Obviously, Richmond, Virginia was the Capital of the Confederacy during most of the American Civil War. For nearly a century after Reconstruction, Virginia was part of the “Jim Crow” system that fostered desegregation and discrimination against peoples of color, right here in the USA! In 1951, a courageous 16 year old girl named Barbara Rose Johns had had enough of the substandard conditions at all-black Moten High School in Prince Edward Country, Virginia, and organized a student strike with the goal of having equal facilities and educational opportunities. The Reverend L. Francis Griffin consolidated parental support of the strike and encouraged the students to ask for assistance from the NAACP. The NAACP took the case, and eventually this case (Davis vs. Prince Edward County) and four others went to the Supreme Court as part of the famous “Brown vs. The Board of Education” case in 1954. Some see Ms. John’s actions and the resulting “Davis” lawsuit as the beginning of the modern civil rights movement in the USA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Rose_Johns
If you are younger than about 50, you cannot remember all the tumult and rage in the 1950’s and 1960’s over the struggle to get equal opportunity and rights for all citizens. It was not until the Civil Rights Amendment of 1965 that legally everyone had equal rights – 100 years after the end of the Civil War! I still cannot help but be amazed that in my life time – and I am not all THAT old yet – I lived in a time when some Americans legally received substandard educations, could not vote, could be excluded from clubs and activities, could not stay in a hotel or eat in a restaurant, use a public swimming pool, or even drink out of a water fountain. And now, thank God, all that has all changed.
Incidentally, my oldest sister Clare, a young white woman from Pennsylvania at the time, was a participant in the voter registration drives in the Deep South during the early 1960’s. It was a turbulent, violent, hostile, and dangerous place to be. Shortly after the passage of the Civil Rights Amendment, she and several other white people who went with a group to celebrate were kicked out of the restaurant by the owner. He told them “The law says I have to serve these damned n---- but it doesn’t say I have to serve you damned n---- lovers!” I applaud her for her courage and for standing up for her beliefs and for what needed to be done.
On the State Capital Grounds last Monday - July 21, 2008 - a beautiful and moving memorial was dedicated to Barbara Johns, the other students and parents in the case, the Reverend Griffin, two of the prominent lawyers – Oliver Hill and Spottswood Robinson, and to the Civil Rights Movement in general. I was fortunate to be present. All of the speeches were great and there was a big crowd despite the baking sun – black, white, and Asian (maybe American Indian, too); male and female; young, middle-aged, and old; famous and unknown. Many relatives and some of the original people involved a half century + ago were present for the dedication. When the cloth shielding the sculpture from view were dropped, I was on the side where bronzes of modern day young people were advancing together to learn. I had tears form in my eyes – it was that moving!
This sculpture was the first on our beautiful and historic capital grounds that (1) depicts a female (2) depicts a non-Caucasian (3) depicts young people (4) emphasizes not just our history but our future. I am sure that many in the crowd never felt that they would see the day when a sculpture honoring minorities would be on display on the state capital of the Old Dominion. As Governor Tim Kaine said in his speech “How do you like the NEW Virginia?” The crowd cheered its approval!
Unfortunately, I forgot my camera during the ceremony but brought it back the other day to get these photos. The sculptor is Stanley Bleifeld:
Barbara Johns and Motin High School Protestors:
NAACP Attorneys Oliver Hill and Spottswood Robinson, celebrating the landmark 1954 decision that outlawed "Separate by Equal":
Bright and eager students moving together towards a bright future (remember what others went through before you, kids, in order for you to get a good education – put it to great use!). The quote says "The Legal System can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls, but it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me." - Thurgood Marshall:
The monument to the struggle for Civil Rights in our nation and in Virginia sits in the shadow of our beautiful Capital Building, designed by Thomas Jefferson, and once the Capital of the Confederacy for nearly four years:
This statue of former Virginia Governor and Senator Harry Flood Byrd is directly east about 500 feet from the new Civil Rights Memorial. Fortunately, this Senator, who I am sure also did many fine things, is facing south, not east towards the new monument, for he was one of the architects of “Massive Resistance” in the years following the “Brown” decision. I wonder what he would think were he alive today to see his monument and that dedicated to civil rights standing so close to one another?
My next posts will be back to TNT, marathons, etc. but this was a special and historic event for which I had to digress. If you are ever in Richmond, make sure you see this memorial and our Capital, made all the more beautiful, and inclusive, with its latest addition!
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