GREENSBORO, N.C. — In 1963, 57 years ago amidst racial tensions in the city, Smith High School in Greensboro opened it's doors to black students.
At the time, there were only about 25 black students and just one black athlete, Ray Linney.
"There was so many people that didn't understand the integration," Linney said.
Smith High School was brand new and Ray Linney's parents decided to enroll him there, but it wasn't an easy transition.
"I would get these calls that say, 'Leave our women alone or we are going to do this. Meet us out behind the school,'" Linney said.
As a young teen Linney said he always made it a point to talk with everyone.
"I never segregated myself because I wasn't afraid of what was going on," he said.
His outlet was sports. That year, he became the school's first black athlete--- earning a spot on the varsity football roster. But when he first started playing with his teammates, he says some of them weren't teamlike.
"One day the little white guy jumped out of the way of me when I was running up through there," he explained.
His assistant coach did not tolerate that behavior calling both of them off the field.
"He told that guy, 'Come here let me see your hand,' and I said oh Lord what is he getting ready to do. He said, 'Give me your hand,'" Linney said.
The coaches then rubbed both players arms together.
"He said, 'See here it doesn't rub off now hit him.' So that was the start of being accepted," Linney said.
Linney would go on in the coming years to also play basketball and run track at Smith. It's there he realized his love for sports and the impact coaches can make in young people's lives.
"All of us have something we can do to make this a better world," he said.
So after high school, he turned his talents to coaching and mentoring.
"I'm trying to teach you the game and teach you how to be a human being, a good human being," he said.
He's coached basketball, football, and baseball, taking what his father's taught him, and instilling that in the kids he's around.
He said he wants to leave a legacy of love and respect for everyone.
"Love your people. Love everybody. Don't see color in your eyes see people because that's the way God sees us," Linney said.
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