September 14th, 2009
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Interview with Mr. Timothy Burrell
General Topic of Interview: Segregation and employment in the Delta.
Date: 28 October, 2008
Location: Clarkesdale, Mississippi, USA
Narrator: Mr. Timothy Burrell
Interviewers: Kyle Coston and Max Paschall
Transcriber: Unknown
Biographical Information:
Timothy Burrell was born in 1943 in Lyon, Mississippi. His father was a self-employed mechanic and minister, his mother a housewife and day labor. While he grew up, he helped his mother picked cotton. Mr. Burrell currently serves on the Coahoma County Court House Board of Supervisors, and has previously served on a number of boards.
Interview Information:
Mr. Burrell describes employment options in the Delta. He details several accounts of segregation and racial prejudice, and suggests that financial and institutional segregation were equally present as racial segregation. In discussing the then-presidential candidate Obama, he states that it is more important to regard him as an American rather than attempt to classify his racial origins.