Preview

Greensboro Sit-Ins Case Study

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
615 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Greensboro Sit-Ins Case Study
The Greensboro Sit-Ins You are one of the many people to enter your local Woolworth’s to join the protests. That was a very common situation in February of 1960. Sit-Ins became a highly influential factor in Civil Rights. They were created and popularized in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960, during the Greensboro Sit-Ins. The Greensboro Sit-Ins were a series of protests led by four young black college students that were committed to equality in civil rights.
What Were the Greensboro Sit-Ins?
There was one influence that sparked a whole civil rights movement in the 60’s. There was a large civil rights struggle before and during the 60’s, although it was soon to change. Woolworth’s lunch counter was where it all changed. Joseph McNeil, Franklin
…show more content…
There was one main factor that inspired the Greensboro Four to take action. It was simply the fact that there was unfair treatment towards the African-American population. It was the last day of January 1960 when Ezell Blair Jr. told his mother that the four were going to do something the next day that could change the world (McWhorter 55). This was because McNeil was denied service at a Greyhound bus station in Greensboro after Christmas break, and they were willing to risk their lives to change society (“The Greensboro Chronology”). In addition,”they were influenced by the non-violent protest techniques practiced by Mohandas Gandhi” (“The Greensboro Sit-In”). These all brought the four together, and gave them reason to take action. They were ready for change, and were willing to do what was necessary to bring …show more content…
There wasn’t a ton of attention in civil rights before the 1960’s, especially before the Sit-Ins. The series brought some much needed attention to the problems in civil rights. The Sit-Ins brought an immediate impact to southern stores, causing them to desegregate (“The Greensboro Sit-In”). Furthermore, “national media coverage for the Sit-Ins brought increasing attention to the struggle for civil rights” (“The Greensboro Sit-In”). The sit-ins became more popular, and spread to multiple states. In fact, over 70,000 people ended up participating in different Sit-Ins. They were even adapted into different types of Sit-Ins, like read-ins at segregated libraries and kneel-ins at segregated churches. The sit-ins changed civil rights forever.
Conclusion
The Greensboro Sit-Ins changed civil rights forever. The four young students and many others gathered together to change civil rights. They sparked a movement with the Sit-Ins at a Greensboro Woolworth’s. Their work inspired others across the South to join, and together they changed racial segregation. They were important because they changed civil rights and segregation laws around the country. Many places across the nation desegregated due to the work of the four students. The Sit-Ins were a huge influential factor in civil rights led by four students committed to equality and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many acts of rebellion were displayed when it came to activists defending their rights. During the 1960s, segregation and discrimination were two major issues in society which led to sit-ins. In a journal entry written by Anne Moody, Moody expresses a sit-in that her and her friends took part in at a lunch counter in Mississippi.…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Birmingham and Sit inś are two of the most important events in the civil rights movement. They are very similar to each other because they both used children to protest. The Sit ins were started by four college students who wanted to make a stand. In Birmingham the protestors were made up almost entirely of school children. They also both fought economic battles. Sit ins would prevent a restaurant or store from making any income. Birmingham made an economic impact by protesting outside of stores. Also in some cases there would be sit ins in Birmingham.…

    • 261 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The sit-in movement was a passive, non-violent technique used my members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In February 1960, four black college students Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr., Franklin McClain, and David Richmond sat at a Woolworth’s lunch counter reserved for “whites only” in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina. The day after the Woolworth sit-ins, more students from North Carolina, A&T, sat in at the store. Even though there were no confrontations, the local media covered the second sit-in. When the national media picked up the story, it resonated with other students who began to duplicate the sit-ins in other locations. Because the national attention garnered by the North Carolina sit-ins, students from…

    • 195 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the Civil Rights Movements, the NAACP firmly maintained their non-violent approach (accompanied by Martin Luther King) and majorly inspired countless Civil Rights protests, court cases and law changes (it is believed that the NAACPs contributions and achievements were overshadowed by Martin Luther King’s campaigning). Since its establishment in 1909, the NAACP has contributed largely to the success of many history changing civil rights movements throughout the US. Some of the most influential of these include: 1913- opposed president Woodrow Wilsons introduction of ‘Jim Crows’ laws of segregation into the federal government; 1935- legal fight was won by Thurgood Marshall and Charles Houston, allowing an African American student to attend the University of Maryland; 1940- founding of NAACP Legal Defence and Educational Fund, Inc.; 1948 Morgan vs. Virginia court case- Court bans states from having laws that sanction segregation facilities in interstate travel by train or bus; 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education court case- successfully de-segregated public schools (led by Thurgood Marshall); 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott- non-violent protest which resulted in the de-segregation of public transport- Martin Luther King also emerged during this protest along with his organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; 1960 Greensboro- youth of NAACP launched ‘sit-ins’ (sitting at and taking up all of the seats at counters of various diners) which led to 60 stores de-segregating their counters- also led to the development of the Student Non-violent Co-ordination Committee (SNCC); 1963- NAACP pushed for Equal Opportunity Employment act; 1964- 55years after the formation of NAACP, Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress; 1965- Voting Rights Act was passed. Due to the NAACPs…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    To this day, some people believe that the FBI was involved in the killing, due to the fact that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover strongly and openly disliked King . These beliefs have never been confirmed (Benson 33). King's tactics of peaceful demonstration were the most popular of the time. Sit-ins were very common, originating in 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina when, despite being covered in ketchup and brutally beaten by violent spectators, four black students refused to leave a lunch counter at Woolworth's until they were served (Benson 16),. Protestors simply wrapped their ankles around the stool legs and grasped the edges of their seats, defiantly resisting all attempts to remove them (Hakim 100). More efficient than the sit-ins, however, were the marches that took place during the time. A march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery in 1964 resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and a march on Washington in 1963 consisting of two- hundred and fifty thousand participants, sixty-thousand of whom were white (Benson 47), proved how significant the movement really…

