The 40th anniversary of one of the most controversial civil rights cases in American history was commemorated in Kenan Auditorium last Thursday night.

The Wilmington Ten was a group of nine black teenagers and one white woman who were arrested in a time of heated racial tension after the desegregation of New Hanover County schools and the closing of Williston High School, a previously all-black high school.

In attendance were several of the original Ten members who spoke of their arrest for the burning down of a local, white-owned grocery store. The Ten members accused and convicted of arson included: Benjamin Chavis, Connie Tindall, Marvin “Chili” Patrick, Wayne Moore, Reginald Epps, Jerry Jacobs, James “Bun” McCoy, Willie Earl Vereen, William “Joe” Wright, and Ann Shepard. The Ten were sentenced to a collective total of 282 maximum years in prison.

However, after almost a decade of appeals the convictions were overturned and the Wilmington Ten were released.

To the side of the stage sat a display of four white roses sitting on a chair representing four of the Ten who have died in the past 40 years—Joe Wright, Jerry Jacobs, Anne Shepard (Gonzalez) and George Kirby, who was considered the 11th member of the Wilmington Ten.

As part of the ceremony’s proceedings, Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo issued a public apology from the town of Wilmington. It was the first time the Ten received an apology from the city since being requited in the early ‘80s.

“The Wilmington Ten were done a tremendous injustice,” Saffo said. Many of the original Ten from those arrested lined the stage to receive proclamations of apology from New Hanover County and Wilmington.

Saffo commemorated the event with a short speech. “It was an amazing time in the history of our community, an ugly time, but a time that needs to be remembered,” Saffo said.

Preceding the public apology, the evening commenced with the former Williston High School Glee Club making their way to the stage. With a little more difficulty than 40 years before, but with no less range in their voices, they sang to a standing ovation.

The panel presentation featured several speakers, including the best-known member of the Ten, former NAACP director Benjamin Chavis. Also included was original member Wayne Moore, the Ten’s lawyer James Ferguson, Benjamin Wonce, Eugene Templeton, Bertha Boykin Todd, Karen Clay Beatty, Irving Joyner, Kenneth Janken and Kojo Nantambu.

The panel gave each person some time to speak of past and current racism, each adding to the crowd’s energy and appreciation of those who were incarcerated. As the panel reached its conclusion, Charlotte NAACP director Kojo Nantambu remarked on the state of racism in today’s society.

“We shouldn’t be polarized based on race. The problem we had 40 years ago is still not rectified today,” Nantambu said. “There’s something endemic in our society. One reason we don’t learn from the past is because we pretend it didn’t happen.”