1969 Greensboro uprising

Last updated
1969 Greensboro uprising
Part of the Black Power movement
Scott Hall during 1969 Greensboro Uprising.jpg
A&T Student Eddie Evans being taken into protective custody after members of the North Carolina National Guard raid W. Kerr Scott Hall
DateMay 21–25
Location
Greensboro, North Carolina
Result government victory, revolt crushed
Belligerents

Activists

  • Student Organization for Black Unity
  • Student protesters
  • Rioting locals

Authorities

Casualties and losses
2 dead
18 wounded		 9 wounded

The 1969 Greensboro uprising occurred on and around the campuses of James B. Dudley High School and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (A&T) in Greensboro, North Carolina, when, over the course of May 21 to May 25, gunfire was exchanged between student protesters, police and National Guard. One bystander, sophomore honors student Willie Grimes, was killed, although whether he was killed by police or protesters remains unknown.

Contents

The uprising was sparked by perceived civil rights issues at the segregated high school, when a popular student council write-in presidential candidate was denied his landslide victory allegedly because school officials feared his activism in the Black Power movement. Starting on the campus of Dudley High School, the uprising spread to A&T campus where students had stood up in support of the Dudley protest. Escalating violence eventually led to armed confrontation and the invasion of the A&T campus by what was described at the time as "the most massive armed assault ever made against an American university". [1] The uprising ended soon after the National Guard made a sweep of A&T college dormitories, taking hundreds of students into protective custody.

While local officials blamed outside agitators, a report released by the North Carolina State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights found that James B. Dudley High School had an unjust system and suppressed dissent. They found the National Guard invasion reckless and disproportionate to the actual danger, and criticized local community leaders for failing to help the Dudley High School students when the issues first emerged. They declared it "a sad commentary that the only group in the community who would take the Dudley students seriously were the students at A&T State University." [2]

Events

James B. Dudley High School

Before events began to coalesce in the spring of 1969, the students at James B. Dudley High School were already unhappy. They no longer believed that desegregation of the school system in Greensboro was a possibility. [3] Their school was the only school in the district to place restrictions on student attire or forbid students leaving campus for lunch. [4] But the catalyst for their uprising was their failure to elect a student council president of their choice. [4] [5]

Even though he was not permitted on the ballot, the students attempted to place honor student Claude Barnes in the office of president as a write-in. [5] [6] A senior, Barnes had been politically active in his earlier years at the school, but was feared by school officials, who believed him a militant advocate of Black Power as a member of the Youth for the Unity of Black Society. [6] [7] [8] Barnes won the election with 600 votes, a landslide compared to the top official candidate who received 200. [9] But the student body was informed on May 1 that Barnes would not be permitted to run. [6]

The students of Dudley High turned for assistance to A&T. [8] In the later 1960s, A&T was a center for the Black Power movement in the South. [10] They took the Dudley students seriously. On May 2, A&T students attempted to join discussions with school administrators, but their several attempts proved unsuccessful. [9] [11]

Angry response of the students began to build, with an increasing number of students boycotting classes, and armed police were seen in the vicinity of the school in riot gear. [3] [12] On May 9, the school superintendent effectively disempowered the school's black principal, sending in a white administrator to try to quell the trouble. [4] Students made several attempts during this period to reach a peaceful resolution with school officials, but this administrator did not take a sympathetic or conciliatory approach to the students.

On May 19, events began to reach a head. [13] Police were called to deal with picketing, and, in the midst of alleged police misconduct, nine students were arrested. [14] Student response damaged the school and resulted in more student arrests, as well as student injuries. [15]

On May 21, during school hours, students again assembled near the school. [16] Police were contacted when an official indicated seeing a weapon on one of the students. Efforts by a school administrator to disperse the protesters peaceably failed when some students instead began throwing rocks through the windows of the school. Police brought tear gas against student protesters, applying it over a larger area than may have been needed for the small percentage of students involved in the protest; in some cases—according to residential bystanders—they pursued and gassed students for blocks even as they attempted to flee. [3] [17] Community members, some of whom were also affected by the tear gas canisters, began throwing rocks at police and cars, while students from Dudley High went again to A&T to appeal for assistance. [9] [18]

