Sit-in Movement 1960

What exactly is a sit-in? It's when demonstrators take up a strategic position to demonstrate. It could be on the street, inside a restaurant, or outside a government building. They will not leave their seats until their demands are met. Instead, they are taken away or arrested.

Sit-ins are one of the most effective nonviolent protest methods. They disrupt the normal flow of daily lives. This aids sit-ins in drawing attention to the cause of the demonstrators. If they are detained, it will further increase support for the demonstrators.

Origins of the sit-in movement

Are you aware of the sit-in movement history? During India's fight for independence from the British, followers of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's teachings made extensive use of the sit-in. Unions have employed a strategy similar to the sit-in, the sit-down strike, to occupy plants of firms they were on strike against. 

During the United Automobile Workers' strike against General Motors Corporation in 1937, the sit-down was first deployed on a significant scale in the United States. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) launched an anti-segregation sit-in in a Chicago coffee shop in 1942, and similar activities occurred throughout the South.

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Sit-in movement history

Blair, Richmond, McCain, and McNeil, four African American students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, carefully organised their demonstration and solicited the support of a local white businessman, Ralph Johns, to carry it out.

The four students sat down at the Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro on February 1, 1960, where the official policy was to refuse service to anyone who wasn't white. The four young men refused to give up their seats after being denied service.

Due to the absence of provocation, police came on the scene but were unable to intervene. Johns had already notified the local media, who had gathered in force to cover the proceedings on television. The Greensboro Four remained in the store until it closed, then returned the next day with more students from nearby colleges.

Growth of sit-in movement

Around 300 students had joined the movement at Woolworth's by February 5, effectively shutting down the lunch counter and other local businesses. The Greensboro sit-ins inspired a sit-in movement that extended across the South and into the North, with young black and white people joining in various kinds of peaceful protests against segregation in libraries, beaches, hotels, and other institutions.

In Oklahoma City in 1958, history teacher Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council organised some of the first sit-ins of the civil rights struggle. The movement had extended to 55 cities in 13 states by the end of March 1960. Despite the fact that many people were jailed for trespassing, disorderly conduct, or disturbing the peace, the sit-ins drew national attention to the civil rights struggle.

By the summer of 1960, dining facilities all over the South had been integrated in reaction to the growth of the sit-in movement. The Greensboro Woolworth's quietly integrated their lunch counter around the end of July, when many local college students were on summer vacation. The first to be served were four Black Woolworth's employees: Geneva Tisdale, Susie Morrison, Anetha Jones, and Charles Best.

Sit-in impact on civil rights movement

Sit-ins were common during the Civil Rights Movement in segregated communities. Seating Black Americans in "White Only" areas aided in changing racist practices. Sit-ins were essential in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Sit-ins, on the other hand, have a longer history than the 1960s.

Experts point out that sit-ins date back to the late 1930s. In 1939, for example, a Black lawyer named Samuel Wilbert Tucker conducted a sit-in. It occurred in a segregated Alexandria, Virginia library.

On February 1, 1960, one of the most well-known sit-ins took place. It happened in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the Woolworth's lunch counter. The Woolworth's department store was open to everyone, but the lunch counter was reserved for "Whites only."

Four Black college students sat at the Woolworth's lunch counter on that day. They requested coffee but were turned down. Instead of leaving, they sat and waited patiently. Despite threats from customers and other people in the store, they sat in silence.

Their peaceful demonstration eventually garnered the attention of a large number of people in the vicinity. They stayed till the shop shut down for the day. The next day, they turned up again, and even more, people joined their cause. They held their sit-in for several days.

The sit-in in Greensboro sparked a wave of similar sit-ins across the South. The largest of the subsequent sit-ins took place in Nashville, Tennessee. The Greensboro sit-in drew the attention of the entire country.

Did you know?

a) Greensboro activists faced harassment and racial slurs

In the short term, the reaction was unpleasant, but in the long run, the protests spread and resulted in meaningful change. Hundreds of more demonstrators quickly joined them, but they were met with a backlash that included racial slurs, spitting, and food being thrown at them.

They eventually won, and on July 25, 1960, Woolworth's stopped segregating the dining room. The demonstrations played a "definitive role" in the Civil Rights movement because they prompted other demonstrations, eventually making the movement too massive to ignore.

b) What was the ‘Greensboro Four’ upset about?

They were outraged by the 1955 assassination of Emmett Till, who was killed in Mississippi after being suspected of whistling at a white lady. Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil were their names. They were both Agricultural and Technical College students in North Carolina. They were also influenced by Mohandas Gandhi and the Freedom Riders' nonviolent protest ideas. They were also influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideas.

To conclude, this is to say that the sit-ins established the viability of mass nonviolent direct action and drew national media attention to the civil rights movement's new era.