Adam Griffin
   Staff Writer

As a student at N.C. A&T State University in the segregated South, Clarence Henderson decided to take a stand. On the second day of the sit-in protest at Woolworth’s on Elm Street, Henderson bravely put his own safety and future at risk in order to fight for true equality among races.

This past week, Henderson, an original sit-in member and civil rights icon, was kind enough to accept an interview request. The Carolinian was interested in his perspectives on both political and moral issues that have may impact students.

Q: What is the most important lesson millennials can learn from the civil rights movement?

A: That America is only as strong as the people in the country. Americans must work together to be the best that we can be. A civil rights movement should show people the power of unity towards a principled common cause.

Our movement was centered on the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence and to further these ideals, people have to work together and put differences aside to get along. It is also important that millennials learn self-reliance. The best hand you’ll find is at the end of your own arm. Nobody owes anybody anything; you choose to give the fruits of your labor to those whom you wish to share it with but the government cannot make people charitable.

We need to change our mindset as a people from an entitlement mentality to an opportunistic mentality. You’re not promised anything but an opportunity here in America, and millennials must learn how America works by studying this country’s history so that they can pass the torch of liberty on to the next generation.

Q: Many have compared modern movements such as the LGBT movement and the Black Lives Matter movement to the civil rights movement, how do you think they compare, and can you speak to the tactics and purposes of these movements?

A: They do not compare. The civil rights movement was based on the idea of all human beings being the same and not being treated as lesser under the law. It was not based on enforcing personal choices and getting involved in the way individuals choose to live their lives. The civil rights movement was a peaceful movement that put Jim Crowe on trial based on the principle that all people are created equal.

You have to distinguish between a principle-driven movement and an agenda-driven movement. Black Lives Matter is not a peaceful movement but a movement that has provoked violence — has the agenda of inciting people because when you hear chants like the “pigs in a blanket,” “fry um like bacon” you know that it is not about peace and principle.

The civil rights movement made people aware of how people were living and being treated based on the color of their skin. Mistreatment because of their outward appearance resulted in the people suffering injustices. It is an insult to compare Black Lives Matter to the civil rights movement when the principle of the matter is that All Lives Matter.

You have to ask what is the endgame for Black Lives Matter? The endgame for the civil rights movement was to ensure equality — that no one was above or beneath another person, but that they would be defined by the content of their character.

Q: Given the problems facing the African American community today, what would be the best advice you could give them for getting on a better track?

A: Go back to the values that we lived by at earlier times in our history. Look at America as an opportunity; turn back to traditional family values; encourage education and teach self-reliance. The civil rights movement opened the door but one had to be prepared to compete. A person has to be prepared for what it takes to stay inside once the door is opened.

We need to understand the capitalist economic system and learn to play the game that leads to upward mobility and prosperity. The civil rights movement was a social movement around American principles; the second part, the economic side, still has to be taken advantage of. That starts with understanding our economic system, understanding property rights. The first property a person has is himself — you can’t be bought and sold so do not allow yourself to be bought and sold.

Q: How do you feel about the Planned Parenthood scandal?

A: It is great that Planned Parenthood is being exposed for the institutionalized murder that they practice. Abortion is a political term; they are involved in killing babies. A woman’s right to choose ends when she becomes pregnant. She is a carrier, but she does not own the human body growing inside of her.

Planned Parenthood disguises itself as an organization for planning lives when they are really taking away the right to life. DNA says that it is a human being, just not fully developed. People need to know the history, that Planned Parenthood was created to control the black population by a racist Margaret Sanger.

We need to get away from this new form of human trafficking in selling baby parts. This is a symptom of certain privileged people and groups being above the law. There will always be abortion, but it is egregious injustice to force taxpayers to pay for others’ abortions. What will be next? Given these practices now we no longer have a definition for when life begins, we no longer have a definition of marriage… the list goes on. The problem is that common sense is not that common.

Q: What is it like to be an African American civil rights leader and a conservative?

A: To me, it means standing up for the freedom of all people, speaking truth for what it is, looking at situations objectively, looking at mankind for what mankind is, not caring for politics or power. There is a misconception in our society of what “conservative” means.

