Greensboro Lunch Counter Sit-In Case Study

The Greensbro sit-ins first started on February 1st, 1960. Four black college freshman in Greensbro, North Carolina, visited a white-only Woolsworth's lunch counter where they demanded service. The black waitress refused to serve them, remarking that "fellows like you make our race look bad,". Regardless of this, the four men stayed seated. They returned the next day with nineteen classmates, and the day after that with eighty-five. By the end of the week there were over one-thousand black students attending the sit-in. The Sit-in movement began to spread throughout the South, though this time not just at lunch counters. The transportation industry, restaurants, and even voter registration were all recipients of this movement. The goal was

On February 7th, 1960, a week after the Greensboro sit-ins, The Nashville Student Movement had begun their first real sit-in. The objective of these sit-ins was to desegregate lunch counters in downtown Nashville. Book 1 goes into detail about the preparation for these sit-ins. Months before this

In the first presentation, I noticed an event called the Greensboro Sit-ins. This was a single event that sparked a nationwide movement and flood of support for the civil rights movement and the issue of business owners withholding service from those who were not white. On February 1st, 1960, 4 students of the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University sat at a whites-only lunch table, requested service, and were then denied and asked to leave. When they left, they went to tell campus leaders what had happened and as a result gained people that wanted to participate in the sit-in. It is said that “the next morning twenty-nine neatly dressed male and female [NCATSU] students sat at the Woolworth’s lunch counter,” the same counter where those first four students sat (NorthCarolinaHistory.org). After this happened, protests occurred each week and hundreds of students were showing up at Woolworth’s. Following this, more and more students from around the US were staging sit ins at segregated lunch counters as a form of non-violent protest against discrimination.

On an early morning in November 1959, the group of students and John would test sit-ins in lunch counters to test if they would actually serve them their food or not. Like the usual, they had to leave the place because due to store policy they could not serve colored people there. After this, they will continue to go to the same restaurant and sit there and here the same words they heard daily. Nothing was going to stop them. Not only were they kicked out but they were called niggers and were told to leave back to Africa. It was these sit-ins that started the march for

During sit-ins, (black and white) protesters occupied seats at whites’ only lunch counters and remained there even after they were refused service, sometimes for hours. The sit-ins employed the tactic of civil disobedience, breaking the law in a peaceful way to call attention to an unjust law. Student training and counseling in the principles for the sit-ins included the following ’10 Rules of Conduct’ which were the required standards for all those who were supporting the protest: “Do show yourself friendly on the counter at all times. Do sit straight and always face the counter. Don’t strike back, or curse if attacked. Don’t laugh out. Don’t hold conversations. Don’t block entrances. …Remember the teachings of Jesus, Gandhi, Thoreau, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Love and nonviolence is the way” (Library, 2006). Sit-ins disrupted business, making it impossible for white businessmen to ignore the protester’s demands. Highly visible sit-ins in downtown Nashville department stores were also guaranteed to attract press

With school boards avoiding integration once again, Greensboro civil rights activists were becoming anxious to desegregate public facilities in order to be successful unlike public schools. Dr. George Simkins pushed for the desegregation of all public facilities in Greensboro, and he even succeeded in doing so for golf courses. Four black students were inspired and tired of the racial inequality they had grown up in, so they arranged a non-violent protest by simply sitting in Woolworth’s Diner and demanding service. The protest tactic grew in numbers as more students, both male and female, endorsed the movement. In response, young white males began participating by verbally and physically assaulting some of the demonstrators, and government officials wanted store managers to arrange for the arrest of protestors before the situation got too unruly. Blacks boycotted the purchase of goods until they were served like their white counterparts, but the protests scared away the white consumers causing the stores and diners’ sales to drop. Diners and department stores worked in accordance to agree on a procedure to desegregate lunch counters. Select department stores refused to desegregate entire facilities, and most people believed that they did not have to because they had already compromised. Certain businesses did not want to segregate and

The Greensboro Sit-ins were a protest that young African Americans an some whites joined in, across the southern states. This occurred at Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina on February first 1960. There were four main people who started this protest, they were Ezell Blair, David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil. There were many events that led up to this protest. One being the non-violent protest techniques practiced by Mohandas Gandhi.

