On January 30, the whole family moved to Richmond, Virginia. In Richmond we heard on the radio the Hitler speech in which he threatened for the first time to physically destroy European Jewry in case of war.
The day before we left New York, Harry Mela visited us with his wife to say goodbye. He also enlightened me about the racial situation in Virginia. After the democracy lessons I had enjoyed in Lakewood, this was a shock to me. What I then found in Richmond confirmed his report. I encountered apartheid practices there that reminded me of Nazi Germany. I had been able to leave Germany just before the November pogrom, at a time when everyday discrimination against so-called non-Aryans, including bans on the use of public facilities (parks, movie theaters, swimming pools, hospitals, schools, libraries, restaurants, etc.) was in full swing.
So I identified completely with the black population. Their continued humiliation depressed me. They were never addressed as Mr. or Mrs., only by their first names; adult black men were called “boys.” In the newspaper, their names were followed by “negro” or “colored,” similar to the term “Volljude” in Nazi Germany. There were separate restrooms for “white gentlemen” and “colored men,” “white ladies” and “colored women.” With few exceptions, for example, teachers, lawyers, and clergy who worked exclusively in the black community itself, blacks were confined to menial services.
Source: Wilma and Georg Iggers, Zwei Seiten der Geschichte. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2002, p. 67f (translation)