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This Date in History: NC to Harlem

  • Thread starter Thread starter donbosco
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There were sit-ins before #Greensboro. I remember so-called ‘legal’ segregation. I recall doors or windows on the side or backs of restaurants where people of color could order and pick-up ‘to go’ orders. I have to imagine that for those people - citizens every one - m mm forced into such ‘second-class’ situations, the memories are harsh, hard, and hurtful. This meanness was systemic and state-backed-it still bears rotten fruit across society.

Teach about it. Learn from it. Do not continue to cover it up nor permit the hidden poison to pollute. There are organized groups, among them many who are powerful on the Right, that are full-time obfuscators, engaged in a crusade to stall the growing effort to bring greater truth into our schools and society. They hatefully misrepresent this effort and hurl buzz words from their platforms and pulpits and in ways that would make Orwell proud assert that the ones who seek to include the entire narrative in our education are the ones that are dividing. Don’t let them fool you. These people are several generations deep in their campaign to sell #FakeHistory. Time to stop them.

#OTD [June 23] 1957 6 youths + Rev. Doug MJ Moore entered segregated Royal Ice Cream in #Durham on the “Whites Only” side and sat down. Arrested for trespassing, a jury found them guilty. Appeals ensued to SCOTUS, who refused to hear the case. The children led. Landmark Sit-Ins Before Woolworth’s
 
donbosco said:
Segregation was so anti-free market.
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Speaking of historical sit-ins my "radical" grandmother took me to the Greensboro Woolworth sit-in in 1960 . I had just turned 9 years old. She was such an influence in my life and I blame her for me being the dumbass,clueless,woke lib that I am today;)
 
heelinhell said:
Speaking of historical sit-ins my "radical" grandmother took me to the Greensboro Woolworth sit-in in 1960 . I had just turned 9 years old. She was such an influence in my life and I blame her for me being the dumbass,clueless,woke lib that I am today;)
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Wow. Witness to History!! What do you remember?
 
donbosco said:
IMG_9440.jpeg

There were sit-ins before #Greensboro. I remember so-called ‘legal’ segregation. I recall doors or windows on the side or backs of restaurants where people of color could order and pick-up ‘to go’ orders. I have to imagine that for those people - citizens every one - m mm forced into such ‘second-class’ situations, the memories are harsh, hard, and hurtful. This meanness was systemic and state-backed-it still bears rotten fruit across society.

Teach about it. Learn from it. Do not continue to cover it up nor permit the hidden poison to pollute. There are organized groups, among them many who are powerful on the Right, that are full-time obfuscators, engaged in a crusade to stall the growing effort to bring greater truth into our schools and society. They hatefully misrepresent this effort and hurl buzz words from their platforms and pulpits and in ways that would make Orwell proud assert that the ones who seek to include the entire narrative in our education are the ones that are dividing. Don’t let them fool you. These people are several generations deep in their campaign to sell #FakeHistory. Time to stop them.

#OTD [June 23] 1957 6 youths + Rev. Doug MJ Moore entered segregated Royal Ice Cream in #Durham on the “Whites Only” side and sat down. Arrested for trespassing, a jury found them guilty. Appeals ensued to SCOTUS, who refused to hear the case. The children led. Landmark Sit-Ins Before Woolworth’s
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Great post Don. I too remember the ‘to go’ windows at restaurants that only black people used.
 
IMG_9440.jpeg

Photo in top left corner facing is from the sit-in at Colonial Drug. That store was situated just above The Cave and the owner (I knew his name once) would pass through the bar every day right after 5:00 pm because he would bolt the back door of his business from the inside and then lock the front with a key. Back in the 1990s I was in The Cave often...drank there, had girlfriends that tended there, and ultimately worked there myself so I saw him pass through quite a few times. He never spoke, never even acknowledged the presence of anyone in the place. Meg (The Cave owner at the time) told me that he had never spoken to her either (perhaps he had long before talked with Jim Rideout or Beau the previous owners). I guess he was the staunch segregationist from the 1960s...we always assumed that he was. He had a scowl and a limp (but he was "famous" for his orange-ades among some crowds).
 
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donbosco said:
IMG_9440.jpeg

There were sit-ins before #Greensboro. I remember so-called ‘legal’ segregation. I recall doors or windows on the side or backs of restaurants where people of color could order and pick-up ‘to go’ orders. I have to imagine that for those people - citizens every one - m mm forced into such ‘second-class’ situations, the memories are harsh, hard, and hurtful. This meanness was systemic and state-backed-it still bears rotten fruit across society.

Teach about it. Learn from it. Do not continue to cover it up nor permit the hidden poison to pollute. There are organized groups, among them many who are powerful on the Right, that are full-time obfuscators, engaged in a crusade to stall the growing effort to bring greater truth into our schools and society. They hatefully misrepresent this effort and hurl buzz words from their platforms and pulpits and in ways that would make Orwell proud assert that the ones who seek to include the entire narrative in our education are the ones that are dividing. Don’t let them fool you. These people are several generations deep in their campaign to sell #FakeHistory. Time to stop them.

