Greensboro lunch counter, 1960. The National Museum of American History, Washington DC.
i spent 6 hours in the national museum of american history today. i'd never have thought that i'd have spent so much time learning about history and have fun while doing it.
i learned many things today; i learnt more about the civil war, i learnt about the 20 year presidential jinx (started with harrison, broken by reagan), i learnt about hu1s and audie murphy and the vietnam war. i saw burnt pieces of steel from the world trade center, and i got to know the abraham lincoln better. the events leading up to his death were morbidly interesting, and by the time i learnt about how he truly impacted american history and how truly a great man he was, i felt that nagging sorrow and regret that he left before his time. i saw the star spangled banner which was flown from fort mchenry and read about how francis scott key came to compose the national anthem of the united states of america. i learnt about the declaration of emancipation and the declaration of independence, and came to appreciate how all these were not just paragraphs in history textbooks that i would be tested on, but how these things actually existed and how the people who were involved in such major historical events were... real. i saw the chairs on which general lee surrendered to general grant, and i saw the gunboat philadelphia. i saw the john bull locomotive and the winton car - the first car ever to successfully cross the united states of america. i saw b.b. king's guitar, louis armstrong's trumpet, miles davis' flugelhorn, ella fitzgerald's dress and sammy davis jr's childhood tap shoes.
i appreciate the american national anthem so much more now that i know the majorly inspiring story behind it. i'm just sad that i can't say the same about the malaysian one. sigh.
i learnt how the african americans had to struggle to earn equal rights and how true americans did all they could to help them get those rights. i learnt how strong the african american community was (and still is) and i am inspired by how they never let anything get in their way to achieving freedom. they got beaten, but they brushed themselves off and stood up, more determined than ever to fight for what they so rightly deserved.
the exhibit which touched me the most is the one on the greensboro sit-in. the photograph above shows part of a lunch counter from a woolworth's store in greensboro, north carolina. although racial segregation was deemed illegal six years ago in 1954, the company which owned woolworth's allowed store managers in the south to decide who to serve and who not to serve in accordance with local custom. many woolworth's stores chose to segregate against the blacks and had separate counters for coloured people and white people. on the 1st of february of 1960, four freshmen college students walked into the woolworth's at greensboro, sat on the white-only stools, and asked politely to be served. they were refused service. the students then continued sitting in those seats, asking repeatedly and politely to be served but they were denied service time and time again. they then came back to woolworth's every single day and sat in those seats from when lunch was available, and would not leave until the store closed, and yet they would still not be served. this movement gained popularity and soon 75,000 people were joining this movement all over the country.
these sit-ins were non-violent and on the 26th of july of 1960 the woolworth's in greensboro relented and desegregated its lunch counters.
i attended a mini "restaging" of the whole event led by a 'college student' from 1960. i am still feeling the dull glow from embers of the fire of injustice which were kindled somewhere deep inside me, inside a place i never knew existed. she showed us menus from the time the event happened and told us how those four students set foot in woolworth's, fearing for their lives and how they sat at the counter and wanted to order a sandwich from the menu. she described how initiators of revolutions risked everything, even their lives to fight for something which might not be achieved in their lifetimes, and how these people were just young kids and how they were so very genuinely afraid of what might happen, and yet still held their ground and stood up for what they believed in.
she then got four volunteers to sit in four seats she placed just behind the exhibit's seats, and told them that all they could do was sit there and try to keep their emotions under control. they could not have any form of contact with each other, they couldn't even look at each other. she then got the rest of us to go up to them in a mob, and we could go as close to them as we wanted, we could even stand between them. all we were allowed to do was to stare at them, we weren't allowed to touch them. and then, she asked them to imagine how they would feel if everybody was staring at them while thinking things like "what the hell are they doing here?" and how it felt to be surrounded by everybody who hated them, and how it felt to be subject to all sorts of abuse and violence like having milkshakes poured over their heads, and being beated up, and being called all sorts of the worst names, and not being able to retaliate.
there were easily almost a hundred of us, and only four of them. and this was nothing compared to what really happened.
she then "taught" us (she was our "trainer") that it was okay for us to shield ourselves if we were to be beaten up and that it was okay for us to try to protect our heads with our hands. she also told us that before going for a nonviolent protest that we should empty all our pockets and remove all traces of things that could be used as weapons, even a pocketful of change. she also told us that if things got too bad, we could curl ourselves up into a ball against a wall. we were also taught to try to rescue our fellow protestors from bodily harm by putting ourselves between them and the attackers and to form a barrier in hopes that the violence would be distributed and not be concentrated only on one person so that less injury would result.
listening to all this made it even more real for me because these are really practical 'tips' which have been used, time and time again.
it is striking me hard now how sometimes people can be so cruel to one another. these innocent people have been wronged so badly and my admiration for how graciously they have forgiven the very people who have walked all over them and who violated their basic human rights is beyond words.
do you know what john wilkes booth said during one of lincoln's speeches? this:
"That means nigger citizenship. Now, by God I'll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever make."(random sidenote: i have come a cross two books called 'the real lincoln' and 'lincoln unmasked'. shall consider reading them.)
anyway i am sorry because i have digressed.
i think i should end this entry now because i think i have written too much. i am going to end this entry with this statement from the reenactment of the greensboro sit-in:
"what do you think when you hear the words 'non-violent protest'? peace? passivity? well, i think of strength, action and aggression."and i don't think i've heard many things much truer than that.
