The doctors gathered around, passing the stethoscope from hand to hand, taking turns listening to my chest. Finally, the lead doctor said, "Now, that's what I call a heartbeat!"
I snapped, "Whaddaya mean?"
"It's like hearing a diesel engine inside a Mustang body," he said.
Melvin Whitfield Carter Jr., the father of St. Paul's current mayor, is a true son of Rondo, the city's storied African American neighborhood. He was born in a city divided along racial lines and rich in cultural misunderstanding. Growing up in the 1950s and '60s, he witnessed the destruction of his neighborhood by the I-94 freeway—and he found his way to fighting and trouble.
But Carter turned his life around. As a young man, he enlisted in the US Navy. He used his fighting ability to survive racist treatment, winning boxing matches and respect. And as an affirmative action hire in the St. Paul Police Department, facing prejudice at every turn, this hardworking, talented, and highly principled officer fought to protect the people of the city he calls home.
Diesel Heart is the story of a leader who created a powerful family legacy by standing up for what is right, even in the face of adversity.
ISBN-13: 9781681341255
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
Publication Date: 02-01-2019
Pages: 256
Product Dimensions: 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Melvin Whitfield Carter Jr. served as an officer in the St. Paul Police Department for twenty-eight years. He is the founder and executive director of Save Our Sons.
Read an Excerpt
Sometimes the least significant thing can be most pivotal. Me ’n’ my rookie were dispatched to a domestic in progress, on the top floor of a low income apartment building. Three teenage Black males were standing in the hallway, unrelated to the call, as we made our way up the stairway. My rookie stopped to identify them as I continued upward. So now I’m in a situation where I’m handling a violent domestic alone when my rookie calls out a foot pursuit. I stop everything. He’s chasing the kids on foot while I’m racing around the neighborhood in the squad car trying to find him. In the process of backing up as I change directions, I backed hard into a foot post, causing damage to the squad car.. As it turned out, one of the Black youth had a misdemeanor warrant for some petty crime. We get through the incident, no big thing, until Sgt. Prima Donna calls me into the ol’ “Mel, come in and shut the door” routine. “Now, Mel, I’m gonna be honest with ya’. The guys complain that you treat Negroes better than you treat whites. I mean, you are good to everyone, but you’ve been here over six years and still have not quite proven yourself like . . .” He named a list of other Black police officers I was supposed to be like. I had no intention of ever being anything like them. The ones he named were particularly brutal to Black people only. The last thing Blacks needed was more iron feet of oppression. I wanted Black people to know it was a new day.
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Table of Contents
Part 1. Son of Rondo 1. Who I Came From 2. The Family Up North 3. Deep Rondo 4. Learnin’ Lessons 5. Growin’ Pains 6. Free at Last 7. Long Hot Summer 8. Turnin’ Points Part 2. Navy Blues 9. Maiden Voyage 10. The Passage 11. Boiler Room 12. Bouk in Pieces 13. Internal Combustion 14. Comin’ Home, Baby 15. Trial and Error Part 3 Bringin’ It Home 16. In the Valley of the Shadow 17. Head to the Sky 18. The Police Academy 19. Probationary Blues 20. Two New Worlds 21. Policing While Black 22. Routine Workplace Hostility 23. Rice Street Parade 24. SWAT 25. One Good Man and Then the Battle 26. Who Woulda Thought It? 27. Promoted 28. Save Our Sons
