.m.: Keynote Speaker Dr. Gail Christopher

12:30 – 2:00 pm..: Keynote Speaker author Mike Wenger

3:30 – 5:00 p.m.: Keynote Speaker Dustin Washington

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAhmqwXDwcM