For many years the Black community were appalled with segregation. There was widespread segregation across the south from restaurants to swimming pools. The whole “separate but equal” mentality wasn’t working so people took it upon themselves to try and fix this problem.
It all started on a the 1st of February 1960 where four brave, young Black male students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College named Ezell Blair Jr. David Richmond, Joseph McNeill and Franklin McCain entered a lunch counter in a Woolworth’s department store in Greensboro North Carolina. The students sat at the counter awaiting service, but because of their skin colour they weren’t allowed to be served because the counters were for whites and whites only. The students patiently sat there until the store closed, not having been served caused an upset for the store as they were loosing business because the students were occupying white seats, this was called a “sit-in”.
The next day two of the original Greensboro four returned to Woolworths along with two other Black male students from College to continue the “sit-in”. This can be seen in source A. The source shows the young men sitting their patiently at an otherwise empty counter with no food or drink even though they had ordered coffee. The source shows that even though the person behind the counter was also black, the segregation was so tough in the south that not even he could serve them, because as mentioned previously the counters were for whites only.
The significance of the sit-in’s was that they sparked people to take an opportunity and use a peaceful and non-violent approach to desegregation. The simplicity of sit-in’s were that anyone could do it and within first week of the sit-ins at Greensboro there were hundreds of students participating, showing that it only took the simple actions of four people to make others challenge the issue of segregation. The sit-in’s also received media attention unlike other forms of protests. This media attention meant that more southerners were aware for the push for desegregation and the sit-ins spread, not only in North Carolina but all across the south. The sit-in’s affect chain stores which had branches in the north as they were starting to lose profits because of the sit-in’s in their southern counterparts. The reason that the initial protesters were all students was because they were the educated ones who knew how to make a difference in a segregated society.
On the date May 26, 1956, two female students from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Wilhelmina Jakes and Carrie Patterson, had taken a seat down in the whites only section of a segregated bus in the city of Tallahassee, Florida. When these women refused to move to the colored section at the very back of the bus, the driver had decided to pull over into a service station and call the police on them. Tallahassee police arrested them and charged them with the accusation of them placing themselves in a position to incite a riot. In the days after that immediately followed these arrests, students at the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University organized a huge campus-wide boycott of all of the city buses. Their inspiring stand against segregation set an example and an intriguing idea that had spread to tons of Tallahassee citizens who were thinking the same things and brought a change of these segregating ways into action. Soon, news of the this boycott spread throughout the whole entire community rapidly. Reverend C.K. Steele composed the formation of an organization known as the Inter-Civic Council (ICC) to manage the logic and other events happening behind the boycott. C.K. Steele and the other leaders created the ICC because of the unfounded negative publicity surrounding the National Associat...
"Greensboro Sit-In and the Sit-In Movement." History. A&E Television Networks, LLC. Web. 7 Dec. 2013. .
Even though slaves had been free for almost sixty years, it was still hard to find well paying jobs in other areas nationwide. The lives of African Americans were so well established, the area was coined the “Black Wall Street of America”. You’d think with such well-rounded men and women that something like this would not happen just based on their skin tone, but that is far from true. Whites of the time were still extremely prejudice towards African Americans, despite the reputation they had. It was only a matter of time before something ignited the flame that had been burning for years.
On December 5, 1955, thousands of African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama walked, carpooled, or hitchhiked to work in an act of rebellion against segregation on buses. This bus boycott was not the first of its kind – black citizens of Baton-Rouge, Louisiana had implemented the same two years prior – but the bus boycott in Montgomery was a critical battle of the Civil Rights Movement. Though the original intent of the boycott was to economically cripple the bus system until local politicians agreed to integrate the city’s buses, the Montgomery Bus Boycott impacted the fabric of society in a much deeper way. Instead of only changing the symptoms of a much larger problem, this yearlong protest was the first step in transforming the way all Americans perceived freedom and equality. Though the boycott ended when the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional, this was not directly caused by the refusal to ride buses, and thus cannot be defined as the primary triumph of the boycott. Instead, the Montgomery Bus Boycott succeeded in changing the consciousness of millions of Americans, specifically southern blacks. A revolution of the mind was the greatest success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and this transformation occurred due to the small validations throughout the boycott that African Americans, as unified, free citizens, had power.
Sit-ins were a form of peaceful protest where a person, in this case an African American or a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, would sit in a restaurant that was known to deny service to African Americans and would refuse to give up the seat until served by the establishment. In effect, this would force the establishment to either integrate their establishment or call the police. If the latter was done, it was usually publicized. The media is of great importance because it forces the public to see what is going on. It also encouraged other cities to follow suit and perform them in their locales. The movement also spread to other sectors like housing and retail.
Growing up in the post-segregation era was a challenge for most blacks. Having the same rights and privileges as many white Americans but still fighting for the sense of equality was a brick wall that many blacks had to overcome. Day to day white people avoid
Times were looking up for African Americans, their new freedom gave them the option to go down a road of either criminal actions or to make something out of themselves. But the presence of racism and hatred was still very much so alive, Klu Klux Klan, although not as strong as they were after the Civil War was still present. Laws like Jim Crow laws and “separate but equal” came into play and continued to show how racism was alive. Besides these actors of racism, blacks still started gaining a major roll in American society.
