Conrad L. Raiford

Conrad L. Raiford is an important person to people today, and especially to black people.

Conrad L. Raiford was a champion athlete, educator, good will ambassador and one of Greensboro, NC's first African-American police officers.

In, 1946, Raiford was one of the only six black men chosen by a then all white Greensboro Police Department. The officers weren't allowed to arrest anyone whose skin was not their color. Officers had to protect places with "colored police" written on their cars. That was to let other people know that they could only arrest black people. Shuffling up colored and white police officers during World War 11 was a big problem.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a crowd almost got out of control when black officers where hired; some even attacked them. Black officers were not allowed to wear their uniforms back and forth to work. They had to dress at Atlanta's black YMCA. "They built a 2nd bathroom in the cold rat infested basement of city hall because we were considered less than human," said Raiford, who was a star athlete with a college degree.

Raiford and an elementary school teacher, Myrtle Mary Francis Wright, were married for 54 years.

By: Aliza W.