William Booker served with the segregated 95th Engineering Regiment on the Alaska Highway in 1942, went on with the regiment to the European Theater. In 1945 he wrote a poem about his service and tonight he is my guest storyteller.
This Place is Reserved for White
America is a glorious place
Colors flying high
The rushing of a speeding train
Skyscrapers in the sky.
I sing America like the rest
My voice rings loud and free
But I’m a dark skinned Negro lad
What does this mean to me?
I hesitate before I walk
Into a public place
For all the white skinned Americans
Gaze into my face.
I crave the taste of delicious food
The hunger of a bite
But, I am turned away
This place is reserved for white
I pay my fare to ride the train
My mother deserves the best
She’s rest broken
But I find no place for her to rest
There’s cards above me in every place
It’s such a hectic sight
They leave a message that sleeping cars
Are only for the white
America is a glorious place
I’d be a fool to deny
But it’s reserved for white folks only
Sometimes I wonder why
I’m willing to let them have it all
And when it is time for another war
I expect to see those cards that say
This war is only for white.
William Elwood Booker, 1945
