Civil Rights Research Paper

Civil Rights Research Paper Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals". Martin Luther King’s three-step method of demonstration, publicity and negotiation helped four young African American students of Greensboro North Carolina start the sit- in movement. Demonstrations were the catalyst to desegregating public facilities throughout the south. Four young men named David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and Joseph McNeil, from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College wanted to put an end to the segregation of public facilities. Through the Congress of Racial Equality, also known as CORE, and Martin Luther King’s nonviolent methods, the four young men were able to, achieve their goals through what was called the “sit-in”. The first demonstration took place on February 1, 1960 at Woolworth’s Store. At that time, Woolworth’s Store served African Americans in only one section of the store. They were not allowed at the lunch counter which had a “whites only” sign. The four men first bought school supplies at the other side of the store because they wanted to show proof that they had been served already in the school supplies section of the store. They then directed themselves to the “white’s only lunch counter” to perform their actual demonstration. When the four men arrived at the lunch counter, they were refused service. One answered with an explanation, “You just served us over at the supplies section. What is the difference over here? ”. The four young men told the owner they would not leave until they were served, and would come back every day until they were served. They kept that promise too. Each day, the four young men returned with more and more supporters who came to take part in the sit-in. By the next day, of the sit-ins at Woolworth’s Store, there were twenty-nine supporters, both male and female African Americans taking part in the demonstrations. The four young men, David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and Joseph McNeil, all promised one important aspect, a nonviolent protest. They were kicked, beaten, burned with hot coffee, and had acid thrown on them, yet they never fought back because of Martin Luther King’s method of a nonviolent demonstration. To Martin Luther King, the most important aspect of his three-step method was to stay peaceful and nonviolent, because if activists were violent, it would never get them anywhere. The demonstration of the sit-ins was the beginning to the desegregation of public facilities. The four young men of the Greensboro sit-ins received an overwhelming amount of publicity for their demonstrations. The first week had been a success in many ways for the sit-ins in Greensboro. By February 5, five days after the first sit-in was staged by the four young men, three hundred volunteers were taking part in the sit-in movement at Woolworth’s. Also, heavy television coverage of Woolworth’s began because of this growing event. The reason for this large amount of publicity was because people were inspired by the methods these four young men were using to make their case. People felt inspired by their courage of going to Woolworth’s store every day and facing the courage of angry mobs that would brutally attack them. People were also inspired by the demonstrators refusal to fight back physically. They would go into Woolworth’s, sit down at the counter and not say a word to anyone else or engage in a fight, because they knew in order to get anywhere with the sit in movement was to follow Martin Luther King’s strategy of nonviolence. The publicity from the Greensboro sit-ins spread to other cities in North Carolina, and even other states. By February 8,1960, a week after the Greensboro sit-ins began, the movement had spread to many other North Carolina cities such as

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