[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 16 (Tuesday, February 15, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H593-H596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING CONTRIBUTIONS OF ``GREENSBORO FOUR'' TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS 
                                MOVEMENT

  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the 
concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 25) recognizing the contributions 
of Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair, Jr.), David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, 
and Franklin McCain, the ``Greensboro Four'', to the civil rights 
movement.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                            H. Con. Res. 25

       Whereas on February 1, 1960, Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair, 
     Jr.), David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain, 
     four African-American freshman students at North Carolina 
     Agricultural & Technical State University, walked into the 
     F.W. Woolworth store in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, 
     and sat at the ``whites only'' lunch counter, thereafter 
     becoming known as the ``Greensboro Four'';
       Whereas the ``Greensboro Four'' were refused service but 
     continued to sit at the lunch counter in nonviolent protest;
       Whereas the sit-in by the ``Greensboro Four'' was an act of 
     courage and conscience, and inspired sit-ins across North 
     Carolina and the southern United States to protest racial 
     segregation in public accommodations and in other areas of 
     life;
       Whereas the courageous protest of the ``Greensboro Four'' 
     and all of the sit-in demonstrations made a critical 
     contribution to the civil rights movement, leading to the 
     enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the integration 
     of public accommodations; and
       Whereas the civil rights movement made our nation more just 
     and decent, and the courage and conscience of the 
     ``Greensboro Four'' should inspire all Americans to act 
     against injustice: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That the Congress--
       (1) applauds the valor and courageous efforts of Jibreel 
     Khazan (Ezell Blair, Jr.), David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and 
     Franklin McCain, known as the ``Greensboro Four''; and
       (2) encourages all Americans to remember the contributions 
     they made to the civil rights movement and to conduct 
     appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs to 
     commemorate the sit-in of the ``Greensboro Four''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent).


                             General Leave

  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the concurrent resolution under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Committee on Government Reform, I rise 
in strong support of House Concurrent Resolution 25. This important 
resolution recognizes the tremendous contributions of Ezell Blair, Jr.; 
David Richmond; Joseph McNeil; and Franklin McCain to the civil rights 
movement. These four individuals, known as the ``Greensboro Four,'' 
became tireless icons in our Nation's struggle for civil rights and 
fairness for all Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, on a winter afternoon in North Carolina in 1960, this 
quartet of college freshmen grabbed the attention of the entire world. 
It was February 1, 1960, when these four simply took their seats at the 
lunch counter of F.W. Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina. But 
there was nothing simple about this act.
  As was to be expected at that time, the young men were refused 
service when they sat at the segregated counter at about 4:30. Each of 
them sat quietly at the counter until the store closed at 5:30. They 
returned to sit at the same segregated counter the next day.

                              {time}  1415

  This time they were joined by about two dozen other students. The 
presence

[[Page H594]]

of these 30 or so young people overwhelmed the small diner, but again 
they were denied service. The next day, February 3, students occupied 
63 of the 65 available seats at the lunch counter.
  These civilized acts of defiance inspired similar sit-ins across 
North Carolina in the days that followed. By the end of February, such 
protests were taking place at eateries all over the South. Ultimately, 
the Greensboro Four induced the integration of public accommodations 
throughout many segregated southern States. Even Woolworth's integrated 
all of its stores in July of 1960.
  Mr. Speaker, what an awesome action this was for anyone to take, yet 
alone four college freshmen. Ezell Blair, David Richmond, Joseph McNeil 
and Franklin McCain transcended the Nation's civil rights struggle by 
starting this series of sit-ins. The Greensboro Four deserve the 
commendation of the Congress 45 years after their historic 
demonstration for their contribution to the civil rights movement.
  I am so pleased to be a cosponsor of House Concurrent Resolution 25. 
I thank the distinguished gentleman from North Carolina for authoring 
this meaningful resolution. I urge all my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I 
yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Miller ), who is the sponsor of this resolution.
  Mr. MILLER of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this 
resolution honoring an act of conscience and courage that forever 
changed North Carolina, the South, and the Nation.
  The Greensboro Four, David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain 
and Jibreel Khazan, then Ezell Blair, Jr., changed our Nation's history 
while freshmen at North Carolina A&T, an Historically Black University 
in Greensboro.
  Like college freshmen everywhere, they spent endless hours in 
discussions in their dormitory rooms. ``We challenged each other, 
really,'' Richmond said of their discussions. ``We constantly heard 
about all the evils that are occurring and how blacks are mistreated 
and nobody was doing anything about it. We used to question why is it 
that you have to sit in the balcony? Why do you have to ride in the 
back of the bus?''
  McNeil told friends at the time, ``It is time to take some action 
now. We have been people who talk a lot, but with very little action.''
  McCain said later, ``We had been talking about it for a long time. 
Each of us had been bugged by it and we felt very strongly. The night 
before we did it, we had a bull session at McNeil's room that lasted 
all night long.''
  Khazan said, ``It was time to wake up and change the situation. We 
decided to start here.''
  McNeil said, ``From my perspective, it was a down payment on 
manhood.''
  On that dare to each other, the next day, February 1, 1960, at about 
3:30 in the afternoon, the four entered the Woolworth's on South Elm 
Street in downtown Greensboro and sat at the ``whites only'' lunch 
counter. When they were refused service, they remained seated until the 
counter closed at 5. They vowed to return the next day and to keep 
coming back until they were treated the same way that whites were 
treated.
  That night, word spread quickly at A&T and Bennett College, an 
Historically Black Women's College in Greensboro, about what the four 
students called their ``sit down'' protest.
  The next day they returned with 19 of the other A&T students, some 
wearing ROTC uniforms, others wearing coats and ties. They were again 
denied service, and they again remained seated at the lunch counter.
  That night the membership of the Greensboro branch of the NAACP voted 
unanimously to support the student protest.
  The next day, the four students returned again, this time with 85 
other students from A&T, from Bennett College and from Dudley High 
School, the black high school from which three of the Greensboro Four 
had graduated just the year before. That Saturday, 1,000 protesters 
filled the Woolworth's. McNeil said, ``I guess everybody was pretty 
much fed up at the same time.''
  In the Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the civil rights movement, 
``Parting the Waters,'' Taylor Branch wrote, ``No one had time to 
wonder whether the Greensboro sit-in was so different. In the previous 
three years, similar demonstrations had occurred in at least 16 other 
cities. Few of them made the news, all faded quickly from public 
notice, and none had the slightest catalytic effect anywhere else. By 
contrast, Greensboro helped defined the decade.''
  In the next few days, there were sit-in demonstrations in Winston-
Salem, Durham, Raleigh, Fayetteville, Charlotte, and High Point. Two 
weeks after the first sit-in, Dr. Martin Luther King toured the 
Woolworth's in Durham that was the target of protests there. That night 
he spoke at a rally supporting the protests.
  ``What is fresh, what is new in your fight,'' King said, ``is the 
fact that it was initiated, led and sustained by students. What is new 
is that American students have come of age. You now take your honored 
place in the worldwide struggle for freedom.''
  On April 3, Thurgood Marshall spoke at Bennett College and urged the 
students to continue the protests. On Easter weekend, Dr. King's 
Southern Christian Leadership Conference organized a meeting at Shaw 
University in rally of student sit-in protesters. The students formed 
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC, to organize more 
protests.
  In July, the Woolworth's in Greensboro integrated the lunch counter, 
and the Kress store across the street integrated its lunch counter the 
same day.
  By August of 1961, more than 70,000 people had participated in sit-
ins, resulting in more than 3,000 arrests. The sit-ins became an 
important tributary of the river of the civil rights movement, which 
resulted eventually in the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 
and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
  Mr. Speaker, there are many Members of this body who were part of 
that movement. Many more remember the sit-ins as if they were 
yesterday. I was a 6-year-old child living in Fayetteville, North 
Carolina. My memories of Jim Crow and of the civil rights movement are 
dim and distant.
  I remember going to the county courthouse on some errand with my 
father and seeing two water fountains. I assumed that the ``white'' 
water was like the water that came out of my tap at home. I could not 
understand why my father would not let me try the ``colored'' water.
  I vaguely, vaguely, remember the protests in Fayetteville. I would 
like to think that if the civil rights movement had been delayed by a 
decade or by a generation, I would have recognized as I grew up the 
injustice of segregation and I would have acted against it. I can never 
know that.
  But I am proud to join with the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. 
Watt) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Coble) and many others 
in introducing this resolution and to speak for it today.
  I realize, as Dr. King said, that we cannot walk alone. The destiny 
of all Americans is tied up with the destiny of others and the freedom 
of all Americans is inextricably bound to the freedom of other 
Americans.
  The Greensboro Four remain an inspiration to all Americans not simply 
to accept the world as we find it, but to recognize injustice, and when 
it is time to change the situation, start where you are.
  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the 
gentleman from California (Mr. Filner).
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me time, 
and the gentlemen from North Carolina for introducing this very 
important resolution honoring the Greensboro Four.
  As the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller) said, those of us 
who were old enough were immediately inspired by the Greensboro Four. 
They showed the awesome power of nonviolent, collective direct action, 
and they also showed the vulnerability of the racist power structures 
in the South.
  I was a college freshman at the same time, at Cornell University. And 
almost immediately, we formed a group and had sit-ins in at the 
Woolworth's in Ithaca, New York, in solidarity with those that were 
going on through

