Saturday’s shooting occurred at the same time thousands were gathering in Washington, D.C., to mark the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, when Dr. Martin Luther King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. The Jacksonville shooting also occurred as civil rights activists in Jacksonville were preparing to remember the 63rd anniversary of Ax Handle Saturday.
But this hurricane of racism that we’ve been dealing with in the Jacksonville community is not new. It’s almost as if it’s a recurring-type circumstance. Jacksonville’s community, obviously, is outraged. The Black community is outraged. There was a prayer vigil. The governor showed up at the prayer vigil.
So, the manager came out. His name was James Word. And he read a card. And after he read us the card, he closed the lunch counter. So, then whites stood behind us yelling the racial epithets — “jungle bunny,” “[bleep],” “[bleep] ain’t acting like colored people for the NAACP.” So we always sat longer than lunchtime, because we figured that they serve fresh lunches. There were no microwaves, no convection ovens.
We proceeded anyway. It was healthy fear, but it was determined courage. And we sat in. We did not go to Woolworth’s that day. We went to Grant’s, which was on the corner of Adams and Main. And again, they closed the lunch counter. Two patrolmen from the sheriff’s department showed up. They said they wanted to talk to us. But the pastor was there, Wilbert Miller. Reverend Miller, who was the pastor of the Presbyterian Church, was about 5’7”. And Reverend Miller, looking up at the patrolman, from 5’7” to 6’1” or whatever the guy was, saying, “You will not set foot on church property.” And they didn’t.Jacksonville, Florida, Mayor Haydon Burns publicly stated the horrific events of that day never happened.