By the end of April 1946, the kingdom of Hungary becomes a republic, 400 coal miners are killed during an explosion in Germany, Juan Peron is elected President of Argentina, Ho Chi Mihn signs an agreement with France that recognizes Vietnam as an autonomous state, the League of Nations disbands and transfers its missions to the United Nations. For the first time in Japan, women are allowed to vote and Masahharu Homma is executed for leading the Bataan Death March that resulted in the deaths of thousands of prisoners.
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Civil Rights events
In Morgan v Virginia, the Supreme Court rules that a Virginia law requiring segregated seating in interstate busses is an "unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce." President Truman appoints a presidential committee on civil rights in response to a wave of violence against African Americans living in the south; Ebony Magazine publishes the profiles of six Negro Newsman of White Dailies. Included are Earl Brown of Life, Ted Poston of the New York Post and William A. Brower of the Toledo Blade. The print media in the United States at this time is almost but not completely segregated. Only a handful of African Americans are employed as journalists.
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In Music
A revised and streamlined version of Showboat opens on Broadway, Buddy Ebson is one of the stars, Al Jolson records his old hits for his Columbia biopic "The Al Jolson Story", B. B. King begins working as a professional musician in Memphis, Tennessee and Chet Atkins makes his first appearance at the "Grand Ole Opry"
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The week passed quickly with no mishaps but Kenji still maintained that they were still experiencing a time of temporary calm. The beginning of the storm didn't show itself until the following Monday when Patricia went to class fully expecting to bump heads with Professor Hathaway.
As always, Kenji walked her to class and left her with a light caress of her hand. Patricia sat in her seat and prepared for the surprise quiz that was no longer a surprise. She ignored the sound of the students coming in and only looked up when she felt someone standing next to her.
"How are you doing?" A male voice asked rather nervously. It was the student who from the week before who had warned her about Hathaway.
"Hello." Patricia replied politely. She wondered what he wanted and why someone was actually talking to her after weeks of ignoring her.
She stared at him when he sat in the empty seat next to her. She was about to ask him what he was doing when and instructor walked in and cleared his throat.
"My name is Professor Clarence Books." he said and looked around the room, his eyes resting on Patricia a tad longer than they had on anyone else's. "I will be teaching this class for the duration of the semester and I want to make a few things clear."
Patricia settled in for the same spiel that Hathaway had delivered several weeks before but was surprised.
"One of the first things that I want to clarify is this, I don't give a damn about whether you're white, black, purple or green, I expect the work to be done. At the risk of getting myself into a bit of trouble I also want to say this, it is most unfortunate that Professor Hathaway allowed his personal beliefs to interfere with his responsibility as an educator. I'm quite sure that you are well aware of what I'm talking about so I don't need to expound in it. Rest assured that nothing like what happened will occur in this room as long as I am the instructor. Everyone and I do mean everyone is entitled to an education so having said that please open your text...."
Patricia stole a glance around wondering if everyone else was a shocked as she was. Her next thought was about who would have turned Hathaway in and if he would somehow hold her responsible for it even though she hadn't said anything to anyone about her problems with him except Kenji and Joel. The last person she looked at was the man sitting beside her. "Was it him?" she wondered as she looked away before he caught her looking at him.
As she looked forward to listen to the instructor, she had to admit that the class had a different feel to it than the weeks before. It didn't feel as oppressive and she found that she actually enjoyed it. After class was over the mystery student introduced himself.
"I'm Bernard Hammond."
"It's nice to meet you, I'm Patricia Takeda."
"I know who you are." Bernard replied with a smile, "And it's nice to finally officially meet you."
"I don't mean to be rude but why now?" Patricia asked.
"Excuse me?" Bernard asked not sure about what Patricia meant.
"This class started weeks ago so why are you just now speaking to me?" she asked trying hard not to sound abrupt but she really wanted to know.
Bernard caught off guard by the question became flustered. He was told that all he had to do was introduce himself and that was even more than he wanted to do. As far as he was concerned, he had done his duty by telling someone about Hathaway and to sit next to her in class had been a very stupid move on his part.
"Oh... hey I've got to get going! My next class starts in a few minutes." he said avoiding the question.
Before Patricia could say anything more, he grabbed his books and took off. She didn't notice that someone sitting in the far back corner of the classroom was watching her.
*******
Kenji was waiting for her when she came out. He was actually about to go in after her when she walked out.
"Kirei? Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine but you're not going to believe this." she said as they walked outside.
"So he is gone?" Kenji asked when Patricia told him about Hathaway.
"Supposed to be." Patricia replied as she played with his long fingers.
"Still you must be careful." Kenji said catching her fingers in his without looking.