1. WHAT WERE THE GREENSBORO SIT-INS?
A sit-in is a non-violent form of direct action that involves a group of people occupying an area to promote political, social, or economic change. The Greensboro sit-ins were comprised of a series of protests which led to the Woolworth's Department Store chain abolishing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States. Though these were not the first sit-ins of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, those that occurred in the town of Greensboro were instrumental in the fight for the rights and freedoms of the Afro-American community.
The sit-in movement used the strategy of non-violent resistance. The sit-ins also developed into other similar rebellions, such as swim-ins at swimming pools, read-ins at libraries and other such protests in areas known for racial segregation, all of which gained support for the group. For example, 1939, African-American attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker not only supported but organised a sit-in at the Alexandria, Virginia Library.
2. WHAT WERE THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE GREENSBORO SIT-INS?
The sit-ins were very important to the movement. It symbolised a change in the mood of both African-American people, and the wider society. It related to the civil rights movements and African American. Though sit-ins weren’t a new civil rights technique, in 1960s they helped energise the civil rights movement. The tactic helped integrate other facilities. Although a completely passive technique in nature and occurrence, sit-ins caused real change to occur, starting the ripple in the Southern United States and working it’s way through the wider community. The impact sit-ins had on the civil rights movement proved to be invaluable to changing policies and norms in the 1960s. The most important results of these actions was that students from across the country became active participants in the civil right movement.
3. WHAT WERE THE METHODS USED TO ACHIEVE THE AIMS?
They used sit-ins to illustrate their rights and rebel against the segregated systems. February 1st, 1960, four young black college students decided to sit down at Woolworths and ask to be served cups of coffee, as many of the customers in the “white-only” cafeteria did on a regular basis. At first, they’re met with nothing but humorous stares and indifference, and thus, are promptly ignored. But these four young men were not deterred from their goal by this expected response. Despite the building opposition to their, now clear, protest method, and jeers from both the staff and the customers, the men refused to leave until they were served. And so, they waited. On several occasions, those participating in various sit-ins were arrested for disrupting the peace. Eventually, it received an award for “leadership in human rights, human relations, and human resources development in Greensboro.”
A sit-in is a non-violent form of direct action that involves a group of people occupying an area to promote political, social, or economic change. The Greensboro sit-ins were comprised of a series of protests which led to the Woolworth's Department Store chain abolishing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States. Though these were not the first sit-ins of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, those that occurred in the town of Greensboro were instrumental in the fight for the rights and freedoms of the Afro-American community.
The sit-in movement used the strategy of non-violent resistance. The sit-ins also developed into other similar rebellions, such as swim-ins at swimming pools, read-ins at libraries and other such protests in areas known for racial segregation, all of which gained support for the group. For example, 1939, African-American attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker not only supported but organised a sit-in at the Alexandria, Virginia Library.
2. WHAT WERE THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE GREENSBORO SIT-INS?
The sit-ins were very important to the movement. It symbolised a change in the mood of both African-American people, and the wider society. It related to the civil rights movements and African American. Though sit-ins weren’t a new civil rights technique, in 1960s they helped energise the civil rights movement. The tactic helped integrate other facilities. Although a completely passive technique in nature and occurrence, sit-ins caused real change to occur, starting the ripple in the Southern United States and working it’s way through the wider community. The impact sit-ins had on the civil rights movement proved to be invaluable to changing policies and norms in the 1960s. The most important results of these actions was that students from across the country became active participants in the civil right movement.
3. WHAT WERE THE METHODS USED TO ACHIEVE THE AIMS?
They used sit-ins to illustrate their rights and rebel against the segregated systems. February 1st, 1960, four young black college students decided to sit down at Woolworths and ask to be served cups of coffee, as many of the customers in the “white-only” cafeteria did on a regular basis. At first, they’re met with nothing but humorous stares and indifference, and thus, are promptly ignored. But these four young men were not deterred from their goal by this expected response. Despite the building opposition to their, now clear, protest method, and jeers from both the staff and the customers, the men refused to leave until they were served. And so, they waited. On several occasions, those participating in various sit-ins were arrested for disrupting the peace. Eventually, it received an award for “leadership in human rights, human relations, and human resources development in Greensboro.”
4. WHO WERE THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN LEADING THE PROTEST?
The event of the Greensboro Protests were inspired by Martin Luther King’s insistence on non-violent protests and peaceful rebellion. They took this idea to the maximum, and the sit-ins at white-only cafeterias created a huge ripple in the society of the area. On February 1st, 1960, four African-American students attending the North Carolina A + T College began the protest. They approached an “all-white” Woolworths restaurant in the area, sat down at the counter and refused to budge. The names of these students were Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Junior, and David Richmond. Their nerve made them heroes amongst fellow students at the all-black college, and the following day, twenty-four students participated in segregated cafeterias through out the area. This caused such uproar and publicity, that at the end of the week on the following Sunday, an additional fifty-four sit-ins occurred throughout the South, in fifteen cities and nine different states.
5. HOW EFFECTIVE WAS THIS IN CONTRIBUTING TO THE RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS?
These sit-ins caused outrage in the South, and those participating in the sit-ins were publicly seen as trouble-makers and rebels, even amongst their own communities. In one of the very first sit-ins, and African-American waitress shouted at the group to leave and stop causing trouble, though they ignored this request. The interruption meant all of those involved were arrested for trespass, disorderly conduct, and disturbing the peace, the protest sparked similar rebellions all over the country. These sit-ins were also the main inspiration for Australian protesters such as Charles Perkins, who was similarly influenced by Martin Luther King’s non-violent demonstrations. This resulted in the famous Freedom-Rides across rural New South Wales, raising awareness in towns known for racism, and similar protests which were huge steps forward in the tedious trek towards rights and freedoms for Indigenous Australians.
6. EXPLAIN HOW USEFUL YOUR CHOSEN PRIMARY SOURCE HAS BEEN IN FINDING OUT ABOUT THE TOPIC.
Our chosen primary source is an original photograph taken during one of the first sit-ins in the South of America during the period. It was extremely useful in finding out about the response the majority of the first protests provoked; it was almost completely viewed by the public as an outrage, as illustrated in the image. It both realistically represents the huge social opposition to the call for Afro-American rights, and perhaps even a symbolically represents the minority group fighting for freedom that, at the time, was swamped by predominantly white backlash. The fact that this photograph is also original is a great help in discovering the primary reaction to this non-violent rebellion; it is an accurate point of reference regarding many of the different attitudes of the American community.