By Sky News US Team
A South Carolina judge has voided the convictions of nine black men who were jailed for ordering lunch at an all-white counter more than five decades ago.
"We cannot rewrite history, but we can right history," Judge Mark Hayes said as he made Wednesday's ruling.
The so-called Friendship Nine were convicted of trespassing and breach of peace after their arrest in February 1961 for ordering lunch at McCrory's variety store in Rock Hill, where African-Americans were banned.
The protesters, eight of whom were students at the town's Friendship Junior College, refused to pay a $100 fine, and were sentenced to 30 days of hard labour in a chain gang.
Their act of civil disobedience in the segregated Deep South town inspired other activists to adopt their "jail not bail" approach.
The nine were themselves prompted to take action by a similar sit-in a year earlier at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
A prosecutor expressed his "heartfelt apologies" to the men - eight of whom were in court to see justice finally done on Wednesday.
The students were WT Massey, Willie McCleod, Robert McCullough, Clarence Graham, James Wells, David Williamson, John Gaines and Mack Workman.
The ninth protester was Thomas Gaither, an activist with the Congress of Racial Equality.
McCullough, who was described as the group's leader, died in 2006 at age 64.
In 2009, a white man named Elwin Wilson, who tried to pull one of the Friendship Nine off a stool during their protest, met some of them at the same counter.
He apologised and they forgave him.
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Landmark Civil Rights-Era Convictions Voided
Dengan url
https://usiabelajarudin.blogspot.com/2015/01/landmark-civil-rights-era-convictions.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Landmark Civil Rights-Era Convictions Voided
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Landmark Civil Rights-Era Convictions Voided
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar