On January 31, 1961, civil rights demonstrators from Friendship College converged on McCrory's diner in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The protest was a
turning point:
These young men, along with many other Rock Hill demonstrators, had been arrested for trespassing several times during the previous year; each time they paid their bail and were released. But on this occasion in January 1961, they had decided ahead of time that if arrested, they would not accept bail but would serve out their sentences. By so doing they would not only break the cycle of continually paying money into an unfair legal system but also bring attention to the segregated nature of lunch counters and other public places in Rock Hill and elsewhere.
All of the men were convicted and sentenced to 30 days hard labor on a prison farm.
And now, 54 years later, the "Friendship Nine" are about to be vindicated:
Nine black men arrested for integrating a whites-only South Carolina lunch counter 54 years ago may be heroes in the historic record, but in the record of the law they are still convicted trespassers.
That criminal record will soon be erased.
On Wednesday a prosecutor is expected to ask a judge to vacate the arrests and convictions of the men known as the Friendship Nine.
The men hope their nonviolent protests will be a model for protests happening today:
“It’s been a long wait,” Graham said. “We are sure now that we made the right decision for the right reason. Being nonviolent was the best thing that we could have done.”