#OTD [June 23] 1957 6 youths + Rev. Doug MJ Moore entered segregated Royal Ice Cream in #Durham on the “Whites Only” side and sat down. Arrested for trespassing, a jury found them guilty. Appeals ensued to SCOTUS, who refused to hear the case. The children led. Landmark Sit-Ins Before Woolworth’s
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I was not yet alive during that era, but it blows my mind that proponents of segregation tried to sell the whole “separate but equal” thing. There was absolutely nothing equal when it came to segregation, nor was there the slightest appearance of it.
 
donbosco said:
Wow. Witness to History!! What do you remember?
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Keep in mind that was 65 years ago and today I'm losing brain cells by the hour:sleep:

I remember that there was a crowd around the Greensboro 4 in support of these brave college students. It was a chaotic environment inside the store which was a bit overwhelming but not threatening. We were there early in the sit in, but I think white counter protestors showed up days later and it became more confrontational as support for the sit in grew.

For those interested in learning more about this historic event, I highly recommend the multiple award winning documentary "February One"

The producer was a fellow "member" of the "Grass Roots Impeachment Movement " ( GRIM ) that supported my Quixotic run for Congress in 2006:p
 
Patb78 said:
Great post Don. I too remember the ‘to go’ windows at restaurants that only black people used.
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After the Civil Rights Act made separate seating for blacks and whites in restaurants illegal, I remember eating in a BBQ restaurant in my hometown at the counter. My cousin and I were sitting on stools at the counter. A couple of seats down was a black couple also eating at the counter. The owner of the restaurant came with a pitcher of (of course) sweetened tea to refill our glasses. When she did, she whispered to us that she couldn't leave the pitcher, surreptitiously glanced at the black couple, and added, "They know they are supposed to eat in the back." "In the back" was a separate seating area on the other side of the kitchen. After the owner walked away, my cousin, from New Jersey--just south of NYC--gave me a "You have got to be kidding me look." I whispered, "We'll talk after we leave." After we left, I explained that while I was ashamed of not getting up and walking out when the owner whispered her racist's nonsense, I further explained that the owner was one of my father's customers and while I disagreed with what she said, the passage of time would be a much more powerful agent for change than anything I could do or say in the late 1960's. Or at least that was how I rationalized my silent and impotent opposition of racism as a teen-ager.
 
05C40 said:
After the Civil Rights Act made separate seating for blacks and whites in restaurants illegal, I remember eating in a BBQ restaurant in my hometown at the counter. My cousin and I were sitting on stools at the counter. A couple of seats down was a black couple also eating at the counter. The owner of the restaurant came with a pitcher of (of course) sweetened tea to refill our glasses. When she did, she whispered to us that she couldn't leave the pitcher, surreptitiously glanced at the black couple, and added, "They know they are supposed to eat in the back." "In the back" was a separate seating area on the other side of the kitchen. After the owner walked away, my cousin, from New Jersey--just south of NYC--gave me a "You have got to be kidding me look." I whispered, "We'll talk after we leave." After we left, I explained that while I was ashamed of not getting up and walking out when the owner whispered her racist's nonsense, I further explained that the owner was one of my father's customers and while I disagreed with what she said, the passage of time would be a much more powerful agent for change than anything I could do or say in the late 1960's. Or at least that was how I rationalized my silent and impotent opposition of racism as a teen-ager.
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When I was a teen and going to the local movie theater, black folks had to go through a separate entrance and sit in the balcony. Only white folks could enter the main entrance and sit downstairs.
 
heelinhell said:
When I was a teen and going to the local movie theater, black folks had to go through a separate entrance and sit in the balcony. Only white folks could enter the main entrance and sit downstairs.
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In 1969, the only movie theater in my hometown was showing "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." My brother was home from school for a long weekend, wanted to see it, and even offered to buy my ticket. Of course, I accepted. Once in, with refreshments in hand, my brother started towards the stairs to the balcony. I stopped him and asked what was he doing? He replied by asking hadn't I always wanted to sit in the balcony? I replied certainly not and reminded him that he would soon be returning to Chapel Hill while I had to remain behind in our hometown. He laughed and continued up the stairs to the balcony. Reluctantly, I followed. Unfortunately, about half-way through the movie, an opossum fell into the local power transformer hub for our town and blacked out the entire town including the movie theater. I am not kidding. My brother and I made our way out of the blackened theater and went home. I came back a few days later, tried to purchase another ticket, but the lady selling tickets remembered that I had been present for the "opossum blackout" and let me in for free. I again sat in the balcony and was only one doing so. This time I saw the entire movie. It was great. To this day I can't hear the song, "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" without thinking of this movie.
 
heelinhell said:
When I was a teen and going to the local movie theater, black folks had to go through a separate entrance and sit in the balcony. Only white folks could enter the main entrance and sit downstairs.
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I remember a movie theater in downtown Hickory. If you were looking at the ticket booth from across the street there was an entrance on the right for white people. It led to the lower level. The door on the left led to the balcony. That’s where black people sat. There was no integration. And this was years after it became illegal to segregate the races like that.
 
