Activist Joseph McNeil, who played a pivotal role in igniting the protest wave at a Greensboro eatery, passes away at 83 years old
Joseph McNeil, Civil Rights Pioneer and Air Force General, Passes Away at 83
Joseph McNeil, a North Carolina native who played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement, has passed away at the age of 83. McNeil was one of four college students who participated in a historic sit-in at a racially segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro in 1960.
Born and raised in coastal Wilmington, McNeil attended North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. During his time there, he became a member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). His actions at the Woolworth's lunch counter would set him on a path that would change the course of history.
On February 1, 1960, McNeil, along with three other students, sat down at the "whites only" counter and were refused service. Despite being urged to move on by the store manager and police, McNeil and his colleagues declined to give up their seats. This simple act of defiance sparked a wave of nonviolent civil rights protests across the South.
McNeil's participation in the Greensboro sit-in led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Raleigh. The SNCC became a key part of the student direct-action civil rights movement, organizing protests and sit-ins in cities across the South. Demonstrations between 1960 and 1965 helped pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
After graduating from North Carolina A&T, McNeil joined the Air Force Reserves and later retired as a two-star major general in 2001. He also worked as an investment banker. McNeil's last known active partner in the student movement for nonviolent civil rights was Diane Nash.
Joseph McNeil's legacy lives on. A monument to the four students who participated in the Greensboro sit-in stands on the North Carolina A&T campus. McNeil is honored in Wilmington with an historical marker on a street segment named for him. Another portion of the lunch counter where McNeil sat is at the Smithsonian.
Jibreel Khazan, formerly Ezell Blair Jr., is now the only surviving member of the four students who participated in the sit-in. Khazan, McNeil, Franklin McCain, and David Richmond will always be remembered as the courageous students who stood up for equality and justice.
In his final years, McNeil faced recent health challenges but still attended the sit-in's 65th anniversary observance this year in Greensboro. McNeil's passing marks the end of an era, but his legacy continues to inspire generations to come. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris sat at a section of the lunch counter that remains intact within the museum in 2021, paying tribute to the courage and determination of McNeil and his colleagues.
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