Four who led civil-rights protest at Woolworth's are honored

[undergroundrailroad]

Four who led civil-rights protest at Woolworth's are honored

45 years later, four men who led protest at Woolworth's lunch counter are honored as civil rights pioneers

BY MARTIN C. EVANS
STAFF WRITER

February 21, 2005

When he was 17 years old, Joseph McNeil, now of Hempstead, walked into a Woolworth's store in North Carolina with three other black college students, intent on asking for a slice of cherry pie.

Rather than serve them at a lunch counter reserved for white customers, a Woolworth's manager closed the store early that Feb. 1, 1960, day.

But McNeil and the others returned the next day and the next, angering some white customers, embarrassing some black employees, emboldening many fellow black students and eventually enlisting handfuls of white sympathizers.

"It was amazing," said McNeil, 62, who grew up in rural North Carolina and retired as a two-star general in the Air Force Reserve. "What it showed was there were thousands of young people who felt this was an evil and we had to do something about it."

On Tuesday, the North Carolina legislature passed a resolution honoring the "Greensboro Four" - including McNeil - for the bravery their actions showed. And this week, 45 years after what became known as the Greensboro Sit-ins, McNeil and other New York area residents who took part in the demonstrations paused to reflect on an event widely credited with having helped spark the student activism of the 1960s.

[angee_is_mad]

1. museum

I can't wait for the ICRCM to finally open. If you are ever in Greensboro go down to Elm to check out the construction.

The outside of the building(which is under construction)has giant photos taken from the civil rights era in the windows. A picture is definitely worth a thousand words.

[undergroundrailroad]

2. Thanks for the info angee_is_mad! Welcome to African-American

Issues Group!

Undergroundrailroad :hi:

[angee_is_mad]

3. Been here awhile

but it's always great to feel welcome. Thanks!

[msgadget]

4. To make this real for my kids,

I ask them to put themselves in the shoes of those who risked their well-being for our current relative ease in these United States. How would it be, for instance, to go into McDonald's and have them demand they wait by the dumpster to be served? And, considering it was an acceptable and legal practice, how much nerve would it take to defiantly take a seat and WAIT to be arrested or worse? Who could they count on to sit with them? How low would they feel if they couldn't muster the courage to force change?

Did you notice that some of the black employees were embarassed? That's hard to imagine these days but I remember my grandfather shushing me when I visited him in the south. Better to go along quietly than risk bringing trouble down on everyone.

This happened less than 50 years ago. I love this country but I can't forget how reluctant those in power were to do the hard thing without being pushed. Ironically, the very media we find sorely lacking today was a mighty influence on public policy during the civil rights movement. Also ironic is how politicians today can't say 'civil rights movement' enough as they posture for our votes. What is lacking that we aren't organized enough to do this now?

Thanks for posting this, UGRR. :hi: