Indiana University South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center Oral History Project


[Charlotte Huddleston]: Now, at our church, we hugged, we talked, you know, the whole thing. I dare say, if I went to certain parishes—and I haven’t been to another parish since…a long time, other than St. Augustine’s. But I would probably get a cold shoulder. Even as a Black Catholic, you know? A Black Catholic was another story. 

The religious thing and prejudice! Oh! Especially South Bend, because it’s so small compared to Chicago—I mean the group of Catholics is small, Black Catholics. I’ve had people, you know, they really don’t think that we belong there. I’ve had mistreatment from Black, because they said I sold out and went to the white man’s church. I’ve had mistreatment from white Catholics because they don’t think we belong there. I’ve gotten a double dose of all of that stuff forever.