American Journey; Milton McPike segment; 101

He puts himself on the line every day. And what you see is what you get. [music] He's been very visible as an administrator. Ah, Mr McPike is out there all the time. [music] Oh he's real. Who you see when you sit down and talk to him is exactly who he is. [background speaking, music] [music, background noises] He stops and talks to everybody and I truly think that he knows every kid in this school. He remembers what it's like to be a teenager. [background talking] Hello, East High School [bell ringing] How are you doing? Hey ladies and young man, let's go. Come on.

The reason why I'm out in the halls is is because I want to know the pulse of school. I want to know whether the climate is safe. I want to know whether the climate is for learning. I want to know whether kids are are happy because my belief is that if the climate is in place then learning will take place. [background speaking] Where are you suppose to be? Huh? Where are you suppose to be? Huh? Where are you suppose to be? Well, hurry up. She wears that bag is about as big as her waist. Oh my goodness. Good gracious. My expectation is every kid would be all time. [voices] Come on, guys. Do what you do, go out for lunch? [second speaker ] We don't do that stuff. [first speaker] Well you know what you guys don't be eat lunch with me and I don't eat lunch. See one of the things you have to understand, is that if you play games with kids, are you playing games with adults, nobody knows where you stand. I'm either this way or that way. There ain't no in between. And then I understand you and you understand me. And that's just the way I am. I'm an old fashioned guy. When manners are in place then everything else is going to be in place.

I really I firmly believe that. [background noise] In my school, you don't wear a hat. When you wear a hat, you walk to the door and you take that sucker off and you put it in your locker. And if you got it on, I got it. I have so many hats in my office I might have an auction in June. And my school you don't walk in with Walkmans, you listen to it, you bop all the way to school and bounce. But when you hit the door, you better bop them right off, and bop them right in the locker. Do you have a locker? Do you have a locker? Get it put in your locker. [background noise] Mr. Thomas. Get it in your locker. Huh? What? There's a reason behind it. There's a reason behind it. Because if you're going wear a hat, you don't respect a teacher, you don't respect yourself. I mean especially if you got that sucker hanging over to the side, walk around and playing all those little games with yourself.

And then rap music. That's nice. Not in school. I mean if you can remember the words to rap music. You can read every English book, you can read every math book. You can read. What we believe that East represents what we're fond of, speaking of those the real world. [background noise] I graduated from this high school in 1967. In 67 you had to apologize. We didn't of course. We were very proud of East High School but not everybody in the city felt the same way about East High School. Well before I moved here, ah, my friends in the city I used to live in, would make fun of me and say oh if you're going to East you better bring a knife with you. Now it's not quite the same anymore. East High School is

a pretty neat place to be. [background noise] I think that we have made ah a stalwart sustantive beginning. The reputation that we're getting now is just great. And that's why I think we deserve those awards because we haven't given up and we won't give up on our kids, on our future. [background noise] I've I've I've taken the philosophy ah to my staff that in order for us to be successful, that we have to be a family. He's made a difference like, his rules about discrimination or stuff like that. I think the big difference. And he talks to the students. He doesn't just write it down on a paper and hand it out. He gives like speeches and stuff. And I will tell you, if you go here four years and you get hung up on being intolerant

to the people around you, you may not go across the stage. I'll throw your diploma to you. Because that's how strongly I feel about racism and harassment. Sometimes a white principals, they don't know what it's like to be a minority. [multiple speakers talking at same time] But then also with having a black principal, and if you're white, there are certain kids that are prejudiced because they don't know about blacks and then they don't see many positive blacks. That's why East is like like the way it is. Because we have that positive role model and other schools don't. So they don't look they they look at the black kids in their school with a negative attitude. I'd want to follow in his shoes. That's about it. A positive leader. He's a positive black role model. Experiences at they are experiencing today the crisis in society, I've been through. And it didn't affect me because I had one thing in mind and that was to ah to be successful. And I think that in every kid there's a success streak in them. If we can get

to them. I was a victim of racism as a kid. And the reason why I'm an educator is because I wanted to be able to educate young people not to be the way or be treated the way I was treated as a kid. Well this is where I grew up and I remember the house being [singing] sort of a gray paint with ah no running water, a pot belly stove and back behind that house is where we used to have to go get water. There's a alley there and we walked about three blocks to get water and we packed water every day. Ah, over here ah I had a strange experience with my dad. My dad died last year but there used to be a VFW down around the corner and my dad was in town and happened, it just so happened that he had been here a couple weeks and hadn't seen me and so I was sort of angry and so

he asked for me to come into the bar and my mother'd always told me never go into a bar. He followed out and asked me ah, to stop and I said no you can talk to me at home. And of course I was about as big as I am now and he says well you never get too big for your britches. And he said well if you can't stop and talk to me now, than never speak to me again. Well he died last year and ah I hadn't spoke to him for like 35 years and I had something to say to him and I didn't get to say it. And ah then of course some of those things reflect in what I do at school and trying to be a father to a lot of kids because I didn't have one. When I look down the street I can still see my dad walking behind me. [choir singing] [music, singing, dog barking] [singing, music] [singing, music]

[singing, music] After playing pro ball and going back to ah Northeast to get my master's degree, I went back to my hometown and applied for a position ah, which as a kid growing up there I always wanted as a teacher and was told that they could not hire me. I could have been a teacher here. Because I admired the school and I admired the people here. And I firmly believe that it, I know it is, because I was black. And there was no black teachers. I don't know I I don't know. If I was a teacher here, what would what would I've done. I don't know but ah I always wanted to be a teacher at this high school.

Then I got a phone call telling me that they wanted to ah have a day for me and give me a key to the city and I said well [clapping] Whereas, Milton Pike has consistently demonstrated his love and concern for young people by helping them reach their full potential. Now therefore, I Ron Tindick [?] mayor of the city of Jacksonville do proclaim Saturday, September the 8th,1990 as Milton McPike [clapping] day in the city of Jacksonville. Milton, I'd like for you to have this. [clapping] [clapping] Thank you. I'm here to teach all of you a simple and a few lessons. Lesson number one. Make sure that all young people feel good about themselves. A

positive self-concept is at the bottom of the most personal success. I didn't have to do anything major for the school for him to notice me. I was just here and I went to him for help and he helped me. He like notices everybody. That fits. Perfect. Lesson number two. Make sure that all young people have a positive goal and they are working towards that. [game background, yelling, whistle] Lesson number three. Teach our young people that there are no short cuts. [background noise, speaking] Last year I had to go to court a lot. And he went every single time I had a court date he went with me. So he really cares. We must help our young people see past the problems today. And see

the possibilities for tomorrow. [background yelling] [background noise and school bell ringing] Let's go. Tough, firm. You better find some place to go else you be going on vacation. I cry. I smile. I laugh. I have fun. [music] I like what I do. [music] Hey, ladies. Good gracious. I suppose a favorite type of music is during my days, the Elvis Presley stuff. You know the

rock 'n' roll stuff that's how I was brought up. [music] There is a nation...