There were shadows over the sold out symposium yesterday at the Chapel Hill Public Library. You likely know them both:, two Supreme Court decisions that will have far reaching effects: the immunity decision Trump v. United States, and the end of “Chevron” deference to regulatory agencies in Loper Bright v. Raimondo. Both, as yesterday’s speakers noted regularly, could stymie efforts to achieve racial equality.

But this gathering, organized by James Williams, retired Public Defender for Orange and Chatham Counties with support from the Chapel Hill Public Library, Friends of CHPL, ChapelHillHistory.org, IFC, Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition, and Huggins & Zuiker, LLP, drew on the deep history of the Long Civil Rights Movement, both locally and statewide, to provide hope.

The symposium consisted of four panels and two distinguished keynote speakers, Jim Wynn and Gene Nichol. The panelists were: Jerdene Alston, Lillie Atwater, Gwen Atwater, Jack Boger, Christopher Clark, James Ferguson, Braxton Foushee, Betty Geer, Jerry Gershenhorn, Elizabeth Haddix, Anne Hargett, Reginald Hildebrand, H Timothy Lovelace, Angela Mason, Danita Mason-Hogans, Freddie Parker, Allison Riggs, Rich Rosen, Reggie Shuford, Adam Stein, Mel Watt, and James Williams.

My takeaways:

We have to hold on to hope

  1. A persistent theme is that even since Reconstruction we have had to fight for equality.
  2. You cannot win the fight, if you are not in the fight

We have brave and persistent models among us

The first panel discussed the history of the Civil Rights Act and the strategies that led to its signing in 1964. Panelists (not in order in photo): Christopher Clark, H Timothy Lovelace, Angela Mason, Jerry Gershenhorn, Allison Riggs

The first panel reminded us of the fight to get to the 1964 act: the promises of Reconstruction and losses to Jim Crow, the work of Louis Austin and the Carolina Times, the work of Pauli Murray, the strategic use of Civil Rights as a U.S. foreign policy issue.

Danita Mason-Hogans talked with the Women of the Movement about the local experience of Jim Crow and the struggle to pass a local ordinance to outlaw segregation. Panelists (Not in order of photo): Anne Hargett, Betty Geer, Jerdene Alston, Lillie Atwater, Gwen Atwater, and Braxton Foushee
Danita Mason-Hogans talked with the Women of the Movement about the local experience of Jim Crow and the struggle to pass a local ordinance to outlaw segregation. Panelists (Not in order of photo): Anne Hargett, Betty Geer, Jerdene Alston, Lillie Atwater, Gwen Atwater, and Braxton Foushee

The second panel was made up of members of the local group Women of the Movement, along with local legend Braxton Foushee, who told engaging personal stories. They were introduced by the next generation of young leaders, the James Cates Scholars.

Reggie Shuford, Elizabeth Haddix, Jack Boger, Reginald Hildebrand, and history and world class singer Dr Freddie Parker talk about the state of the Civil Rights Act in 2024
Reggie Shuford, Elizabeth Haddix, Jack Boger, Reginald Hildebrand, and history and world class singer Dr Freddie Parker talk about the state of the Civil Rights Act in 2024 and what the future may hold

The third panel was made up of a mix of scholars and activists. Retired law professor and dean Jack Boger reminded us that the Southern Manifesto was countered by the appointment of Ramsey Clark as a very active pro-rights Attorney General. Retired UNC history professor Reginald Hildebrand told very personal stories of racial progress. Attorney Elizabeth Haddix warned that religion is being used as a stalking horse for oppression. Reggie Shuford, executive director of the N.C. Justice Center, cited mass incarceration as another tool against justice.

Mel Watt, James Ferguson, Adam Stein, and Rich Rosen of Ferguson, Stein, Chambers, Gresham, and Sumter
Mel Watt, James Ferguson, Adam Stein, and Rich Rosen of Ferguson, Stein, Chambers, Gresham, and Sumter

The final panel was made up of members of the Chambers, Stein, Ferguson, and Lanning law firm, who told of their roles as the pioneering civil rights firm in N.C. Despite their conviviality, I kept remembering that their offices were firebombed in 1971 around my 21st birthday and was reminded of two earlier attempts on Chambers’ life.

We are subject to pendulum swings in policy, law, and society

Judge James Wynn, who delivered the keynote
Judge James Wynn, who delivered the keynote
  1. This was a common theme most prominently expounded by Judge Jim Wynn in his post-lunch keynote.
  2. This is the time to push back.

Both sides are playing the long game.

  1. The long shadow of the Redeemers, the Wilmington insurrection, Jim Crow, and Project 2025 has to be counteracted by the continuing work of the Long Civil Rights Movement.
  2. Each side tries to enact their long term goals and commitments.

Our side has more fun and has made progress despite rebuffs and reversals.

  1. There was sharing of wonderful and funny memories along with self-deprecating stories.
  2. The dedication of those in the Chambers firm, as well as their good nature, serves as a model for all of us.

We have to hold on to hope

  1. If Dr. Freddie Parker’s a cappella rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” doesn’t give you hope, then nothing will.
  2. Models like those mentioned above but especially the legacy of Julius Chambers (see him here talking at Duke Law), who influenced so many legal decisions, give us hope and inspiration .
  3. Despite the obstacles, closing keynote speaker Gene Nicol reminded us, the search for justice is unending.
Gene Nichol gives closing remarks expressing well placed concerns about the current times especially for the future of equal and civil rights.

Paul Jones, Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Science at the University of North Carolina, is married to Sally Greene, one of the organizers of this event for OCCRC.

Julius Chambers

Get Chapel Hill Civil Rights Trading Cards at CHPL or here: https://chapelhillhistory.org/civil-rights/trading-cards/

Paul Jones is Professor Emeritus of Library and Information Science at the University of North Carolina.