Carter student and basketball player in 1988-89; now Carter assistant principal
Q: Can you give me a sense of what Carter was like in 1988?
A: We got here in ninth grade, it was a family. There was a Pizza Inn on Red Bird Lane right next to Braum's. We used to go to Pizza Inn. It's a cleaners and florist now. If one went, everybody went. 30 people. You didn't necessarily have to play a sport to be part of the family. Everybody was part of the family.
Even if you ran track and everybody ran past you, you still were part of the family. Everybody was part of the Carter pride and Carter tradition, even to the point where there was a lot of Atwell tradition. I even remember the ninth grade, it was nothing for us to actually support the rivalry of the junior high game of Atwell and Hulcy.
Q: You played basketball with Jimmy Edwards, one of the students who ended up going to prison?
A: Jimmy was not the leading scorer. Jimmy was the most talented. Shawn Townsend was the leading scorer. Jimmy was athletic. I want to say he was 6 feet or 6-1, but his athletic ability made him 6-5.
Q: I understand that he had grade problems and played only part of the season?
A: You're right. Academic issues.
Q: Do you think that played a part in his getting into trouble that spring with the robberies?
A: I want to say yes. Because if you're focused on something and you're where you need to be at all times . ... They were active, used to doing things. I can't tell you what spirited them to go in that direction. Like Judge Kendall said. I don't know. But what you've got to say is what they did, they did it all together.
Q: How do you think today's Carter students and administrators look at that 1988 season?
A: I think they look at it as the year Carter won the state championship. Being an ineligible student, the final score was, what, 31-14. Can they make up the difference? Can one player make up 20 points?
I think the community, I'm not going to say the community was built on that, but the community has not forgotten that that's where we once were, and we're still trying to get back there.
I'm not saying there isn't Carter pride now, but there's a different feeling now. So as a result, they're trying to understand, 'How did we get here. Did we win, we got into the playoffs, that's a given. But now, if you've got to win, you've got to win deep.
Let's be honest. I understand people look at the class of '88. Kids, man. Just kids. They were kids. We all were kids, just like today. They were somebody's kids. Somebody's daughters and sons.
The ultimate goal of education is to educate. We don't have the same numbers we had. I want to say, don't quote me, we had 3,000-plus. I'm not for sure. Now, there is such a big difference. 500 kids will make a difference in a school.
Q: I get a sense from talking to those involved that the community galvanized during the playoff run. Did you get that sense as it was happening?
A: Oh, by far. I remember little league teams were supporting Carter Cowboys. Everybody wanted to go to Carter. I remember the Dallas Cowboys spoke with Carter, I want to say it was Michael Irvin.
The T-shirts and the caravan and the booster club, we have it, but we don't have the magnitude we had in '88. And we're trying to build that back up.
Q: And when the state title was stripped?
A: When that happened, they took it back emotionally. Emotionally, it was a drain. It was like we worked hard for this, we jumped through this hoop and that hoop. We went downtown. We went down to Austin. We did all this, now give us our prize because we earned it off the sweat of our backs.
Then to take it away, you took away the emotions. You still have it, but in the back of your mind you know they took it away. But the people who worked out there, the two-a-days, the people who supported us, the lawyers, can't ever take it away.
No matter what, what was the score, 31-14?. One kid can make up 20 points?
Q: Do you think there is still some anger as people in the community look back on that time?
A: Bitterness. Strong bitterness. Resentful.
I went to a school the other day trying to explain to them that this is The David W. Carter. Officer Scott and I went to Atwell. We were explaining to them the programs we have to offer in high school because a lot of our kids are going to charter schools and other high schools.
If you had come here early this morning, you would have seen five buses, five school buses of kids, going to other schools. Because they pick up here and go to Townview and Conrad, Skyline. See, they're all going to those schools. Those are kids who could have been going here.
When I went to speak to those kids at Atwell, I asked them if they have questions. A kid got up and said, 'Do you all still have an issue with robbing and stealing?' Kid was 14, wasn't even born then. I told the kid that was before you were born. Someone in your home told you that. That was 20 years ago.
Q: Can you talk about principal Russeau? Some would say his couple of years were controversial.
A: You know what? They were very controversial. By me being an administrator at this time, I know that for Russeau, it was very difficult to make the choice. You have a great athlete, there's a grade issue going on. That issue being minute to some affected the whole community. I think he handled it the best he could.
I think he went home a whole bunch of nights and took his jacket off and undid his tie and started thinking, 'Where am I going to go with this? Who is this going to affect?' It was more than just Gary's grade. The whole Carter football team. It's the people who sell snowcones on the street. What was the barbecue place? Western Barbecue. He was pulling for us, too.
It gave us some sense of, 'We made it. We got here.' So Mr. Russeau had to stand tell. I think he made the right decision. I really do.
Q: Can you talk about the mentorship program at Carter that P.K. Williams is part of?
A: It's called the African American Male Initiative. It's taking some males, not restructuring their lives, but trying to add to their lives so they can be more productive.
We're trying to show them some things, put them in environments where they can be successful. We're meeting with the community. P.K. is bringing in the element from the church. My fraternity is offering mentorship.
Each person is bringing something unique to the table. One guy has worked with the city of Dallas, bringing resources. Friendship West is bringing transportation, sometimes five . ... same thing with Oak Cliff Bible fellowship. They're coming in and pulling kids out during their elective and meeting with kids.
Kids that are needy, they're going to provide Christmas for them. People from New Orleans, Katrina. They've stepped up to the plate.
Q: How many kids?
A: At this time, we want to mentor 20 kids. However, it's not just 20 kids. It's 20 kids who show leadership qualities in every area of their life. I'm not just looking for the student council member. Even if you're the class clown, you lead by jokes. The person who never says anything can still lead. The person who may be in a gang or negative environment, you still show leadership skills.
Q: What are your impressions from working with P.K.?
A: He's one of the people I thought could actually assist our students. I believe in humility. He has humility. He's very humble in what he's doing. Look, son, you're making a bad decision. He can reach those kids that I can't reach.
(Sitting in his office at Carter, Arbuckle points to his top shelf, where he has a Carter helmet from the '88 era.)
I'm a grown man now. I have two kids, five and two. I look at these kids as though they're going to be someone's husband or wife one day. And to be a productive citizen some day. It's OK to love Carter. It's OK to have pride. But in duration of those things, you still have to live life.
You've still got life after the state championship.
I just want the best for everybody. The lives that we affect today, these are humans. Those girls out there, when I deal with them, the decisions I make might affect the rest of their lives. So this mentoring program, I want to be arrogant and say I did this, but I just want to help somebody.
There's guys who went to Plano and went to prison. Of course, this is Carter and this is the 20th anniversary, but you've got to show them something different.
