Terry Sanford and the New South

Progressive Southern governor Terry Sanford is profiled in this documentary that explores how a racial confrontation at a Greensborough Woolworth counter put him in the middle of an extremely sensitive situation as the controversy over segregation reached a volatile boiling point. It was February of 1960, and ambitious politician Sanford had been working for nearly a decade to become governor of North Carolina. When four young black men stood boldly against segregation laws by refusing to budge from a Woolworth counter until they were served, it began to appear as if Sanford was stuck in a no-win situation. Despite his pressing dilemma, however, Sanford's straight-shooting politics proved precisely the approach needed to encourage dialogue and understanding in a time when racial tensions were reaching an all-time high.