Route 40 spans the nation from the waters of the Atlantic Ocean off Atlantic City, New Jersey, through parts of Maryland, to those of the Pacific off San Francisco, some 3,000-plus miles across the country’s midsection like a great macadam belt. Its origins date to 1806, when an act of Congress signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson established what locals still call the National Road .
Along US Route 40, African diplomats were routinely denied service at local establishments. But their treatment set off a civil rights struggle that led to outlawing segregation.
Along US Route 40, African diplomats were routinely denied service at local establishments. But their treatment set off a civil rights struggle that led to outlawing segregation.
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Sun-Times Library Almost exactly 60 years ago, the newly appointed Chadian ambassador to the United States, Adam Malick Sow, was heading south on Maryland’s Route 40 toward Washington, D.C. He stopped at the Bonnie Brae diner and asked for a menu. The owner, Mrs. Leroy Merritt, threw him out.
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In-depth political coverage, sports analysis, entertainment reviews and cultural commentary. The same thing happened to other African diplomats at other Maryland establishments, and it became an international embarrassment. President John F. Kennedy worried that this treatment of diplomats from Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Congo and other newly independent African nations would harm U.S. efforts to limit Soviet influence in Africa. The story, recounted in Ted Johnson’s exploration of race and history, “When the Stars Begin to Fall,” illustrates something that’s worth pondering: How much did Cold War competition spur us toward fulfilling our national ideals?