[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 2] [House] [Pages 2319-2322] [From the U.S. 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 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 [[Page 2320]] 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 [[Page 2321]] those that were going on through 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 [[Page 2322]] 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 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. ____________________