Memoirs & Bios Faculty Dan Carter and UM's First Black History Class | Dan Carter and UM's First Black History Class |
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UM’s sad Jim Crow legacy began to crumble radically in the 1960’s as the impact of the Civil Rights and Black Liberation movements found its way to College Park. One of the student demands of the time was a call for more Black History. Although taught on some predominantly Black campuses, it was almost unknown at predominantly white institutions like UM.After considerable pressure from Black students and their supporters, the UM History Department agreed to offer a course in US Black history. The year was 1968. The first day of class saw an auditorium crowded with around 200 students eagerly awaiting the arrival of the professor. Numerous BSU, SDS and SGA people had signed up. There were many more Black students in the room than were normally seen in an average UM lecture class. Then a tall Black man with an Afro entered the room accompanied by 2 whites. A bespeculated white man took the podium. The room was filled with tension. He announced in a deep Southern drawl that he was Doctor Dan Carter and that he would be teaching the class. There was instant angry confusion. A white cracker teaching Black history? The guy with the Afro was only a grad student!? Somebody must have slipped LSD into President Elkins’ morning coffee. It looked like there might actually be a riot. Dan Carter managed to calm the situation somehow and the class went on after some rather pointed discussion. 
It turned out that while Dan Carter was indeed a Southern white, he was
far from being a cross-burning cracker. He had rebelled against Jim Crow at an early age and he actually knew something
about the history of Black people in America. While many of us were
uncomfortable with the general situation, it was clear that the guy
knew his stuff.
Dan Carter eventually moved on to Emory University and the University of South Carolina. An expert on the Scottsboro Case, he was featured on a PBS special about the classic tale of racist injustice. He also wrote one of the standard histories of the case. The behind-the-scenes politics as to why he was chosen was something of a mystery to his students. There weren't too many more white guys teaching Black History after he moved on. Still, a lot of the students ended up liking Dan as a teacher. He was knowlegeable and presented his lectures with fire and passion. Plus, let’s face it, it took a lot of guts for a Southern white guy to stand up in 1968 and do what he did.
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