[[Page H595]]

North Carolina and other States in the South.
  The sit-ins immediately educated us. That is, even though we were 
informed, even though we were progressive, we had no idea of the 
specific indignities of the segregated lunch counters, the signs that 
said ``whites only'' and ``colored'' for drinking fountains. We knew 
the schools were desegregated supposedly back in 1955. We saw the 
Montgomery bus boycott in 1956. We saw the power of direct action in 
the African states who first gained independence at the same time.
  But what occurred amongst the students in Greensboro spread 
throughout the Nation like wildfire, not just in the South but also in 
the North. We believed what Martin Luther King, Jr. stated so 
eloquently from the Birmingham jail: ``Freedom is never voluntarily 
given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed.''
  And we saw the sit-ins, a simple and quiet act perhaps, but one of 
great courage, considering the risks they were running, the Ku Klux 
Klan sitting at the same counters or nearby these first demonstrators.
  Those of us in the North who thought we were brothers and cousins of 
those in the South started talking about what we should do, how we 
should help.
  I remember, in fact, meeting the gentleman from Georgia (John Lewis), 
a colleague of ours from Atlanta, just a few months after that, and we 
ended up on the same bus to Jackson, Mississippi, and the Freedom Rides 
that took place to help desegregate the interstate facilities that were 
still segregated. We saw the interstate facilities as a focal point for 
Federal action. And those of us who went to jail managed to bring those 
cases before the Supreme Court, and just as the sit-inners had got the 
desegregation of the lunch counters so quickly, the interstate and 
other related facilities were desegregated because of the Freedom 
Rides.
  I see the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt) here today. I know 
he was personally inspired by what was happening with the Greensboro 
Four. Many of us in this Congress, as the gentleman from North Carolina 
(Mr. Miller) pointed out, were so inspired. We put our bodies on the 
line, we put our beliefs in action, and the Greensboro Four helped to 
shape and inspire the movement all across the country.
  So we honor the Greensboro Four for demanding freedom for the 
oppressed, and we once again look to them today for inspiration in our 
struggle against the more subtle forms of racism that still exist today 
and the injustices that continue to plague our Nation. We will continue 
to look to the Greensboro Four for inspiration as we continue the still 
unfinished journey of America to become a Nation that is free from 
discrimination and racism.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 3 
minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Watt), a cosponsor of 
this resolution and Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus,
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for yielding me time.
  There are so many angles that I could approach this debate from, but 
I am just so delighted today to be able to rise in a bipartisan and 
biracial coalition to honor four great Americans who contributed so 
much to us.
  I could talk about the fact that North Carolina A&T State University 
and Bennett College, which was also referred to in the statement of the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Miller), both of them are located in 
my congressional district.
  I could talk about the fact that despite the fact that the lunch 
counter itself is now in the congressional district of the gentleman 
from North Carolina (Mr. Miller), it was also in my congressional 
district up until the last round of redistricting.
  I could talk about the fact that Franklin McCain, one of those four 
courageous individuals, is a resident of my congressional district, a 
successful business leader in the City of Charlotte, North Carolina, 
today, one of two surviving members of that famous four.
  I could talk about other acts of heroism that came about as a result 
of these four students sitting down. One recollection that comes to me 
immediately is, as was happening quite often throughout the South, the 
power establishment would try to intimidate the black leaders, and the 
story has it that the powers, the political and business leadership in 
the City of Greensboro, approached the President of North Carolina A&T 
State University to try to intimidate him into having his students 
refrain from this kind of agitation, these sit-ins. And the President 
of North Carolina A&T, one of the Historically Black Colleges and 
Universities, drew a line in the sand and said, ``there is no way I am 
intervening to stop my students from agitating against this kind of 
injustice.''
  I could talk about how I got connected to the civil rights movement 
even in that time, not as a personal involvement, but hearing my mother 
say to my oldest brother, 4 years older than me at that time, ``Don't 
you get involved in those demonstrations. It is dangerous out there,'' 
and then turning on the TV at 6 o'clock that evening and seeing my 
brother right in the middle of the demonstration that took place in 
Charlotte, North Carolina, following the Greensboro Four's courageous 
action.

