Eleanor Holmes Norton: “Medgar Evers was not a student. He was not young and foolish the way the students were. He had a lot to risk, and he…”

“Medgar Evers was not a student. He was not young and foolish the way the students were. He had a lot to risk, and he risked it all. He and a very few others stepped forward to do that first sit-in at a Woolworth's. He paid a price that day. They were beat horribly. And he paid the ultimate price when they took his life in that driveway. It is time for the United States of America now to step forward, as Medgar Evers did, and recognize this one of a kind American hero. I applaud our country and our Navy for naming a United States Naval ship the Medgar Evers.”