February 12th / 14th, 2010
"Museum Opening Deserved Better"
I have a family connection to lunch counter protests. About ten years
before the Greensboro Four staged their courageous sit-in at Woolworth's in
Greensboro, my Dad was doing something similar at a lunch counter in
Winston-Salem.
He took my sister into the store for an ice cream sundae, and before they
could get settled on their stools, a little African American girl about my
sister's age, perched herself on the adjacent seat. She wanted a sundae as
well, but the counter worker told her there was no service for "coloreds".
My Dad then picked the girl up, put her on his lap, and said in a stern
voice, "Me and my two girls will all have ice cream sundaes". The
intimidated server complied. No one outside my family knew about this incident, but
I wish they had. Perhaps if my Dad's actions had made national news, then
maybe the resistance revolution could have begun a decade earlier.
Instead, it fell upon four NC A&T students to lead the charge for
integration, and thanks to their courage on February 1, 1960, America became a bit
more civilized.
Last week, the long awaited Civil Rights Museum opened in the very
building where history was made. Kudos to Commissioner Skip Alston and Rep. Earl
Jones for their dogged determination in making a dream come true. The museum
is perfect in every way and should be appreciated for its professional
presentation. It's just too bad that the high profile ribbon cutting ceremony
didn't do justice to the museum, or to the Greensboro Four.
The ceremony was flawed on several fronts, some technical, some
procedural.
On the technical side, whoever selected the backdrop should be banned from
having anything to do with special events. The plain white shell was
neither camera friendly nor thematically relevant. The only reference to the
museum was high atop the shell, and only visible to television viewers for a
few seconds whenever the TV stations cut to an extreme wide shot of the
crowd.
Meanwhile, the audio was over modulated on almost everyone who spoke. This
problem could have been avoided had the event organizer run extensive
sound checks for and with each individual TV station multiple times prior to
the event.
And then there was the ribbon cutting itself which seemed to honor
politicians more than it did the three surviving members of the Greensboro Four.
Who can forget Bev Perdue's long winded speech about how the lunch counter
sit-in made it possible for her to run for Governor. Excuse me? Did I miss
something? First of all, the Women's suffrage movement pre dated the
Woolworth's event by more than five decades. Women were running for President on
third party tickets in the 1800's. And last time I checked, Bev Perdue is
part of an old line white, Democratic party machine which consistently
makes no effort to recruit Black candidates.
Speaking of which, Congressman Brad Miller was also up on stage, as if he
too had something to do with the Museum. Brad as you recall sat on the
state legislative committee that re drew district boundaries. He successfully
pushed through a gerrymandered district for himself, then stepped down
from the state legislature in order to claim his pre-ordained seat in
Congress. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but wasn't the purpose of gerrymandered
districts (which I oppose) to elect more minority candidates? So why in hell
was Brad on stage for the ribbon cutting?
I was also struck by other hypocrisies, including the fact that Perdue and
Sen. Kay Hagan (who also made a "look at me" speech) only got elected
because they refused to debate their opponents at meaningful forums. Hagan is
also famous for refusing to take a stand on issues during her campaign, such
as when I asked her if she would seek to repeal the trade agreements which
have stripped the state of millions of jobs.
And so, the courageous Greensboro Four were upstaged by politicians who
have never displayed any courage at all. In fact, when looking at photos and
video coverage of the actual ribbon cutting, it's hard to see the honorees
for all of the camera hogs on stage, including Jesse Jackson who had
nothing to do with the sit-in. Blame for this fiasco must fall on event
organizers and their public relations firm who could have avoided all of the
aforementioned flaws and foibles. The Civil Rights Museum is the crown jewel of
our State, and it deserved a better opening. Never the less, it's up to
all of us to help sustain it going forward.
That's because the Museum is a much needed monument to courage in an era
when courage is in such short supply. Where are the disciples of the
Greensboro Four when we need them most? Why, for example, aren't students and
other citizens staging boycotts of greedy corporations who have laid off their
American work force in favor of third world slave labor? Why do we
tolerate a two party system that gridlocks substantive healthcare reform, and
can't seem to stop senseless killings overseas?
Yes, we all owe a debt of gratitude to Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain,
Jibreel Khazan, and the late David Richmond for showing us that four men can
make a difference in the fight against injustice. And I owe a debt of
gratitude to my Dad for showing me that one man can do the same. But it's time
for us to stop memorializing these heroes, and start emulating them.
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