North Carolina A&T State University

Early response to the situation at Dudley had been restricted to members of the newly-formed black activism group Student Organization for Black Unity, but the events of the day brought attention from the wider campus. [19] A&T student activist Nelson Johnson reported 400 students marching on Dudley High. [9]

While at first violence was contained to tear gas and rocks, the shooting started shortly thereafter. Johnson claims that the first gunfire was instigated by a carload of young white people who fired onto the A&T campus, prompting the students to defend themselves in kind. [9] Police report sniper fire from the dormitories at 10:45 p.m. [20] Wherever it started, the police began returning fire within two hours, and 150 National Guard were sent to the scene to keep the peace. [17] Two students were shot. [11] One of them, bystander Willie Grimes, was killed, although whether he was shot by police or protesters remains unknown. [17] [21] The 22-year-old Grimes had been walking with a group of friends to a restaurant at around 1:30 a.m. when shots came from a passing car. [1] Whether or not the car was a police vehicle has long been the subject of dispute. [5] [7]

Grimes' death ignited the campus. [1] A state of emergency was declared in Greensboro and 500 more National Guardsmen called in. [11] The university was closed down, and a curfew was set for 8p.m. to 5 a.m. [22] During the day of May 22, violence continued, as protesters vented their anger on white motorists, overturning cars and attacking at least one of the drivers. [5] That evening, in spite of the curfew, shooting resumed [17] Early in the morning of the 23rd, a shoot-out resulted in the serious injuries of five policemen and two students, which was followed by what was described at the time by one journalist as "the most massive armed assault ever made against an American university", with—according to 2012's The Black Revolution on Campus—the descent upon A&T of 600 National Guardsmen, a tank, a helicopter, an airplane and several armed personnel carriers. [1] A UPI reporter wrote that "it looked like war". [23]

On information suggesting students may be harboring a large number of guns, then-governor Robert W. Scott ordered the invasion of the dormitory Scott Hall, the centerpoint of the shooting. [5] At approximately 7:00 a.m., supported by smoke, "nausea" and tear gas grenades, the National Guard swept through the dorm, placing the students they found under protective custody and doing tens of thousands worth of dollars in damage. [17] [24] [23] Many of the students were packing to evacuate or sleeping at the time of the invasion. Over 300 students from Scott Hall and neighboring dormitories were sent to state prisons, where they were detained through the day. More than 60 bullet holes left their mark on Scott Hall. [5] Students alleged that during the sweep, personal items disappeared. [25] When the sweep was completed, only three operable firearms had been located. [5]

By the 24th, the violence was contained. [17] The curfew was lifted and the National Guard withdrawn. The uprising was declared over on May 25.

Aftermath

Willie Grimes' funeral was attended by 2,000 people, and a marker was erected on campus in his memory. [5] [7]

Governor Scott stated that the violence had been incited by a group of hard-core militants who had seized on the high school election as a catalyst for furthering their own cause. [26] On October 3 and 4 of that year, meetings were held to investigate the incident under the direction of the North Carolina State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. [27] While local officials continued blaming "outsiders" and "radicals" for the event, the committee found that the "prevailing system" at Dudley was unjust and that the school had suppressed dissent. [28] Criticizing the inaction or ineffective action of school officials and community leaders, they declared it "a sad commentary that the only group in the community who would take the Dudley students seriously were the students at A&T State University." [2] They also condemned the conduct of the National Guard sweep of Scott Hall, which endangered innocent students and seemed out of proportion to the actual risk, writing that "it is difficult to justify the lawlessness and the disorder in which this operation was executed." [24]

In 1979, Jack Elam, Greensboro's mayor during the event, expressed discomfort with the sweep of Scott Hall, but—although he agreed that communication had been poor—declared the committee's report a "joke". [5] Johnson, who had been arrested for inciting the Dudley students to riot and who was instrumental in bringing the committee to review the situation, wrote later that the community ignored the Advisory Committee's report. [29] Additional black policemen were employed by the city, although by 1979 the number of black policemen were still not representative of the proportion of black residents of the area. [5]

