Lunch Counter Protests

Words: 1275
Pages: 6
Open Document
Lunch counter protests were a main part of the civil rights movement. It helped get restaurants and other public places to allow both races to come in and do the same thing as each other. Of course the African Americans got hurt and arrested and other things done to them. The first sit-in happened on February 1, 1960 and it took place in Greensboro, North Carolina at the Woolworth lunch counter (“Freedom Struggle- Separate is Not Equal”). Once the sit-ins started, more and more people joined. The movement didn’t just stay in one spot, they spread everywhere. The sit-ins included whites, African Americans, males and females. Four African American college students were the first ones to do the sit-ins because they are the ones that started …show more content…
and David Richmond (International Civil Rights Center & Museum). They were just college students that ordered drinks but got refused so they stayed there and studied until the place closed for the day and then the next day they went back and did the same thing. They were taunted by white patrons but they still didn’t leave because they were fighting for their rights (International Civil Rights Center & Museum). The movement eventually spread to other states and gained more supporters. More whites joined and by the end of February the movement had spread to more than 30 cities in 8 states (International Civil Rights Center & Museum). The more people that joined, the more that were arrested. By August of 1961, 3,000 people were arrested for different things (International Civil Rights Center & Museum). But getting arrested didn’t stop the movement. No matter what happened they kept on doing it to let people know that they were serious and that they wouldn’t let anybody or anything get in their …show more content…
Many people were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct, or disturbing the peace ("Greensboro Sit-In - Black History"). They couldn’t just arrest them for being there, so they had to come up with other reasons. Even when people got arrested, more people would fill the seats that became empty and it kept the movement going on. African Americans occupied 63 out of 66 seats and the other 3 were occupied by waitresses. ("History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian"). At the end of the movement they had accomplished the goal that they had set. On July 25, 1960, F.W. Woolworth Lunch counter was finally desegregated (“Freedom Struggle- Separate is Not Equal”). Once they did that, more and more public places were changing too. The four college students that started it were proud of what they had started and what had gotten done about it. In 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act which made it illegal to have segregation of any public place ("Log In - The New York
Show More

Related Documents: Lunch Counter Protests

Diane Nash Civil Rights Movement Analysis

these protests led to the desegregation of public places as well as signified the…

Words 1309 - Pages 6

Freedom Riders Research Paper

experience the strive for social justice that all these individuals made. Seeing the actual lunch counter that the Greensboro Four sat in, made me picture that I was there with them. I stopped for a moment, closed my eyes, and pictured the scene in front of me. History was made right at this very counter. Although the lunch counter is an object, it serves as a symbol for social justice and the de-segregation of lunch…

Words 975 - Pages 4

Civil Rights Research Paper

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…

Words 1183 - Pages 5

Civil Disobedience

To fully understand the meaning of civil disobedience first we would have to say that the meaning of civil disobedience is the denial to obey certain laws or pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest. The concept of civil disobedience evolved from the idea that there are laws of the state that don't secure citizens. This concept evolved over a long period of time and was grasped from different types of cultures. The act of civil disobedience was most effective in the twentieth…

Words 696 - Pages 3

John Lewis March Analysis

the races. It also shows how the movements for civil rights were orchestrated, and how they continue to be relevant today. Firstly, one thing that we can learn from these movements for equal rights for African Americans is the fact that non-violent protests do indeed work. In fact, they work more effectively than any violent or combative approach would. It was obviously challenging to maintain the way of peace and nonviolence during this time, especially while the white supremacists were committing…

Words 271 - Pages 2

Sit ins Essay

there. Sit ins where not new protests as black people had sat and waited to be served in white only places. The Greensboro sit-in had sparked a wave of similar protests across North Carolina and then the rest of the South. Whites Only. In February 1960 a group of black college students in Greensboro, North Carolina, refused to leave a whites-only lunch counter at which they were denied service. Their demonstration began the sit-in movement, a series of peaceful protests that brought renewed national…

Words 470 - Pages 2

Blanket Sale In All Departments

group of high schoolers held a protest hoping to bring equality to the African American race.On the first day they went and sat at the lunch counter of Woolworth’s.They were told not to touch merchandise or they would be accused of stealing. Employees placed signs out that said “This Section Is Closed.”. On July 7, 1960 they walked into a store called Grant’s to discover blankets in their seats. Employees would remove blankets when white customers walked up to the counter. Saying “We Are Having A Blanket…

Words 211 - Pages 1

Sncc's Struggle Analysis

social, and cultural factors leading to the birth of SNCC, and determine the distinct differences between SNCC and other civil rights organizations. SNCC was born in February 1960 with four black college students in Greensboro, North Caroline at a lunch table. Cason describes this moment as “the initial spark of the movement was a simple, impulsive act of defiance, on that required no special skills or resources” (page 9).…

Words 698 - Pages 3

Social And Personal Emancipations Analysis

ties and weak ties to demonstrate the relationships formed between Mariam and Laila, and Mariam and Rasheed. Social and personal emancipations can only happen when strong ties are present. Malcolm Gladwell starts off by telling a story about the lunch counter sit-ins which happened in Greensboro, North Carolina. A small group of college students went to a diner where they sat at the bar, which was for white people only, rather than sitting at the snack bar. The waitress refused to serve them. So in…

Words 1504 - Pages 7

Hate In The Rock And The River By Malcolm X

word. On the other hand, saying please and begging for equality in a police officer face is looked at as absurd and down right stupid. My novel, The Rock and The River, put me in the middle of this argument. Leaving me to wonder, would a peaceful protest cause a bigger change that a…

Words 369 - Pages 2