SC Legislature honors Friendship 9 for civil rights protests

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Legislature is honoring nine men who went to jail to protest segregated lunch counters in Rock Hill at the beginning of the civil rights movement.

Members of the Friendship 9 came to Columbia on Tuesday. They attended a meeting of the Legislative Black Caucus before being honored in the House and Senate.

Twelve other black lawmakers joined Rep. John King on the House floor. The Democrat from Rock Hill says the lawmakers owed their ability to serve to the courage of the group convicted in 1961 of trespassing when they refused to leave a “whites only” lunch counter.

The men could have paid a $100 fine, but they chose instead to spend 30 days in jail to protest the law.