The civil rights era-conviction of nine black protesters, known collectively as the "Friendship Nine" was overturned by a South Carolina judge on Wednesday, CBS News reported.
In 1961, a group of nine teenagers from Friendship College in Rock Hill took a stand against racial segregation by sitting at a "whites only" lunch counter at a local variety store. They were manhandled, swiftly arrest and thrown in jail where they served 30 days hard labor.
That conviction followed the Friendship Nine- now reduced to eight after one passed away- for five decades until Rock Hill Solicitor Kevin Brackett pushed for the conviction that was based solely on their race to be tossed out.
"There was only one reason that they were charged and convicted for trespassing, and that is because they were black," Brackett said according to CNN. "It was wrong then. It was wrong today. These convictions, if they are allowed to stand, would be an offence to justice, and they must be vacated."
Tired of being treated like "second-class citizens," Clarence Graham and his friends carefully planned for months to join the simmering Civil Rights Movement, CBS News reported. On Jan. 31, 1961, they walked into McCrory's 5-10-25 Cent Variety Store and sat down at the whites-only counter.
"I didn't even get to sit down; as soon as I started to sit, I was snatched up, thrown on the floor and dragged out the back to the jailhouse," Graham told CBS News.
Police were already at the store waiting for them, having heard of the plan before it was carried out.
Civil rights groups at the time bailed out African-Americans who were arrested for staging sit-ins during the movement. But the constant bailouts were depleting groups of much needed funds.
So the teenagers chose to serve their 30 days hard labor instead of having the NAACP spend the $100 to bail them out.
"We served the time," W.T. "Dub" Massey, another of the Friendship Nine, told CBS News. "We served the time."
At their Wednesday court date, the friends were represented by the same lawyer who defended them in 1961. Presiding Circuit Court Judge John C. Hayes III is the nephew of the judge who first convicted them.
"We have faith, and we knew that eventually all of this would come to fruition, and we would have to be exonerated," Massey told CBS News.
"I knew that! Long time ago. Nobody asked," he added.
