Juanita and Ima Jean Chance
The young high school students refused to leave. Their parents were called and interrogated by Police Chief Alton Cobb, who tried to persuade the parents to take their children home. When the students returned the next day, they were faced with a restraining order filed by the Harnett County Board of Education. During the week-long sit-in protest, the school officials were instructed by authorities and the Harnett County Board of Education to ignore the students when they arrived and not to allow them to participate in class discussions.
“When we got to the school that morning, the officers were talking through a bull horn. It was more of a scare tactic because they arrested all of us kids at one time. They told us if we step off this sidewalk onto school property we would be arrested. On the other side of the street there was so many folks it looked like a parade. There was so many people there to watch. We kids all looked at one another and we just spread out down the sidewalk about three or four feet apart. And as we spread out, a policeman was standing in front of each one of us. And somebody a student said, ‘Alright, let’s go!’ And the other students stepped off the sidewalk onto the dirt except me. The officers grabbed the students and started putting them in police cars. And there was this policeman standing in front of me. And he looked at me and asked me, ‘Son, what you going to do?’ I said, ‘I don’t know?“
“I turned around and started walking down the sidewalk and he started walking with me. So I took off running and he took off running. So I stopped real quick, and he ran past me and then I stepped off onto school property. So he got me and put me in the police car. There were three students in the backseat and one student in the front seat and he put me in the middle of the front seat, sitting next to the deputy. Everybody started out to Lillington. And I looked down and there was his blackjack sticking out. A blackjack was what they used to hit you in the head with, a billy stick. So I reached down and took it. And when I did, he went to try to take it from me and I passed it to the back seat. And he was driving down the road, reaching and trying to look to get his blackjack back. And figured he won’t going to get it back so he said, ‘Hey I want to make a deal with y’all. There’s restaurant down the road, if y’all give me my blackjack back and don’t give me no trouble, I will stop and buy everybody a milkshake.’ So we said, yeah, ok we’ll do that. So we gave him his blackjack back and the officer pulled into the restaurant.“
Yes, the police officer bought these protesting teenagers all milkshakes before taking them to jail.
“This is in the morning time now. He got out of the car and asked us all what kind of milkshake we wanted. He headed into the restaurant and stopped at the door realizing that he had left all the kids in the car by themselves. He came running back to the car and said, ‘Look ya’ll, I don’t want to lose my job and I don’t want to get in no trouble. I’m just doing this because I got to. Ya’ll do nothing and don’t get me in no trouble.‘”
“So the students agreed and told him they wouldn’t get him in no trouble. So he went in the restaurant and brought all of us something back. And we got to Lillington, they came marching in the courtroom with all of us young’uns. The judge went to beating his gavel and wanting to know what in the world was going on here! The judge told the officials, ‘Get these young’uns out of this courtroom and take them all back where you got them from until we can get this mess straightened out!’ And so they loaded us back up and carried us back over to the schoolhouse. The judge didn’t want us all in there and so from then on we all went to different places to go to school. There was this organization out of Raleigh they found places for the Indian students to go to school and live.“
Image description: newspaper article showing Native American students protesting racism by means of a sit in. Above photo is written, "Indian 'Sit-In' at White School" Writing under photograph says, "Indian girls Juanita Chance 15 years old (far right) and Ima Jean chance, 13 year old cousin (in front of Juanita) at "sit-in" demonstration yesterday in the all-white Dunn (NC) high school where they remained all day in defiance of a court order."