Conservative is having a set of values derived from the way human beings actually are. It deals with facts not feeling and being prepared for open debate and criticism. When I was born, society deemed me as being “born on the wrong side of the tracks.” It’s not where you come from that matters. It is where you are going.

I was blessed to be born into a two-parent family. My mother worked part-time jobs and raised the kids while my dad worked hard six days a week, and in his line of work, he made great relations with white people. But here’s the thing: the truth does not change; white or black, human nature is what it is.

Whites participated in the civil rights movement and in the sit-ins, not because it benefited them but because they empathized with our plight. You see, everyone is born an original, but too many die copies.

A big part of that is our education system is broken; instead of teaching people how to think, it teaches them what to think. There’s a big difference there. We should be teaching the next generations how to think not what to think.

Q: What is the most important issue facing America today?

A: Jobs. That is what makes America what it is, and prosperity fuels free choice.

A hopeless person is a dangerous person. We need to solve the problem because too many people are suffering from a lack of income.

There are three ways to work in our economic system: you can work for others, you can work for yourself or you can put other people to work. We are currently suffering from a slow economic breakdown. Income keeps society moving, and regulation is killing jobs.

Obamacare is a big problem because it affects how companies can employ people. Healthcare is a service not a right, and it’s not even about healthcare; it is about government power — the power to tell employer and employee how to run their business and manage their lives. Obamacare regulations restrict profit. Buying and selling keeps money flowing, and Obamacare clogs the economic system. It restricts job opportunities that give people money to push forward the economy. The free-market system needs to be allowed to do what it does best and take care of itself.

Q: What do you do and what does the future hold for Clarence Henderson?

A: As a public speaker, I go around the country speaking to people about how we get America to move forward by looking at where we have been. This starts with our fundamental Charters of Freedom — the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. Those documents teach you that government is limited, and if there is no law in place restricting some action, then a person has a right or ability to act as he chooses.

I speak about restoring and strengthening freedom and prosperity. Also, I am pioneering a program for our educational system called Content of Character™. America will always look the content of the character of its citizens. The problem of bullying in schools is a symptom of this. The problem is one of character. Good character contributes to a better country.

I am also currently writing a book on the journey of my life. I work to pass the torch of liberty onto the next generation. People will invest in their security but will not recognize the need to invest in their freedom. We all have a responsibility to protect and defend freedom because your freedom will always be on trial. Do you make yourself available for your city council meeting? The ones making rules under which your locality will live by.

Learn how to fight against central planning and those who put people in boxes to further their own power. We need to teach youths what it means to be an American. You must have respect for the rights of others if you expect respect for your own rights. Putting content of character into education is imperative because education without morals is a threat.

Q: What role does God and faith play in your life and activism?

A: God is the most important thing in my life. I try to follow the will of God because he is my creator, and he created me for a purpose. That purpose is to fulfill His purpose. America has been blessed because of what it has done to further God’s purpose. A lot of those men who framed our system of government held Judeo-Christian beliefs and values. The Declaration of Independence speaks of the creator-given rights of nature’s God and nature’s laws.

God gives me the choice — life or death — I choose life. The state of morality has fallen because we have taken God out of the equation. America is still here because God has allowed us to be. George Washington fought against all odds; he lost more battles than he won, and yet he still won the war.

Abraham Lincoln gave his speech about a house divided against itself not being able to stand; he took that straight from the Bible. [He] lost the election and then when the house divided fell, he was the one elected to put it back together again.

We atoned for the sin of slavery in the Civil War, but we have been backsliding since

Reconstruction and the civil rights movement was an attempt to put us on the track towards redemption. So now we have a government that wants to be God. The government wants to say, ‘You didn’t build that’ because it wants you to believe that you and God can’t build something without the government assistance.

God is everything — without him there is no life. Unless America gets back in agreement with God then America will only get worse. I walk by faith and not by sight. We are seeing what happens when man plays God; he kills babies in the name of scientific progress.

We are getting older as a people because we kill our younger lives; we are killing our best human resources.