Related links
GREENSBORO, N.C. -
A group of Elon University law students heard first-hand Thursday from one of the Greensboro Four how their actions made history in Greensboro on Feb. 1, 1960.
An Elon University School of Law forum brought speakers to the Triad to discuss civil rights law as a prelude to the opening of the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro Feb. 1. It will mark the 50-year anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-in, and Franklin McCain, one of the Greensboro Four, was in attendance to tell students about his experience.
Though it is a story McCain has told many times before, its impact on history is timeless. When McCain was 17 years old, he and three other students at North Carolina A & T University sat at a segregated lunch counter at the Woolworth's in downtown Greensboro.
"I looked at Joseph McNeil and he looked at me without saying a word, and we looked at the counter and we strolled to that counter and took a seat, and 20 seconds after I sat on that dumb stool I had the most wonderful feeling that one ought not be able to have." McCain said.
McCain said sitting at that counter gave him an overwhelming feeling of dignity, self-fulfillment and invincibility. Other people, McCain says, were shocked.
"I think the waitress and the counter people were so perplexed and so surprised they tried to ignore us. 'They're not, they can't be sitting there! They're not sitting there! I can't believe what I'm seeing!'" McCain said.
The actions of Mccain and his friends sparked other sit-ins across the nation in the early 1960s. Those actions still inspire people today.
"If it wasn't for them, students like myself could not attend Elon or Elon law." said David Morrow, an Elon University law student.
"We've read about it in textbooks, or we've seen it on TV. But to have the people tell us how they had butterflies in their stomach as they sat down at the counter and how students that were our age ended up changing the world, it's powerful." said Jessica Yañez, an Elon University law student.
Elon University law students also heard from a Duke University professor who has extensively studied and written about Greensboro's role in the civil rights movement and a Greensboro lawyer who represented students that were arrested fighting for civil rights.
An Elon University School of Law forum brought speakers to the Triad to discuss civil rights law as a prelude to the opening of the International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro Feb. 1. It will mark the 50-year anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-in, and Franklin McCain, one of the Greensboro Four, was in attendance to tell students about his experience.
Though it is a story McCain has told many times before, its impact on history is timeless. When McCain was 17 years old, he and three other students at North Carolina A & T University sat at a segregated lunch counter at the Woolworth's in downtown Greensboro.
"I looked at Joseph McNeil and he looked at me without saying a word, and we looked at the counter and we strolled to that counter and took a seat, and 20 seconds after I sat on that dumb stool I had the most wonderful feeling that one ought not be able to have." McCain said.
McCain said sitting at that counter gave him an overwhelming feeling of dignity, self-fulfillment and invincibility. Other people, McCain says, were shocked.
"I think the waitress and the counter people were so perplexed and so surprised they tried to ignore us. 'They're not, they can't be sitting there! They're not sitting there! I can't believe what I'm seeing!'" McCain said.
The actions of Mccain and his friends sparked other sit-ins across the nation in the early 1960s. Those actions still inspire people today.
"If it wasn't for them, students like myself could not attend Elon or Elon law." said David Morrow, an Elon University law student.
"We've read about it in textbooks, or we've seen it on TV. But to have the people tell us how they had butterflies in their stomach as they sat down at the counter and how students that were our age ended up changing the world, it's powerful." said Jessica Yañez, an Elon University law student.
Elon University law students also heard from a Duke University professor who has extensively studied and written about Greensboro's role in the civil rights movement and a Greensboro lawyer who represented students that were arrested fighting for civil rights.
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