05C40 said:
After the Civil Rights Act made separate seating for blacks and whites in restaurants illegal, I remember eating in a BBQ restaurant in my hometown at the counter. My cousin and I were sitting on stools at the counter. A couple of seats down was a black couple also eating at the counter. The owner of the restaurant came with a pitcher of (of course) sweetened tea to refill our glasses. When she did, she whispered to us that she couldn't leave the pitcher, surreptitiously glanced at the black couple, and added, "They know they are supposed to eat in the back." "In the back" was a separate seating area on the other side of the kitchen. After the owner walked away, my cousin, from New Jersey--just south of NYC--gave me a "You have got to be kidding me look." I whispered, "We'll talk after we leave." After we left, I explained that while I was ashamed of not getting up and walking out when the owner whispered her racist's nonsense, I further explained that the owner was one of my father's customers and while I disagreed with what she said, the passage of time would be a much more powerful agent for change than anything I could do or say in the late 1960's. Or at least that was how I rationalized my silent and impotent opposition of racism as a teen-ager.
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I wonder when enough time will have passed?
 
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Out the window of our apartment in #WestHarlem I can see The Cotton Club (not the original but the one opened in 1971) and just down 125th is #TheApolloTheater. A long way from #Bonlee am I. Tar Heels have certainly preceded me here though. Today two from similarly small NC places, #Burgaw and #Brevard that literally landed within blocks of our apartment to make their mark come to mind.



The first is ‘Burgawian’ Reverend James A. Forbes, Pastor Emeritus of the interdenominational #RiversideBaptistChurch. Riverside has been an impactful place in many ways large and small but perhaps is most remembered as the pulpit from which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his first anti-Viet Nam War sermon on April 4, 1967. As a seminary student Forbes spent time in #ChapelHill as an intern at #BinkleyBaptistChurch working with Rev. Robert Seymour. He was the young African American man that Preacher Seymour and a young Coach Dean Smith accompanied to the segregated Pines Restaurant in 1961 to challenge Jim Crow.



The other North Carolinian is the ‘Brevardian,’ Jackie ‘Moms’ Mabley (Loretta Mary Aiken 1894-1975) the comedian. Mabley confronted and defied color but also gender and sexuality barriers during her career. She came out as a lesbian in the early 1920s. In 1939 she was the first female comic to perform at the Apollo. While as a young performer she did it all - sang, danced, acted - she eventually settled into the character of Moms - clad in house dress, floppy hat and affected a toothless and disheveled older lady demeanor who spiced her routines with double entendres and risqué tales well-told. Most recently Wanda Sykes beautifully recreated her for an episode of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”



Both Reverend Forbes and Moms Mabley left North Carolina, and The South, so as to pursue their respective callings. Both were faced with terrible resistance - much of it (all of it?) racist. This has to be recognized and related in schools and public venues - their stories and others like them cannot be silenced as is the goal of so many hard at work today to shut down the unsightly and uncomfortable Truths of our Past. Fight friends. Vote please. Teach by all means.



That leads to today’s On This Day: #OTD (June 24) in 1933 #Harlem’s Apollo Theater opened. https://aaregistry.org/story/the-apollo-theater-opens/ ALSO: https://www.apollotheater.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/WalkofFame_Moms_final4.pdf
 
And on the negative side: “June 23, 1982: The House of Representatives approved the extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, despite North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms’ attempt to block the House vote. The Senate had approved the extension of the bill 5 days before the historic House vote.”
 
donbosco said:
On This Day in 1933 Sam Jones was born in Laurinburg, NC. He played college ball at North Carolina Central and then had a truly hall of fame career with the Boston Celtics, winning 10 NBA Championships. His scoring average in the playoffs exceeded his regular season total. He was an all-star five times.

www.hoophall.com

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame :: Sam Jones

www.hoophall.com www.hoophall.com
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It’s a bummer to think of all the basketball talent in NC back in the day who didn’t get to play college ball at a major program in their home state (i.e., one of the NC ACC schools) due to segregation. In addition to Sam Jones, there was Walt Bellamy, Lou Hudson, Happy Hairston, Willie Porter, among others. And there was probably a lot of talent that really didn’t get the chance they deserved due to segregation, thus we don’t know who they are today.

Fun fact: The first black basketball player from NC to play at a predominantly white university in NC was Asheville’s Henry Logan, who went on to Western Carolina. He made his varsity debut in 1964, three years before Charlie Scott would make his varsity debut at UNC. Logan is widely believed to be the first black player to play at any predominantly white college or university in the South.
 
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