INC NEWS - Column: Unified support for Royal sit-in marker (today's Herald-Sun)

[John Schelp]

Column: Unified support for Royal sit-in marker
By Eddie Davis, Herald-Sun, 12 Dec 2007 

Let's give a roaring round of applause to Durham. 

More often than not, our focus on immediate issues
prevents us from properly assessing and measuring the
incremental steps that are being made as people learn
to live and work together in an inclusive community.
However, a few recent events could cause us to
recognize and appreciate the unity that exists within
the city and the county. 

The November screening of "Durham: A Self Portrait,"
which played to packed audiences at the Carolina
Theatre, was a sterling example of the folks coming
together to celebrate the history and cultural fabric
of our community. Also, the recent holiday parade and
the display of downtown decorations allowed a
multitude of involvement by children and adults in the
hub of our community. And, of course, the growing
momentum for a state-sponsored highway marker to be
placed on the corner of Roxboro and Dowd is another
example of community unity. 

Fifty years have passed since the 1957 sit-in for
civil rights at the Royal Ice Cream Parlor here in
Durham. Although divided by racial restrictions that
were reinforced by tradition and by law 50 years ago,
it is extremely admirable that, in 2007, our community
appears to be totally united behind an effort to
convince the state of North Carolina to recognize and
honor the monumental act of courage taken by seven
African-American citizens who wanted a bit of equity
along with their ice cream. 

The ad hoc group of folks spearheading the efforts to
have a state-sponsored historic marker in honor of the
Royal Sit-In would like to thank the elected
officials, the community organizations, the media, the
blogs, and the individual citizens who are
wholeheartedly supporting this county-wide effort.
Dec. 17 is the date for the presentation that R. Kelly
Bryant, Virginia Williams, John Schelp and others will
make at the meeting of the North Carolina Highway
Historical Marker Advisory Committee. 

In all fairness, the individuals on this state
committee do not appear to have erected a rigid wall
of opposition to the Durham marker request. In fact,
the current composition of the committee is vastly
different from the group that denied Bryant's previous
application for a marker. The committee has been kept
abreast of the unified support that has been voiced by
multiple segments of Durham. 

With the Dec. 17 appeal just days away, the major
question that people are asking is: "If the request is
approved, what will be the wording on the marker?" In
order to continue to be inclusive of all of Durham's
citizens, input from the masses is being requested for
the wording. The only major restriction is that no
individual name can be placed on a marker until the
individual has been dead for 25 years. 

The following is a "draft" for the marker. Please
react and offer your suggestions and comments to
rkbryantjr at aol.com or edavis3 at aol.com or
bwatu at yahoo.com. 

"1957 Sit-In at the Royal Ice Cream Parlor. Seven
citizens challenged the traditions and the laws of
racial segregation by moving from the 'colored'
section to the 'white' section of a restaurant at this
site on June 23, 1957. Police arrested the citizens.
The Recorders Court and Superior Court found them
guilty of trespass. The North Carolina Supreme Court
upheld the conviction and United States Supreme Court
denied additional appeals. Nevertheless, the Royal Ice
Cream Sit-In, along with earlier acts of civil
disobedience, subsequent demonstrations, and the
passage of federal civil rights laws, helped to create
a reformed legal and social respect for diversity and
inclusion in North Carolina and in the United States."



Eddie Davis III is a former teacher at Hillside High
School and current president of the North Carolina
Association of Educators.