Rosa Parks stood up by sitting down in 1955. Civil Rights legislation passed Congress in 1964.

Greensboro's effort to build a civil rights museum has taken longer than that epic journey, and the project remains open-ended.

Ryan Shell looks at some of the numbers.

Nancy McLaughlin writes in the N&R: "When construction begins again, [Skip] Alston said, the museum could take 10 months to complete."

I said in a column written more than seven years ago that "the lack of progress the museum has made [makes it] hard to justify the allocation of public money for the effort." (You can read the whole column after the jump.)

Agonizing debate over museum bonds

by Edward Cone
News & Record
11-2-2000

The long list of bonds up for approval next week by Greensboro voters includes a bunch of no-brainers and one head-scratcher: How could the Greensboro City Council set up the worthy Civil Rights Museum for likely failure?

Things like libraries and police stations, as well as science centers, parks and sporting facilities, are worth spending public money on, and bonds are a good way to fund them. The natatorium may stretch some people's definition of a necessity, although I think it would be a great piece of civic infrastructure, and the whole Millennium Park concept is a little under-baked for my taste, but overall it's a strong package that would make Greensboro a better place to live and work.

And then there's the Civil Rights Museum.

One of the smartest editors I ever knew banned the word ''controversial'' from his magazine, telling his reporters that the label was a cop-out; it was our job to get past the controversy and present the straight story to the readers. Good thing for him that he never covered this issue. It's listed beside ''controversial'' in the dictionary.

Greensboro needs a civil rights museum. Our role in the long struggle for civil rights, highlighted by (but not limited to) the Woolworth sit-ins initiated by students from A&T, deserves to be remembered and celebrated. The perfect site has been chosen. The icing on the cake is the economic boost that a well-run museum would probably provide for downtown.

The problem for many people is with the leadership of county Commissioner Skip Alston and City Councilman Earl Jones. They got this thing going, for which we should all be grateful, but they seem likely to drag it down to defeat next Tuesday. I'm not even talking about their political personas, complicated as they are. Just focus on the lack of progress the museum has made under their stewardship, and it's hard to justify the allocation of public money for the effort.

The final straw, if one was needed, is the ongoing investigation into the finances of another nonprofit run by Jones. No problem, say museum proponents: The money only flows to match privately raised funds, and those funds won't be forthcoming if the management is viewed as shaky. The obvious next question - why public spending should be held to a lower standard - is ignored.

Council members also say that any public money will only be disbursed carefully, for documented expenses. Reality check: This is a council that seems not to understand its own incentive package with Syngenta. Not very reassuring.

There are political forces at work against the museum under the best of circumstances, chief among them a widespread aversion to public spending of almost any sort and, to be blunt, a lingering racism that animates too much of our local discourse. The inadvertent aid and comfort this council gives to the racist element by failing to get this thing right before putting up for a vote is shameful.

I want very much to vote yes on the museum bonds next week. I want to join the well-meaning crowd that points to the greater good of the project as a reason to look past the glaring problems. And I don't mind telling you that I worry about the personal cost of opposing it: A lot of people will resent criticism of Jones and Alston, both black men, by a white columnist like me. Nothing I write about my support for the museum in principle will change that, but it's something that needs to be said.

© News & Record 2000

Edward Cone (efcone@mindspring.com, www.edcone.com) a magazine journalist and Greensboro native, contributes a column to the News & Record most Sundays.