Mary Church Terrell walked into Thomspon’s, a once-staple in D.C., for lunch with her colleagues. Quickly, what appeared to be a simple lunch outing had gone wrong. The restaurant refused to serve them!
But Terrell knew exactly what was going on – it was all a part of her plan.
Terrell had routinely faced discrimination in the city – once she was even denied water at a pharmacy!
Following Reconstruction, the city stopped enforcing “lost laws” that prohibited D.C. businesses from denying service to anyone “well-behaved” – regardless of race. Terrell went to Thompson’s knowing they would break the law – so she could expose them!
After months of picketing and boycotting D.C.’s discriminating businesses, with thousands rallying around her and the support of the Anti-Discrimination Committee coordinating committee, Terrell fought the laws all the way to the Supreme Court.
And she won big! A unanimous court decision in 1953 ended segregation in all D.C. establishments. After the verdict, Terrell called up some friends for a glorious lunch at Thompson’s to celebrate three years of their dedication to this cause in the liberation movement.
Like Terrell, we can never be afraid to challenge the system. We must call out white supremacy when we see it, and strategically work to dismantle it to better our entire community!