                              {time}  1430

  There are just so many ways that I could approach this debate that 
bring back so much emotion for me, because not long after that I 
returned to Charlotte and to North Carolina to join a civil rights law 
firm that took on school desegregation, that took on employment 
discrimination, that took on other racial policies and practices that 
were taking place that were accepted as part of the day until those 
courageous students at North Carolina A&T said enough is enough.
  So this is a wonderful, wonderful day for me just to see the 
bipartisanship, the biracial support that we have in support of this 
resolution in this Congress, but knowing full well that some years ago 
when it was not fashionable, when it was dangerous, when those kids' 
parents were telling them, I sent you to school to get an education, 
not to be involved in a demonstration, they stood and said enough is 
enough; we are going to take action to change America.
  And, Mr. Speaker, they did, and today our country is better for it.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride and admiration that I rise to 
support H. Con. Res. 25, recognizing the contribution of Jibreel 
Khazan, David Richmond, Joseph McNeil and Franklin McCain, the 
Greensboro Four, to the civil rights movement.
  Mr. Speaker, on February 1, 1960, Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan, 
Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond sat down for lunch at the counter of 
a Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth's. This may not seem like much 
today, but in 1960 that was an extraordinary act. Extraordinary because 
the four men were black and the counter inside Woolworth's was 
segregated. They did not serve people of color.
  When the four young men from North Carolina A&T were refused service, 
they remained seated. The restaurant called the police in an attempt to 
force them to leave. When the police and other white people in 
Woolworth's used threats of violence and imprisonment to force the four 
men to leave, they remain seated. This form of resistance became known 
as a sit-in, a form of peaceful protest that was used extensively 
during the civil rights movement. The idea worked so well that, rather 
than serve the four men, the owner closed the store early.
  Undeterred, the Greensboro Four returned to Woolworth's the next day 
and sat at the counter. This time, however, they brought with them 
reporters and local TV news crews to cover the story. By the following 
day, news of the sit-in had spread and was receiving national 
attention. The sit-in had grown to include whites as well.
  After months of sit-ins, Woolworth's decided that they had had 
enough. On July 26, 1960, they agreed to the Greensboro Four's demand 
that they integrate the restaurant. This may seem like a small victory 
in light of later accomplishments in the civil rights movement, but 
victories like this one laid the foundation for many of the rights 
people of color enjoy today.
  The surviving members of the group, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, 
and Jibreel Khazan, have settled into their

[[Page H596]]

