AUGUST 21 ISSUE ANSWERS: Who was Mrs. Betty Burke of Romeo? She lived at 355 North Bailey Street. Betty along with James C. Burke, an Industrial Arts Teacher in Romeo from 1955-1980 and Romeo Councilman, were actively involved in Project Hope. Project Hope founded in 1958 is still active after more than 65 years. It was organized to transform the health and wellbeing of people and communities around the world, in other words to help provide urgent relief to the needy among us. One evening at Betty’s Bailey Street home, bullets rang out during a Project Hope meeting a bullet went into her mailbox six inches below a window. The following morning, their adopted son Stoney, was sent out to scrub off a tar written, horrifying, disgusting message, large enough to fill the whole sidewalk, saying, “Nigur Luvrs.” For a while the mailbox with the bullet in it was on display in the museum, but a family member requested it be returned. At that time when the remains of some Jim Crow laws were still in effect and racial segregation was unfairly heavily practiced, this did not deter Betty. Since her husband was a councilman, she was able, if brave enough, to stand up for the equal rights of the oppressed. At that time she caused a little “good trouble” as U.S. Congressman John Lewis once said. Some Romeo restaurants only allowed blacks to get their food from the back door of the restaurant. Well, Betty was not going to put up with that unjust rule. She took her black friends right through the front door and sat right down. We don’t have record of any squalls or ugly looks but progress was on the advance. We do know that during the July 3, 1967 Detroit riots lasting five days that killed 33 blacks and 10 whites, rioters marched up Van Dyke to stir up trouble in Romeo. According to some accounts, some folks from our black community met the rioters at 29 Mile Road and said something to the effect, “Stay away, we are fine here in Romeo. We don’t want any trouble here.” Some churches were even ignorantly mesmerized into believing segregation is good; however, some churches knew better. The Ku Klux Klan organized a rally where Sisson Street meets 31 Mile Road in a field. This was even advertised in The Romeo Observer. The first meeting brought 1,500 people, at the next meeting just a few came. They knew it was wrong and no Klan roots were put down here. Romeo people have always held enough respect for one another that there has been much more harmony than in other places. For this I’m proud of the Betty Burke’s in the world and all Romeo residents, black, white, Hispanic or other who love equally. I’m sure individually someone has been hurt. But hopefully, we know how to love our brother better today than yesterday. As a mother I’m sure Betty and Jim Burke are proud of their son Stoney. Stoney left Romeo in 1975 to study performance and graduate from the University of Oregon. Later he went on to UCLA and used his voice to talk about the right of free speech. His book’s title written in 2014 is: Weapons: Mouth- Adventures in the Free Speech Zone: about the rights of the first amendment. Like mother, like son, civil rights of differing sorts were on their minds. —Joan E. Beringer Romeo Historical Society Curator