During the first half of the twentieth century, segregation was the way of life in the south. It was an exception, and even though it was morally wrong, it still went on as if there was nothing wrong at all. African-Americans were treated as if they were somehow sub-human, they were treated because of the color of their skin that somehow, somehow, they were different. In the south, it was almost impossible to find any aspect of life that was not segregated. The schools were segregated and the restaurants were segregated.
In 1865, congress passed the thirteenth amendment, which was ratified on December 6, 1865. The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in the United States permanently. It was thought by many African Americans that there would finally be peace, and that they too would be treated as fairly as the whites. This was sadly not the case. African Americans were brutally segregated and entrusted to hard times and conditions. Whites began to insist on racial segregation, which had been practiced before, and gave the feeling of superiority to the whites over African Americans. Many whites resisted the social changes, leading to revolting movements such as the Ku Klux Klan, whose members attacked African americans to maintain white dominance. This sparked the civil rights movement. Also called “freedom struggles”, these movements took place to obtain equal rights for African Americans. The sit in’s had a major impact on the psychological impact on African Americans. Not only was it the first African American sitting in, but other students started to follow the path of the Greensboro four and started to participate in sit ins as well. The sit in’s allowed for the civil rights for African Americans to be finally broadcasted live throughout the world. Even though the protesters heckled and beaten, they still sat and never moved, showing the resiliency of the protesters, and was a great role model for other African American protesters who decided it was time to fight against discrimination and fight for rights.
Blacks were treated unjustly due to the Jim Crow laws and the racial stigmas embedded into American society. Under these laws, whites and colored people were “separate but equal,” however this could not be further from the truth. Due to the extreme racism in the United States during this time period, especially in the South, many blacks were dehumanized by whites to ensure that they remained inferior to them. As a result of their suffering from the prejudice society of America, there was a national outcry to better the lives of colored people.
to make a snare Before and during some of the thirties, America was a completely segregated society, which was supported by both the law and the police who enforced it. Everything was segregated, including the bathrooms, cemeteries, colleges, restaurants and even elevators, which again was allowed by the courts, following the motto "separate but equal." Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 5 (Civil Rights and Civil Liberties 5). This was all de jure segregation, yet there was also de facto segregation, when segregation occurs because of social code, political acts, economic circumstances or public policy, which still occurs somewhat today. The blacks would also try to vote those into office who would not support these segregation laws.
Success was a big part of the Civil Rights Movement. Starting with the year 1954, there were some major victories in favor of African Americans. In 1954, the landmark trial Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas ruled that segregation in public education was unfair. This unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned the prior Plessy vs. Ferguson case during which the “separate but equal” doctrine was created and abused. One year later, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. launched a bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama after Ms. Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat in the “colored section”. This boycott, which lasted more than a year, led to the desegregation of buses in 1956. Group efforts greatly contributed to the success of the movement. This is not only shown by the successful nature of the bus boycott, but it is shown through the success of Martin Luther King’s SCLC or Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The conference was notable for peacefully protesting, nonviolence, and civil disobedience. Thanks to the SCLC, sit-ins and boycotts became popular during this time, adding to the movement’s accomplishments. The effective nature of the sit-in was shown during 1960 when a group of four black college students sat down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in hopes of being served. While they were not served the first time they commenced their sit-in, they were not forced to leave the establishment; their lack of response to the heckling...
One of the first documented incidents of the sit-ins for the civil rights movement was on February 1, 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee. Four college African-Americans sat at a lunch counter and refused to leave. During this time, blacks were not allowed to sit at certain lunch counters that were reserved for white people. These black students sat at a white lunch counter and refused to leave. This sit-in was a direct challenge to southern tradition. Trained in non-violence, the students refused to fight back and later were arrested by Nashville police. The students were drawn to activist Jim Lossen and his workshops of non-violence. The non-violent workshops were training on how to practice non-violent protests. John Lewis, Angela Butler, and Diane Nash led students to the first lunch counter sit-in. Diane Nash said, "We were scared to death because we didn't know what was going to happen." For two weeks there were no incidences with violence. This all changed on February 27, 1960, when white people started to beat the students. Nashville police did nothing to protect the black students. The students remained true to their training in non-violence and refused to fight back. When the police vans arrived, more than eighty demonstrators were arrested and summarily charged for disorderly conduct. The demonstrators knew they would be arrested. So, they planned that as soon as the first wave of demonstrators was arrested, a second wave of demonstrators would take their place. If and when the second wave of demonstrators were arrested and removed, a third would take their place. The students planned for multiple waves of demonstrators.
African Americans had been struggling to obtain equal rights for scores of decades. During the 1960’s, the civil rights movement intensified and the civil rights leaders entreated President Kennedy to intervene. They knew it would take extreme legislature to get results of any merit. Kennedy was afraid to move forward in the civil rights battle, so a young preacher named Martin Luther King began a campaign of nonviolent marches and sit-ins and pray-ins in Birmingham, Alabama to try and force a crisis that the President would have to acknowledge. Eventually things became heated and Police Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor released his men to attack the protesters, which included many schoolchildren. All of this was captured and televised to the horror of the world. Finally this forced the President into action and he proposed a bill outlawing segregation in public facilities. The bill became bogged down in Congress but civil righ...
Massive protests against racial segregation and discrimination broke out in the southern United States that came to national attention during the middle of the 1950’s. This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights ...