• myusernameis@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    37
    ·
    4 months ago

    The full story is almost better than that. As told by his brother:

    "Well, this old librarian, she says, ‘This library is not for coloreds.’ He said, ‘Well, I would like to check out these books.’

    "She says, ‘Young man, if you don’t leave this library right now, I’m gonna call the police.’

    "So he just propped himself up on the counter, and sat there, and said, ‘I’ll wait.’ "

    [The police and his mother were called]

    "And the police officer said, ‘You know, why don’t you just give the kid the books?’

    "And my mother said, ‘He’ll take good care of them.’ "

    So, the librarian reluctantly handed over the books. And then, Carl says, "my mother said, ‘What do you say?’ "

    And Ron answered, “Thank you, ma’am.”

    Full story: NPR

  • mouserat
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    35
    ·
    4 months ago

    After reading Karate champion I thought he used it to fight the librarians. Either way a great story.

    • Glytch@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      4 months ago

      Little known fact: if you defeat the head librarian in martial combat you become the head librarian.

  • bcgm3@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    28
    ·
    4 months ago

    The middle school I went to was also named after him. Didn’t know about him being a karate champion too!

    • PugJesus@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      4 months ago

      And a saxophone player good enough to arouse the interest of a professional musician. Man’s bio reads like he cheated at character creation. It really is amazing.

  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    edit-2
    4 months ago

    Both the phrasing and that expression suggest he got into MIT through the power of karate.

    You still have to earn the degree like regular, but admissions’ kung-fu is strong.

    • Excrubulent@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      Wait, are you saying he didn’t just pulverise a bloody trail through the university and NASA, stealing a PhD certificate and then a Rocket?

      I mean, this is still a cool story, but I’m also kinda disappointed.

  • MTK@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    4 months ago

    I get too many shit posts here, I was sure this would end with “and he still couldn’t check out his books”