The Sit-In Movement
It was the 1960’s, and segregation was a part of life in the South. This means that blacks and whites were separated, and use and do many separate things. They weren’t allowed to use many of the same things like bathrooms, water fountains, etc. and seating was a real big thing because the blacks usually got the worst of it all. Black men were not allowed to look at white women, they were not allowed to touch white women, they were not allowed to have any intimate with a white women. White men were allowed to do whatever they pleased with any blacks. Interracial Marriages of any kind with whites was prohibited. When it came to transportation blacks had to always sit in the back and whites would sit up front or closer to the front. Blacks were only allowed to treat whites with respect, but the whites didn’t have to treat blacks like anything. So four students from all-black North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College wanted to change the way blacks are treated and get them some respect. The sit-in movement all started in Greensboro, North Carolina in a store named Woolworth’s.
On February 1, 1960, there were four black men who just wanted coffee at Woolworth’s, but the problem was that the four black folks sat at the lunch counter where only white folks are allowed to sit. Their names were David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and Joseph McNeil. The instructions for the four black men were to sit there quietly and wait to be served. How they got their instructions is by meeting up with a Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.They wanted a nonviolent protest. The waiters and waitresses would not serve them due to their color of skin, and since the four black men would not sit where they were suppose to in that time era. If there was to be any violence towards amt of the men they were to curl up in a ball and take the beating. David, Franklin, Ezell, and Joseph were not going to budge until they got served. Some of the white people were very upset that they would not move from the white’s only counter, so they would say some hurtful things toward David, Franklin, Ezell, and Joseph. Now, they might have cared about what was being said to them but they just had to swallow the words and keep it peaceful, since their instructions were to sit there quietly and wait to be served. As they sat there a white little old lady came to eat and she was just looking at them she told them that she was proud of them but they probably shouldn’t do this because they can get seriously hurt by people who don’t agree to what they are doing. They sat there from opening to closing.
The next day that they came back 15 other people had joined their movement. By, the third day 300 other people had joined them, later they had 1000 people joining them. The sit-ins spread to lunch counters all across the country and so it changed history. It gave the Blacks the right to sit wherever they were pleased to sit at a restaurant and be served the way white people are.
It was the 1960’s, and segregation was a part of life in the South. This means that blacks and whites were separated, and use and do many separate things. They weren’t allowed to use many of the same things like bathrooms, water fountains, etc. and seating was a real big thing because the blacks usually got the worst of it all. Black men were not allowed to look at white women, they were not allowed to touch white women, they were not allowed to have any intimate with a white women. White men were allowed to do whatever they pleased with any blacks. Interracial Marriages of any kind with whites was prohibited. When it came to transportation blacks had to always sit in the back and whites would sit up front or closer to the front. Blacks were only allowed to treat whites with respect, but the whites didn’t have to treat blacks like anything. So four students from all-black North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College wanted to change the way blacks are treated and get them some respect. The sit-in movement all started in Greensboro, North Carolina in a store named Woolworth’s.
On February 1, 1960, there were four black men who just wanted coffee at Woolworth’s, but the problem was that the four black folks sat at the lunch counter where only white folks are allowed to sit. Their names were David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and Joseph McNeil. The instructions for the four black men were to sit there quietly and wait to be served. How they got their instructions is by meeting up with a Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.They wanted a nonviolent protest. The waiters and waitresses would not serve them due to their color of skin, and since the four black men would not sit where they were suppose to in that time era. If there was to be any violence towards amt of the men they were to curl up in a ball and take the beating. David, Franklin, Ezell, and Joseph were not going to budge until they got served. Some of the white people were very upset that they would not move from the white’s only counter, so they would say some hurtful things toward David, Franklin, Ezell, and Joseph. Now, they might have cared about what was being said to them but they just had to swallow the words and keep it peaceful, since their instructions were to sit there quietly and wait to be served. As they sat there a white little old lady came to eat and she was just looking at them she told them that she was proud of them but they probably shouldn’t do this because they can get seriously hurt by people who don’t agree to what they are doing. They sat there from opening to closing.
The next day that they came back 15 other people had joined their movement. By, the third day 300 other people had joined them, later they had 1000 people joining them. The sit-ins spread to lunch counters all across the country and so it changed history. It gave the Blacks the right to sit wherever they were pleased to sit at a restaurant and be served the way white people are.