Segregation: Non-Violent Protests

In 1960 segregation was an everyday thing which is why four African American college students decided to hold a non-violent protest (History.com 2010). Because of their bravery this sparked other college students to join and eventually all over the U.S people started participating in more non-violent protest. The inspiration for these four African Americans was Mohandas Ghandi and the “Freedom Ride” which was organized by CORE, Congress for Racial Equality, where interracial activists drove in a bus all together down in the South in order to end the segregation in bus travelling. The four courageous men were Exell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil, and they all eventually came to be known as the “Greensboro Four”

They sat down for lunch at Woolworth’s Diner for lunch knowing that the owner could refuse service to anyone but whites. Eventually the police arrived but the media wasn’t far behind catching the bold protest. The police knew they couldn’t do much because they weren’t breaking any laws. The four stayed until closing and returned the next day with even more college students since the word got out. The Greensboro Four had such an impact that by February 5th, history.com says almost 300 students were joining the protest at Woolworth’s ready to end segregation. Although everyone going to Woolworth’s had its effects on the rest of the town as well causing many of them to lose money. Most of the white people were infuriated and began to abuse and taunt the protesters. Eventually police would arrest a few accusing them of “trespassing” or “disturbing the peace” as history.com claims it, even though majority of the time the protestors participating in the sit-in would be sitting quietly studying for classes. Their courage and ambition was contagious and as the media began to spread the historical event so did the meaning behind it. Across the country people began to sit-in restaurants, convenient stores, and any other segregated business to try and put an end to the racism. In fact, history.com reports the movement reaching 55 cities in 13 different states by the end of March. The ending of an

The committee began by Ella Baker, a student studying at Shaw University, during a student meeting two months after the Greensboro sit-in. With-in a year of this organization sparking, many students began to drop out of college so that they could commit fully to the movement occurring. This group eventually led on to tackle other racist issues such as voting. In October 1960, since they had accomplished sit-ins, they were trying to figure out what to achieve next. The discussion began like so, ““Only mass action is strong enough to force all of America to assume responsibility and . . . nonviolent direct action alone is strong enough to enable all of America to understand the responsibilities she must assume,” the invitation to the October conference has stated.” (DU and SNCC,