One day there was an event that changed everyone's lives from today. “Greensboro Sit-Ins” would be the most important event that had the most impact on changing America’s stance on segregation because the blacks and whites were once separated by everything they did on a daily basis.

When you think of a lunch counter you rarely think of a sign hanging on top saying “whites only”but yet you think of a mixture of races speaking and laughing together. In 1950’s it was all different, there was a sign...and you rarely saw blacks and whites talking… back then it was segregation. In February 1st, 1960 four black freshmen at North Carolina A&T State University, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr., and David Richmond(Greensboro four), took a seats at the segregated lunch counter of F. W. Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina. They were refused service and sat peacefully until the store closed. They returned the next day, along with about 25 other students, and their requests were again denied. The Greensboro Four inspired similar

Together citizens came together to create non-violence workshop where members united to try everything they could to break each other both physically and verbally. They started their first test sit-in at the department store lunch counters. When they were told, “We don’t serve colored people here” (87), then they simply thanked them and left. This workshop slowly started to gain members as they repeatedly did the same process. After the four students in Greensboro, Carolina took seats, the Nashville Student Movement started to march. People were starting to notice the march as about 200 students participated. Violent activity took place. Nashville’s chief of police stated that if the marches continued in the protest, then participants will be arrested and they won’t try to stop any of the planned attacks. The participants continued to March and after name calling and violent attacks were made on the marchers, they were arrested. John Lewis stated it was his first of many arrests as he wouldn’t stop fighting for his rights. While in court, attorney Z. Alexander Looby stated, “They were peaceful customers, fully compliant with the law, who were harassed and beaten” (107). After the arrest of many members, students still continued to march. A boycott, “Selective Buying Campaign” was started by black community members in which the streets of downtown were

Not only did the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins happen, but many other major protesting events happened too such as: Little Rock 9, Freedom Rides, Emmett Till’s murder, The Montgomery Bus Boycott, and many more (Greensboro Sit-Ins). When the sit-ins took place, the 4 black men sat at an all-white lunch counter and asked for coffee. They were told that they could not be served and that they had to leave the whites-only section. As the protests continued, the whites got more violent towards the four men. This pushed the blacks even more so to end racial inequality (Melanie Lacey). This went on for 5 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. They were determined to end racial inequality and wanted all races to be treated equally (Greensboro

February 1st, 1960; the Greensboro Sit Ins; Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond. “Segregated conditions were as characteristic of Greensboro, however, as they were of cities with reputations for racial violence and intimidation.” The Greensboro Sit Ins made a huge impact not only in North Carolina, but along the Southeast states; thirteen states and fifty five different cities. This was where a group of four black male freshmen college students at A&T State University who

Half a decade later, four college students came to the lunch counter of the Elm St. Woolsworth’s and ordered coffee. Their request was refused, and the college students remained in their seats for an hour. Over the next few months, more and more African Americans continued the sit-in, and later that year, the Elm St. Woolsworth’s lunch counter became integrated.

Jim Crow laws made a devastating impact on the lives of the black community in the southern U.S. These horrible acts of segregation and cruel treatment sparked a flame at TSU when a law student was racially profiled by the police. This event combined with a thirst for justice lead to many of the students banning together to make a difference in Houston. The effects of the actions made by Texas Southern University to stop Jim Crow laws entailed the desegregation of public facilities in Houston such as the Astrodome, downtown department stores, and local lunch counters. These events were all made possible by peaceful demonstration, civil disobedience, and boycotts.

The first Sit-Ins happen when four black men entered F.W. Woolworth Company store in Greensboro, North Carolina, purchased some school supplies, then went to the lunch counter and asked to be served. One of the students said "We believe, since we buy books and papers in the other part of the store, we should get served in this part." They sat there until the store