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Civil Rights: Forward And Onward
Brerttottag A. Woolwork Are (Prom Left) Joaepn J^J
BY KENNETH CAMPBELL
Daily News Staff Writer
Two questions seemed to hang over the 20th anniversary commemoration of the sit-in movement the last
couple of days.
Where do we go from here? And, how do we get
there?
The answer to the first was simple: forward.
"Where do we go from here?" asked Joseph McNeil in answer to the question. "To work where you
want to work without getting hassles, to pursue individual interests and raise a family, that's going to be our
movement now — going forward, I think."
But how can citizens, particularly blacks, guarantee
themselves these rights? How should we move forward?
The answers were vague.
While the four originators of the Woolworth sit-ins
say racism still exists, they refuse to say how it is practiced and what are the best methods to combat it as
America moves into the 1980s. They don't believe the
civil rights movement is dead.
"The movement has always been a continuum,"
said McNeil. "It has its peaks and valleys."
The methods to use now in the movement "boil
down to new innovations," said David Richmond.
"Situations call for different approaches. I think we
have paid our dues to a degree."
"I challenge you to come up with new innovations
to solve problems," he told A&T students during a convocation. "There are other ways besides violence."
Those ways were not clearly enumerated, nor were
any supported.
McNeil named economics, housing and jobs as areas where blacks still suffer today.
Asked what method is best for blacks to improve
their lot in these areas, he said: "Whatever form seems
practical at the time. There is no one way." Others who
addressed the question were not specific either.
5FifT Photo B
David Richmond, Franklin McCain And Jibreel Khazan
"Black people do not have to be out on the streets
giving up their bodies to get their rights," said William
Thomas, a Dudley High School student in 1960. He coordinated the sit-ins during the summer while the original
participants went home to summer jobs.
"We are participating with the ballot, we are on
boards of corporations, we are in the system. If you
don't see that, you're going to miss the civil rights
movement. Civil disobedience is the glamorous part
y'all (the media) like to put on television and in the
papers."
Williams, a New Jersey lawyer, said marching can
still be effective.
The men bristled at questions suggesting most middle class blacks have forgotten lower class blacks.
"Because one is of a different social class, it does
not mean he has disassociated himself from his brother," said Kabreel Khazan (Ezell Blair), also one of the
original four sit-in participants.
"It may be because he can help better behind a
desk, not in the street."
Dr. Samuel D. Proctor, who became president of
A&T the summer following the sit-ins, also would net
suggest specific methods. But he did offer some direction.
"No matter what the methods, we must make it indelible in this country that we belive in the dignity and
the worth of everybody.
"We can start off with the kind of dignities that
were in these boys' minds in 1960."
The four original participants of the Feb. 1, 1960, lunch
counter sit-in gather around a state historical marker that
was unveiled at the corner of Elm Street and Friendly
Avenue Friday. Admiring the marker are Joseph McNeil,
extreme left in tan overcoat; David Richmond, cenw
with beard and black overcoat; Jibreel Khazan in white
turban- and Franklin McCain at extreme right.
