Day 1: A Coke Machine and John Lewis

Our journey began in Western Pennsylvania, where we zig-zagged across the sprawling green hills of Appalachia to the historic town of Greensboro, North Carolina. There stands the International Civil Rights Museum in what was once the largest Woolworth commercial building where the “A&T Four” held one of the earliest sit-ins that gained traction and sparked widespread peaceful sit-ins throughout the South. An establishment that once facilitated injustice now is the very space dedicated to those who pursued justice.

Throughout the museum, the twisted reality of segregation is displayed. When first walking into the exhibit, there is a Coke machine, with a dispensary on opposite sides, with one side costing only 5¢ and another 10¢. Dr. Allen explained to us that such machines would be placed in walls which separated segregated rooms. On the “White” side of the machine, there would be the cheaper price, while the “Colored” side would carry a heavier cost. This was also true of restaurants in general, where food would be made more expensive for People of Color, even when they were denied the right to sit down and eat within the restaurant and were forced to take out.

In all I have learned of the Jim Crow era, I never learned that restaurants would charge People of Color more. I thought economic oppression came by way of lower wages, less employment opportunities, lower-quality education, and a myriad of other ways, but not outright price changes. I am not surprised though, as something blatant as that seems reflective of the time. Today however, economic oppression cannot be found on a Coke machine. Instead, it is found abundantly in studies, where implicit bias is shown to continue to influence wage pay and employment opportunities. The current practice of tying education to property taxes, in conjunction with the practice of redlining and the gerrymandering of school districts, all results in the de facto segregation of education (School Segregation in Alabama (eji.org)). The economic oppression that exists today remains egregious just as any injustice is egregious. Conceptual difficulty or degrees of separation from such injustice only give an illusion of equality that quells the moderate’s temper without resolving the root causes. While segregated living and local HOA’s may seem a far cry from one another, demographic distribution mappings would disagree.

There are a several other topics that deserve to be discussed, from the disgusting Jim Crow caricatures to the humbling wall of names of those who gave their lives in the Civil Rights Movement, but after the museum we were shown a film that desires to be spoken of as well given its immediate relevance. This film was concerning the late, great John Lewis. The film was made to honor Lewis’s legacy as both a Civil Rights Activist and Legislator. The film drew strongly on how his work as a legislator was integral in continuing the work of social justice. Lewis’s work ensuring every citizen was able to utilize their right to vote, and his life-threatening work in the 60’s and 70’ encouraging and aiding People of Color to register to vote, underlies what he knew to be a primary injustice in society.

But, with the bill which carries his namesake having been harpooned in the Senate by the filibuster, and the recent reveal by Pennsylvania Republicans’ own voting bill in the General Assembly, the pursuit of equality for a fundamental right of democracy is far from finished. The passing of John Lewis marks an end of one chapter, and it will be the responsibility of my generation to carry this mantle onward. This tour I pray will help me to confront the reality of what is necessary to assume this mantle and do my part as an individual within a far greater movement.

Matt Jenkins

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