Posted on 01/31/2010 5:17:14 PM PST by reaganaut1
GREENSBORO, N.C. — The sign still says “F. W. Woolworth Co.” in bright gold letters running across the building on South Elm Street, just as it did 50 years ago. And within that two-story structure, the same stainless steel dumbwaiters and commercial appliances line the mirrored walls. The lunch counter, which includes a bowling-alley-long tabletop that must dwarf any currently in use, is largely intact; the original chrome and vinyl chairs are still mounted in the floor. This site is an authentic, half-century-old relic, a remnant of the mundane, the insignificant, the quaint.
But one of the achievements of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, which is opening Monday in that former Woolworth building, is that you begin to understand how such a place became a pivot in the greatest political movement of the 20th century.
In the museum’s 30,000 square feet of exhibition space, the mundane luncheonette reminds us that a cataclysmic social transformation took place over the right to be ordinary. For that was what was at stake — not subtle and arcane matters of law or obscure practices that challenged eccentric codes of behavior, but the basic acts of daily life: eating, drinking, sleeping, working, playing. It was here, at this luncheonette counter, that four 17-year-old freshmen at the all-black Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina — Joseph A. McNeil, Franklin E. McCain, David L. Richmond and Ezell A. Blair Jr. — arrived on Feb. 1, 1960, sat down and ordered some food.
And when they were refused — refused because they were black, because much of Greensboro was racially segregated, and because Woolworth headquarters had decreed that the company policy was “to abide by local custom” — the four students continued to sit in mute protest.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
What if they put up a “no guns allowed” sign?
They can’t let this go, Like they were responsible for the outcome.
I agree with you.
Private property rights took a big hit in order for the federal government
to try to resolve the social issues of the day.
A citizen *should* be able to restrict access to his private property
in any way that he sees fit, but alas, that is not the case.
There’s no “what if” about it. Those signs are everywhere here in AZ.
Most of those responsible for the Jim Crow society were Democrats.
Even before the Civil War, Democrats were the enemy of freedom.
“were a violation of private property rights and the right of free association.
“
Then said property owner wouldn’t mind giving back all the tax money the blacks paid to give that property/business owner the streets, sewers, street lights, etc. his business uses to operate. A public business is just that, public. We are a nation, not just a bunch of private individuals living near each other. We should have private lives and in those lives we can refuse to associate with one another, but not in commerce.
No nation can survive if one sector of the population refuses to offer business with another.
So, I suppose the enslavement of half of humanity and the deaths of, at least, 100 million people because of the vile spread of socialism in all its forms was no more than the second most important political movement of the 20th century?
Very good point.
Lunch-counter operators might have preferred the racisl status quo, but there would always be the temptation to want to bring in customers from that other half of town. Why would any business owner who's not a fanatic want to sell to only half the town...
Capitalism is generally subversive of authoritarian rule.
Thanks. People seem to think private property means anarchy.
And your point is?
Because the whites had more money and they would leave if blacks came in.
And no nation can survive if its government dictates to private businesses who it must/mustn't do business with.
For example one must do business with certain suppliers and labor groups, unions, minorty-owned businesses, etc.
Walter E Williams gave a good description of why Jim Crow does not make economic sense and goes against the principle of free markets. One of his best when substituting for Rush.
Making you do business with the public at large is not the same as making you do business with special interest groups. This is why our country is going down the drain: Stupid people thinking stupid.
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