2008 saw the release of a documentary recounting the event, Walls that Bleed. [30]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Biondi 2012, p. 158.
  2. 1 2 NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 6.
  3. 1 2 3 NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 9.
  4. 1 2 3 NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 5.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Newton 1979.
  6. 1 2 3 NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 1.
  7. 1 2 3 Bluford Library.
  8. 1 2 Waller 2002, p. 49.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Bermanzohn 2003, p. 90.
  10. ↑ Biondi 2012, p. 157.
  11. 1 2 3 NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 10.
  12. ↑ Chafe 1981, p. 185-186.
  13. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 6, 7.
  14. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 2-3.
  15. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 3, 6.
  16. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 3.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hawkins.
  18. ↑ Chafe 1981, p. 187.
  19. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 12.
  20. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 11, 12.
  21. ↑ Chafe 1981, p. 189.
  22. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 11.
  23. 1 2 Biondi 2012, p. 159.
  24. 1 2 NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 14.
  25. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 13.
  26. ↑ Chafe 1981, p. 191.
  27. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. III.
  28. ↑ NC Advisory Committee 1970, p. 5, 8, 15.
  29. ↑ Biondi 2012, p. 158, 160.
  30. ↑ Rowe 2008.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greensboro, North Carolina</span> City in North Carolina, United States

Greensboro is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the United States, and the most populous city in the Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; at the 2022 census estimate, its population was 301,115. Three major interstate highways in the Piedmont region of central North Carolina were built to intersect at this city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guilford County, North Carolina</span> County in North Carolina, United States

Guilford County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population is 541,299, making it the third-most populous county in North Carolina. The county seat, and largest municipality, is Greensboro. Since 1938, an additional county court has been located in High Point. The county was formed in 1771. Guilford County is included in the Greensboro-High Point, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Greensboro–Winston-Salem–High Point, NC Combined Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina A&T State University</span> Public, historically black research university in Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina System. Founded by the North Carolina General Assembly on March 9, 1891, as the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race, it was the second college established under the provisions of the Morrill Act of 1890, as well as the first for people of color in the State of North Carolina. Initially, the college offered instruction in agriculture, English, horticulture and mathematics. In 1967, the college was designated a Regional University by the North Carolina General Assembly and renamed North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bennett College</span> Historically black liberal arts college in North Carolina, US

Bennett College is a private historically black liberal arts college for women in Greensboro, North Carolina. It was founded in 1873 as a normal school to educate freedmen and train both men and women as teachers. Originally coed, in 1926 it became a four-year women's college. It is one of two historically black colleges that enroll only women, the other being Spelman College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orangeburg Massacre</span> 1968 shooting of student protesters by Highway Patrolmen in South Carolina, USA

The Orangeburg Massacre was the killing of student protesters that took place on February 8, 1968, on the campus of South Carolina State College in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Nine Highway Patrolmen and one city police officer opened fire on a crowd of students, killing three and injuring twenty-eight. The shootings were the culmination of a series of protests against racial segregation at a local bowling alley, and marked the first instance of police killing student protestors at an American university.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greensboro sit-ins</span> 1960 non-violent protests in the United States

The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in February to July 1960, primarily in the Woolworth store—now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum—in Greensboro, North Carolina, which led to the F. W. Woolworth Company department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States. While not the first sit-in of the civil rights movement, the Greensboro sit-ins were an instrumental action, and also the best-known sit-ins of the civil rights movement. They are considered a catalyst to the subsequent sit-in movement, in which 70,000 people participated. This sit-in was a contributing factor in the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

Cleveland "Cleve" Sellers Jr. is an American educator and civil rights activist.

Jibreel Khazan is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four, a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's policy of denying service to non-white customers. The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James B. Dudley High School</span> Historic school building in North Carolina, United States

James Benson Dudley High School is located in Guilford County in the city of Greensboro, North Carolina. Dudley High School was founded in 1929 as the first black high school in Guilford County, in a school system segregated by law. The school was named for James Benson Dudley.

The Black Student Movement (BSM) is an organization at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It is the second largest student-run organization and one of the largest cultural organizations on the school's campus. The organization was created on November 7, 1967 to combat problems of black recruit, admissions, and integration on UNC-CH campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph McNeil</span> United States Air Force general

Joseph Alfred McNeil is a retired major general in the United States Air Force who is best known for being a member of the Greensboro Four—a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, challenging the store's policy of denying service to non-white customers.

Claude Barnes is an American civil rights leader for 40 years and a former professor, who was convicted in 2010 of embezzling the estate of his deceased neighbor.

Malcolm X Liberation University was an experimental educational institution inspired by the Black Power and Pan-Africanist movements and located in Durham and Greensboro, North Carolina. Howard Fuller, Bertie Howard, and several other African American activists in North Carolina founded the school in response to the 1969 Allen Building Takeover on Duke University's campus. It operated from October 25, 1969 to June 28, 1973. One of the main reasons the school closed was that political conflicts damaged the school's reputation, making it more difficult to acquire funding. Due to financial setbacks, the school operated for only three years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin McCain</span> African-American civil rights activist (1941–2014)

Franklin Eugene McCain was an American civil rights activist and member of the Greensboro Four. McCain, along with fellow North Carolina A&T State University students Ezell Blair Jr., Joseph McNeil and David Richmond, staged a sit-in protest at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 1, 1960 after they were refused service due to the color of their skin. Their actions were credited with launching the Greensboro sit-ins, a massive protest across state lines involving mostly students who took a stand against discrimination in restaurants and stores by refusing to leave when service was denied to them. The sit-ins successfully brought about the reversal of Woolworth's policy of racial segregation in their southern stores, and increased national sentiment to the fight of African-Americans in the south.

The history of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, the first land grant college for people of color in the state of North Carolina, can be traced back to 1890, when the United States Congress enacted the Second Morrill Act which mandated that states provide separate colleges for the colored race. The "Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race" was established On March 9, 1891 by an act of the General Assembly of North Carolina and began in Raleigh, North Carolina as an annex to Shaw University. The college made a permanent home in Greensboro with the help of monetary and land donation by local citizens. The college granted admission to both men and women from 1893 to 1901, when the board of trustees voted to restrict admission to males only. This policy would remain until 1928, when female students were once again allowed to be admitted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warmoth T. Gibbs</span>

Warmoth Thomas Gibbs Sr. was an American educator, retired Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, civil rights activist, and fourth president of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Gibbs was one of the first black commissioned officers in World War I and served as president of then North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College from 1955 to 1960. During his presidency, North Carolina A&T became accredited by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina Historic District</span> Historic district in North Carolina, United States

The Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina Historic District is 10.1-acre (41,000 m2) historic district along the western boundary of the campus of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. The area includes five historical Colonial Revival, Classical Revival style buildings. Some significant structures are among those located within the Historic District include the James B. Dudley Memorial Building and Harrison Auditorium. The district has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since October 20, 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Richmond (activist)</span> American civil rights activist (1941–1990)

David Leinail Richmond was a civil rights activist for most of his life, but he was best known for being one of the Greensboro Four. Richmond was a student at North Carolina A&T during the time of the Greensboro protests, but never ended up graduating from A&T. He felt pressure from the residual celebrity of being one of the Greensboro Four; his life was threatened in Greensboro and he was forced to move to Franklin, NC. Eventually, he moved back to Greensboro to take care of his father. Richmond was awarded the Levi Coffin Award for leadership in human rights by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce in 1980. Richmond seemed to be haunted by the fact that he could not do more to improve his world, and battled alcoholism and depression. He died in 1990 and was awarded a posthumous honorary doctorate degree from North Carolina A&T

The Student Organization for Black Unity was a group of African American students in North Carolina, United States led by Marxist thinker Nelson Johnson. Centered in Greensboro, it was formed in 1969, originally to stop the forced integration of black schools with white students so as to provide an educational environment for black students in which they would not be made to feel inferior to white people. The organization was an extension of the Black Power movement. The organization later extended its mandate, and advocated for the civil rights of all the people in the black community, at which point its name was changed to the Youth Organization for Black Unity by Roderick D. Bush.

Nelle Artis Coley, a noted educator, was born in Greensboro, NC in 1909. She attended local parochial primary schools in Greensboro before starting public school. She entered Bennett College in 1926, completing her high school studies in 1927. For the next four years, she alternated her studies with summer employment as a waitress in restaurants on the New Jersey shore. She completed her undergraduate studies at Bennett College in 1931. Unable to find work in Greensboro, she moved to Beaufort, North Carolina, where she found a teaching job.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.