Lost Voices
As a result of Affirmative Action, black women were
first hired at the Owens
Illinois Factory in 1966. This is the year that Jan
Smith began her employment there. Well, I heard it from some of my girlfriends
which they heard it from 
church. When they wanted to
hire the Black women, they went to the churches or
religious organizations, they wanted what they called the
best Black women. Churches served as a
recruitment center for many businesses because of the
perception that black women with religious backgrounds
were more suitable.
Though opportunities increased through Affirmative Action, African Americans had to complete certain employment requirements to which their white co-workers were not subjected. Out of twenty people that were hired, they might have hired five blacks during that year per every twenty people. We all had to be high school graduates and we had to take tests which was a first. They never had tests before... and we all had to pass the tests. It was more like an IQ test that had nothing to do with the work in there, believe me, nothing. The discrimination that Jan Smith experienced manifested in other ways as well: They would not give you credit where credit was due. I don’t care how hard you worked or how much you went out of your way.
Racial tensions existed, not just between management
and employees, but also among co-workers: When we were on break, we
would socialize or at any social functions that the plant
had, we would socialize together... I thought we were
friends, but then they showed their true colors when I
would meet them outside the plant with their family and
friends and they didn’t know me. I mean they
actually would not know me, would not speak. I kid you
not. I couldn’t believe it. I just couldn’t
believe it, but they did. And to this day, some of them
still do. It took many years for this to sink in. It had
to happen several times before it hit me and not to upset
me or bother me because at first it I was just in
disbelief. It hurt me worse then anything really. But
like anything else, I got used to it. I came to expect
it.