own private lives; but their impact on race relations in the United 
States was profound. It is only fitting that we honor them today in 
this manner.
  Mr. Speaker, I reiterate my strong support for this legislation, 
remember my own days as a student at that time, not in North Carolina 
but in the State of Arkansas where conditions were very similar, and 
all of us were touched, moved, inspired, motivated, and activated by 
the Greensboro Four. I thank the gentleman for introducing this 
legislation.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a proud 
cosponsor of H. Con. Res. 25 which recognizes the contributions of 
Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair, Jr.), David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and 
Franklin McCain, known as the ``Greensboro Four'' for their historic 
contribution to the civil rights movement. I want to thank my colleague 
Representative Miller of North Carolina for properly recognizing these 
four gentlemen in this body. Without their contribution to the civil 
rights movement it may have taken many more years to break the barrier 
of segregation that use to be so common place in our Nation.
  On Feb. 1, 1960 four black freshmen at North Carolina A&T State 
University, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Jibreel Khazan (Ezell 
Blair, Jr.), and David Richmond, took seats at the segregated lunch 
counter of F. W. Woolworth's in Greensboro, N.C. They were refused 
service and sat peacefully until the store closed. They returned the 
next day, along with about 25 other students, and their requests were 
again denied. The Greensboro Four inspired similar sit-ins across the 
state and by the end of February; such protests were taking place 
across the South. Finally, in July, Woolworth's integrated all of its 
stores.
  This single act forever changed the way black Americans were able to 
live in society. Much like Rosa Parks who refused to give up her seat 
simply because of her race and inspired the movement to integrate the 
bus system; and much like Jackie Robinson who refused to observe the 
color barrier in our nation's pastime of baseball and blazed the path 
for all future black athletes; the Greensboro Four similarly broke down 
one of the key barriers that kept black Americans from receiving equal 
treatment under the law. This small act of peaceful defiance inspired 
others to act in protest and became a tidal wave for change. The fact 
is that in any movement against injustice, the great majority of the 
population will feel oppressed and disenfranchised, but few will be 
ready to act, out of fear due to the threat of violence from their 
oppressors. However, there will be those brave few who will stare down 
this threat and act to undo the injustice they face. The Greensboro 
Four represent those brave few who dared to act in the face of 
oppression, they refused to be ruled by fear and they helped bring out 
others who could now see their way past their fears and into their hope 
for a better future.
  The act of being able to eat in a dining establishment of our choice 
is one we take for granted in today's America. It seems like such a 
simple issue, yet it was the simplest matters that were at the crux of 
the oppression faced by black Americans. Whether it was basic housing, 
transportation or security issues, black Americans were kept from 
realizing equal rights and equal protection. The Greensboro Four 
refused to accept this situation as a fact of life. They were surely 
angry at their plight, but they did not choose a path of violence, no 
instead they chose a path of civil disobedience, in which their cry for 
justice grew louder and louder with each protest until it became too 
much for their oppressors to bear. The Greensboro Four stood up for 
millions of Americans with the simple act of sitting down at a lunch 
counter. Often it is not the amount of action taken that is important, 
but the meaning behind the act. I stand with my colleagues in this body 
today to recognize the Greensboro Four for their act of brave civil 
disobedience and the proud legacy that it has left.
  Mr. JACKSON of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, on May 17, 1954, the U.S. 
Supreme Court declared two things: (1) segregated schools are illegal; 
and (2) the legal principle of ``separate but equal'' was dead.
  Philosophically the Court was saying if our public institutions are 
equal, why separate them? And, practically and historically, if they 
are separate we know they will be unequal.
  Thus, the Brown decision laid the legal foundation for attacking all 
segregated institutions in America.
  There had been sit-ins in the 1940s and '50s--in Chicago, St. Louis, 
Baltimore and elsewhere--but without the legal foundation of Brown.
  During this period of increasing civil rights activity, CORE, the 
Fellowship of Reconciliation, and SCLC clergy trained young people in 
nonviolent direct action. Rev. James Lawson and others did such 
training in Nashville at Tennessee State, the American Baptist 
Theological Seminary and at Fisk University.
  The students at North Carolina A & T State University, my alma mater, 
didn't know about the activity in Nashville. But freedom was 
increasingly in the air.
  So, on February 1, 1960, four young African American men--Franklin 
McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr. and David Richmond--all freshmen 
on academic scholarships at North Carolina A & T, sat down at a 
``whites only'' Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro. They wanted to 
be served, but were refused and physically abused. They responded to 
violence with nonviolence.
  The media focused on what was happening in Greensboro, and African 
American college students across the South were inspired to begin a 
lunch counter sit-in movement. They filled jails, got out, sat-in 
again, and went back to jail. They marched, picketed and refused to 
stop until the ``Cotton Curtain'' fell.
  Ten years after Brown, their dream was achieved when Congress passed 
the 1964 Civil Rights Act outlawing segregation in public institutions. 
But it all began with four students at North Carolina A & T. The nation 
owes them a great debt of gratitude.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my 
time.
  Mr. DENT. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to support and agree to 
House Concurrent Resolution 25.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Terry). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Dent) that the House 
suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution, H. Con. Res. 
25.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds of 
those present have voted in the affirmative.
  Mr. WATT. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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