60 years since Civil Rights Act passed: Knoxville figures who impacted the movement

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ( WATE ) — Tuesday marked 60 years since the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law, and several Knoxvillians played a part in the movement.

Rev. Harold Middlebrook was one of many Knoxville figures at the forefront of sit-ins and protests to push the civil rights movement forward. He was a friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The two were arrested together in Atlanta in 1960 after a sit-in at a restaurant.

To Middlebrook, the passing of the act was only the first step toward equality.

“Desegregation is a move to change things by law, integration is the changing of hearts and minds, so that people start accepting it. So we were blessed and grateful, that at least we now had the law on our side,” he said.

While Middlebrook moved to Knoxville in the seventies, Joseph Kendrick was involved in the desegregation efforts in the city before the act was passed.

“We were trying to integrate the Tennessee Theatre, and I happened to be the first one in line. So when I went up to buy the ticket, I think because I was fair-skinned, the lady accidentally sold me a ticket,” Kendrick said.

When the theatre discovered the mistake, his ticket was taken from him and he returned to the protests in the street.

“It got kind of ugly, people started throwing rotten eggs and different things at us, and at that time, a paddy wagon came up and put us all in the paddy wagon and took us down to the Knox County jail,” he said.

Knoxville’s impact stretched all the way to the White House. Knoxvillian Sylvia Peters’ aunt, Ethel Payne, was there the day that the act was signed into law.

“She and another woman were the first black females to be White House correspondents, and Lyndon B. Johnson told her, ‘Ethel, stay in town this weekend, something great is going to happen,'” Peters said.

Even after the act was passed, the sentiment toward African Americans didn’t change immediately. Theotis Robinson Jr. also lived in Knoxville during integration efforts.

“I remember distinctly going to a local restaurant after the passage of the Civil Rights Act to test what that was going to be like,” he said. “They were all white, and they were debating amongst each other who was going to draw the short straw and have to wait on me and my wife at the time.”

Sixty years later, Robinson Jr. believes there is still work to be done, and more people to protect that weren’t covered in the Civil Rights Act.

“It did not take in, for example, the LGBTQ community, and work still needs to be done there. We’ve seen a retrenchment in our politics, seeking to go backward,” he said.

Middlebrook echoed a similar sentiment.

“It looks almost like battles that we fought 60 years ago, we’re almost having to start fighting those same battles all over,” he said.

Knoxville’s rich Black history is unknown to many, but Rev. Renee Kesler with the Beck Cultural Exchange Center continues to teach and study it.

“If we’re not afraid to look back, then nothing we’re facing can frighten us. We look back, so we can look forward to a greater future. But just as important if not more so, it’s important for our citizens and especially our young people to understand what it really means to fight for justice and equality,” she said.

In Knoxville, there’s no better way to understand that fight than from the people who were there.

“The struggle is still there. The dream is still alive,” Middlebrook said. “And hopefully as some of us who were involved then pass off the scene, hopefully, we can educate young people like yourselves.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also spent time in Knoxville, speaking at Knoxville College in 1961.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WATE 6 On Your Side.