Race in Charlotte

In comparison to its peers Greensboro, Atlanta, and Birmingham, the city of Charlotte avoided many contentious events during the Civil Rights Movement.  However, racial strife did occur.  The regional S&W Cafeteria chain was target of many African American sit-ins, and Charlotte locations were no exception in the summer of 1963.

In a 1965 speech to the Southeastern Regional NAACP Convention, mayor Stanford R. Brookshire notes, “I like to think that Charlotte, in doing voluntarily, without coercion or conflict, those things now required by the Federal Civil Rights Act, has given effective leadership in providing both rights and opportunities for those who are willing, and in many cases eager, to assume and discharge the responsibilities of full citizenship.”

Sporting events were not exempt from racial strife.  Two examples are the fight for the integration of Charlotte's public recreation facilities and the annual Shrine Bowl high school football game.