    • 3014 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Greensboro Four

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Greensboro Four helped bring integration to North Carolina quickly. They acted as models, and their success inspired other people to stand up for their rights. Without visionaries such as the Greensboro Four, people would not have taken the risk to protest against segregation. There would have been nobody to inspire ordinary people, and convince…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil Rights Movement touched millions of Americans from the early 40’s until the mid 60’s, but it still affects us today. The marches that took place across America, and most prominently in Washington D.C., shook the nation and opened many American’s eyes to the struggles of black Americans. The march on Washington along with the passing of the Civil Rights Bill positively influenced modern civil rights today because. That march was an example of a successful, moving, and well thought out protest.…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The period of 1957 – 1965 was both a lively, and a stagnant time for the civil rights movement, with many protests coming to action like the Greensboro Sit Ins, which made large progress to desegregation and equality for black people. Success from these protests, however, came later in this period as momentum in the civil rights groups was being built. Yet, this time for the civil rights movement was not all a success, with operations such as the Albany campaign causing more failure than success due to the strategic planning from strong southern racists.…

    • 1216 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    and others made civil disobedience a cornerstone of the Civil Rights Movement, defying Jim Crow laws through sit-ins, violating laws and court orders prohibiting marches and boycotts, and accepting jail sentences to highlight racial injustice.”…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil Rights movement was a time in our nations history when leaders, politicians and just regular United States citizens took a stand against racial discrimination towards the black community. During the 60’s and many years before, everything had to be separated by skin color. Blacks and whites had different schools, water fountains, restaurants, bathrooms, and on the bus colored people had to sit in the back or give up their seat should a white person come on bored. Not only was everything separated, but the condition of the bathrooms, schools and water fountains for the colored were rundown, used, and unsanitary. There were several hate groups such as the KKK that went around and set fire to colored homes and churches and sometimes even public lynching’s as a warning to black Americans to act in a subordinate manner. This was also a time when black Americans began to stand up for themselves and give a voice to a race that was treated unfairly. Two examples include Rosa Parks and the students of Morton High School who influenced the trial Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger and was arrested for doing so, this lead to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the buses were soon desegregated due to a loss in revenue for the bus companies. These small, non-violent protests are what gave the black community a voice and are what lead to changes in the way the black community is…

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ezell Blair, Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond are names less common to the average American in the twenty-first century, yet their impact on society will forever be maintained.When they decided to purchase items at a store in North Carolina in 1960 and subsequently sit at the counter at the restaurant, they had no idea that their actions would lead to protests across the country for months and eventually set a model for the rest of the world to follow forever.When it was decided that they had broken no rules, twenty more black students joined them the following day.The increase in news coverage of the events would eventually lead to a successful Civil Rights movement in which desegregation occurred, and African Americans were essentially “freed” from discrimination following the Civil War era.After sit-ins' success in North Carolina, it became an increasingly popular way to protest, as it was seen effective through forcing the people being protested to find alternative means of enforcing the policy in controversy.Sit-ins can also be seen as having an overall positive impact due to the template they set for other peaceful protest types to…

    • 798 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racism In The 1960's

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Also was the infamous Greensboro sit-in that was a demonstration that was held in 1960. The sit-in took place at a Greensboro…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Yuajah. (2011, December 28). Seven Principles of Rastafari. Retrieved February 26 2013, from Rastafarianism and Jamaican Culture Blog: http://jamaicanrastafarianlove.blogspot.in/2011/12/7-principles-of-rastafari-7-principles.html…

    • 23906 Words
    • 96 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Martain Luther King

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mlk was first introduced into the world of black rights during the 1950s because of " The Montgomery bus boycott" as he was called in to support and gather his followers to help in this boycott. The boycott went on for 381 days but remained peaceful and passive. Thus showing that from the start Mlk had non violent views against the fight against segregation although Mlk didn't have all the same views of Rosa Parks. Even though Mlk had nothing to do with the sit ins they were non violent forms of protest against segregation so they must be at least mentioned in this essay. The sit ins were preformed by young politically motivated college and university students. It took a lot of discipline to preform a sit in as many of the students were mocked and…

    • 267 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    We Are Legion Analysis

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages

    These people wanted a voice on the Internet and refused to allow people living in other countries to go without a voice even though their government watched them. This then migrated into Virtual Sit-Ins, like the Greensboro Four, where four…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays