Amarillo.com has published a fascinating glimpse into the life of an Amarillo transit driver. The driver explains what it was like to grow up in the Panhandle as a person of color. “I do remember having a lot of problems during high school integration back in 1967,” explains Clarence Bolton. He continues: “I went from Carver, over in the Heights, to Palo Duro High School. . . . There was a little racism going on as people tried to accept the integration. . . . We were the start of integration. . . . But nobody ever got hurt or harmed and I never got in any trouble. . . . There was a time when the black community didn’t want whites to come down Hughes Street and Hughes was the main passage through North Heights.
"Today I’m a bus driver for Amarillo City Transit and I like that Amarillo still offers the bus service. I rode it a lot as a kid all around town. . . . We have come from riding in the back of the bus to being allowed to drive the bus.