Two Friends — One From Dorchester And One From Wayland — Talk Racial Divides On Podcast wbur.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wbur.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Daniel Sheehan, Reporter Staff
February 24, 2021
Daniel Sheehan, Reporter Staff
Dot native and former METCO student Gloria Harrison features in a new podcast with her friend Carrie Clifford in which they reflect on their schooling experiences and attempt to bridge racial divides.
As a kid growing up in Dorchester in the 1980s, Gloria Harrison’s life changed when her parents enrolled her in the METCO program in first grade. Suddenly, she found herself waking up before dawn to be bused to an elementary school in the Metro-west town of Wayland, where she was one of the few Black students in a virtually all-white town.
WAYLAND Gloria Harrison s father gave her 50 cents every morning to buy reduced-prices lunches at school.
Instead, the then-third grader went straight to a bodega in Dorchester and bought all the candy she could: Boston baked beans, Laffy Taffy, squirrel nuts. She d fill a paper brown bag with the worst candy you can think of that would ruin your teeth and store it in her backpack.
Meanwhile, her friend Carrie Clifford brought yogurt or raisins to school. They d often trade snacks during recess or lunchtime.
It was 40 years ago. That s when I don t think I realized she was white and she didn t realize I was Black, said Harrison. We were friends, just innocent kids playing at recess.