Franklin McCain’s actions helped ignite a movement of nonviolent protest demanding racial equality. Fifty-four years ago, he and three other young black men sat at the segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro. Known to history buffs as the “Greensboro Four,” N.C. A&T University freshmen McCain, Joseph McNeil, David Richmond, and Ezell Blair Jr., who know goes by Jibreel Khazan, soon attracted national attention. Sit-ins became a form of protest in the South. Within six months, the counter at Woolworth’s abandoned its “whites only” policy.
McCain, a 73-year-old Charlotte resident, died Jan. 9 in Greensboro. His funeral is set for 2 p.m. Friday at Friendship Baptist Church in Charlotte. The Rev. Stephen Wingate, a Cherryville resident and former pastor of Humphrey’s Chapel AME Zion Church in Dallas, said it’s fitting that McCain’s funeral be held at Friendship Baptist. Wingate has visited the church on Beatties Ford Road and said the stained glass windows depict the hardships endured in the fight for racial equality. Images of slavery and the civil rights movement are captured in the glass. Wingate hopes to attend the funeral in memory of McCain’s bravery. Had he been given the chance, Wingate said he would have joined McCain and the other young black protesters at Woolworth’s lunch counter. “Mr. McCain will go down in the history books as one who fought for justice, for things that are right for the citizens of North Carolina and the world,” he said.
‘Broke the color barrier’
McCain, a leader among his peers, got three others to join him at the lunch counter, said Jamar McKoy, chairman of the Gaston County Democratic Party. McCain instigated a movement that brought about real change. McKoy hopes the legacy of the Greensboro Four will inspire people to stand up for what they believe in and dare to be different. “He broke the color barrier,” he said. “I think it’s very neat that (his funeral) is being held in Mecklenburg County, which is extremely close to Gaston County.” McNeil and Khazan are the only two left of the Greensboro Four. Richmond died in 1990. Gaston County NAACP President Charles Whitesides said he plans to attend McCain’s funeral.