Diversity Story

By: Makaila Gaston

Sheila Reed grew up what you would call a “military brat.” She says she wasn’t aware she was Black until she was 11 years old. Another kid at school told her she was “colored.” She went home and asked her mother about it, at which time she confirmed that Sheila was indeed black. Sheila says that in the military community, there were so many mixes of cultures but outside of the military it is different because those people had typically lived with the same people their whole lives. Military families move so much and come in contact with all types of people. “You are your environment, and my environment was everything,” she said to me.

Because of this, to her it wasn’t anything strange or out of the ordinary for her to date a white man, let alone marry. When her daughter was born, she was constantly asked why she was “so white.”

“What difference does it make? She's a person,” Sheila recalls her response.

“Even black people would ask me.”

The year is 1983. Sheila is celebrating her 25th birthday. She decides to get dolled up and go to Slammer Jammers which was located inside of a hotel in Lansing, MI, where she had just moved to from California. Her friend joins her; she was Mexican, for context. As they are standing in line, they notice in front of them were two white women dressed in shorts and sandals. The white women approach the front desk where they are allowed to enter for free. When Sheila and her friend approach the desk, they are told they have to pay. Shocked that the women before them were allowed to enter without pay and now they are being charged, Sheila and her friend assume it may have been a misunderstanding. Maybe the women did pay.

They pay and when they enter, they immediately find the women and ask. “Nope! We got in free,” they assured her.mShe asked them to come out with her to talk to the manager however they were reluctant at first. They were afraid that if they helped Sheila challenge the club, they’d be forced to then pay. “If that happens, I’ll pay for it,” said Sheila.

They followed behind her as she raced back to the front desk. She asked the manager why she and her friend were charged, when two women before the, were allowed to enter for free. He turned around with a look of disgust on his face, “because you are not a preferred customer of management,” said the manager and he turned back around to focus on what he was doing before she had interrupted him.

Sheila had never experienced anything like this. She walked around to get closer to him and demand his attention. She said firmly, “Do you know who I am?”

“No,” he quickly said. He turned to look at her and smirked, “Should I?”

“I didn’t travel across the country or the world to come to Lansing, Michigan to be insulted by you. I could be the president's bestfriend. I could be your boss’s girlfriend. You don't know who I am. But, by Monday I bet you will.”

He just laughed. She turned around and told all the black people to get out of line. “We aren’t welcome here.”

First thing Monday morning she called the Lansing Journal, the hotel that Slammer Jammers was inside of, the Míchigan Liquor Control Commission, and the local news. Following her complaint, The Liquor Commission went up to Slammer Jammers. Soon after, they closed the club and eventually the hotel closed as well. She went to court and the hotel settled.

In the years to come, it became evident that Sheila wasn’t welcomed in Lansing, or anyone of her race for that matter. Out of everywhere she'd lived (Boston, California, Cuba, Rhodesia Island and more) she deemed Lansing, Michigan as the most racist. This is why she moved to Detroit in 1988.

“I thought Detroit would be better. Some areas were.” Sheila was originally born in Detroit however, she was never raised here. When she would visit from California, she says that they would call her “white girl” because she talked differently.

“I hated my cousins for that. I don't get along with them to this day.”

Sheila kept moving until she found the best area for whatever fit her needs at that time. After Detroit she moved to Southfield, Inkster, and a few other places because she wanted to change her children’s environment. Sheila didn’t want her children to be like the “typical Detroit children.” Her little cousins had never passed 8 Mile and she wanted more for them..

She made it her mission to keep her children safe, happy and cultured. Today, she has raised her children in exactly this manner and continues to reside in Michigan.