The Beatles...1964.. Segregation..the South.... Gator Bowl

[Ichingcarpenter]

The Beatles at the Gator Bowl



The Beatles played a concert at the Gator Bowl on their first American Tour on September 11, 1964.


It is notable because once the Beatles found out that the concert was going to be segregated, they refused to play there unless they allowed the audience to be desegregated, as there was no segregation in Europe.


Paul McCartney went on record about their disapproval of the situation and their lack of understanding of segregation in the first place.


John Lennon said, "We never play to segregated audiences and we aren't going to start now. I'd sooner lose our appearance money." They did end up playing to a desegregated audience.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gator_Bowl_Stadium#The_Beatles_at_the_Gator_Bowl

[dchill]

1. Good for them.

One more reason to love the Beatles.

[RagAss]

2. It's apparent that they knew nothing about Jacksonville.....

Probably thought it was a few miles from Miami.

[edhopper]

5. I grew up in Miami in the late 50s

and early 60s. Still had white's only water fountains and bathrooms. It was still the South.
The schools didn't desegregate until the 70s.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. The Beatles laid down the same contractual refusal of segregation at San Francisco's Cow Palace

Which was a segregated facility at that time. The Beatles were the last blow to that policy which had been fought for some time in SF. Cow Palace was 1965 and it is still located a few thousand miles from Miami....

[RagAss]

8. I appreciate your post...

but to seriously compare segregation in Jacksonville, Florida to San Francisco in 1965 ?

[Bluenorthwest]

9. I actually did no such thing, others are better suited for that task.

For comparison and contrast of SF to Southern cities, I rely on sources like this man, who moved from Jackson, FL to SF in 1944:
"As a descendant of former slaves and as an immigrant from the South, I have a unique perspective on segregation. My parents migrated to Oakland from Jackson, Mississippi, in 1944. Like other immigrants, we found big opportunity. Public schools were only partially segregated. Post-secondary education was open to all who qualified, at little cost. We also found a different kind of segregation from the oppressive bias we had experienced in Jackson. In Jackson there were signs which posted the segregation policies. In California there were segregation policies, but no signs."
http://sfbayview.com/2012/welcome-to-segregated-california/

And interviews like this one:
http://foundsf.org/index.php?title=Segregation_and_the_Civil_Rights_Movement_in_San_Francisco

[Nitram]

10. Ragass, perhaps you fail to realize...

...that segregation, and lynchings, were not confined below the Mason Dixon Line.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Yes being from here in the UK it would've been totally foreign to them

especially given the subject - music.

Aside from anything else unification wasn't an issue here partly due to the introduction Blue Beat / Ska here which preceded the Beatles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Beat_Records That was what knitted the original skins and rude boys together and later led to our Two Tone bands like the Specials / Special AKA.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

11. Original skin here

Thanks for this post.

[dipsydoodle]

12. I'm pleased to hear that.

You would not believe some of the flack I've had here in the past on that subject

[Boudica the Lyoness]

13. I can only imagine.

[happyslug]

4. But did they play to a segregated audience?

Just because the Concert producers SAID they were no segregation, did not mean there was no segregation. How could the Beetles know since they were on the Stage? By the time they would have found out the concert would have been over. I am NOT saying the Beetles were going through the motions as to segregation, but the Gator bowl had good reason to lie to them.

This is unlike personal appearances in the Segregated South, where the person everyone wanted to see would let them stand in line and be personally greeted. In such cases it would be impossible to maintain two separate lines UNLESS the person people wanted to see agreed to the Segregation. I bring this up for when William Boyd (who played Hopilong Cassiday in the Movies and early TV) did go on such personal tours and when he was in such a tour in the South in the 1950s segregation raised its ugly head. He insisted on the kids (most were under age 12) be in one line NOT the two lines that the host of his visit were insisting on. It was one of the first time that a "Star" had insisted on one line and it was a shock to the South.

Just a comment that, while it was good that the Beetles insisted on no segregation in that visit in 1964, that did NOT mean segregation did not occur, all it means is the Beetles objected to it and did all they could to prevent it.

[niyad]

6. agreed. another reason to love the beatles.

apart from the desegregation thing, they played that concert in less-than-ideal conditions:



The concert was also notable because it was held the day after Hurricane Dora struck St. Augustine and Jacksonville. Most of Jacksonville was without electricity and power was not restored for several days. Despite the hurricane, 23,000 fans attended, paying $4 and $5 for tickets. During the concert, Ringo Starr's drums were nailed to the stage because of 45 mph winds.[6]