“40 YEARS LATER”
Romans 4:13-25
The Rev. Ms. Laurie A. McNeill
Montclair, New Jersey
February 20, 2005
Morgan McNeill, my niece, is a graduate of Pinecrest High School, the same high school that I
attended in the Sandhills of North Carolina. Pinecrest was formed by merging seven high schools into
one, resulting in the integration of schools that previously had been segregated.
It was a real treat to be present at Morgan’s commencement ceremony. The guest speaker
was Jeff Capel, a member of Pinecrest’s first graduating class in 1970. Mr. Capel was asked to speak
because of his success since then. He is a basketball coach. He has taken two different colleges to the
NCAA tournament. His sons have been starters on basketball squads at UNC-Asheville, Duke and
Carolina.
Upon hearing the first two words of his speech, I knew we were in for something special: “In
1962.”
Jeff Capel began his speech by saying, “In 1962, I was 10 years old.” He went on to recall
what it was like in that year to go to movies at the Sunrise Theatre in Southern Pines, the only movie
theatre in the county. He remembered how he would purchase his ticket, buy a soda and a bag of
popcorn, and then head to the balcony.
In 1962, persons who were African-American had to sit in the balcony of the movie theater.
Segregation was the law of the land. Whites were on the main floor; coloreds were in the balcony.
(I went to movies there when I was a child. I don’t remember the balcony.)
One day, in 1962, Jeff’s parents and several other couples took their families to the Sunrise
Theatre. The adults stood in line to purchase the tickets. When they reached the ticket window, they
requested tickets for the main floor.
The ticket vendor denied their request.
Each couple then went to the back of the line and waited their turn until, once agin, they reached
the window. Tickets requested for seats on the main floor were refused. To the back of the line they
returned.
The pattern continued.
A bit of a crowd had gathered. Passing cars honked their horns in disapproval of the effort.
Unkind words were shouted. The Capel’s and their friends persisted. After about three hours, they
loaded up their cars and drove their families home.
Jeff said it was a silent ride until his 10-year old curiosity prompted him to ask his parents,
“Why did you do that?”
His father answered, “It’s the right thing to do.”
Even thought the law was set – blacks and whites shall co-exist separately – the Capel family
and others believed that what they thought was right ultimately would prevail.
The law was not the sole determinant of the outcome. The law would govern but the human
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