The Sit-In Movement Essay

Informational Writing Research Task - The Sit-In Movement

During the 1960s, the civil rights movement gained tremendous momentum as nonviolent protests were employed and inspired by Martin Luther King Jr, earning support from African Americans wanting their deserved civil rights. The sit-in movement was a non-violent protest influenced by the nonaggressive tactics of MLK and the death of Emmet Till, bringing attention to the lynching of African Americans. It was an act of civil disobedience, led by four young men, who inevitably brought change and accelerated the civil rights movement. As the sit-in movement gained popularity, it spread to towns throughout the South; fighting for the equality and civil rights of African Americans living in the United States.

On February 1, 1960, four college students: Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr, David Richmond, and Franklin McCain, “sat down at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina and intentionally took a seat at the white’s only section of the lunch counter where they asked for coffee” (“The Sit-In Movement”). They were denied service because they were African-

At first, no one participated despite its simplicity, fearing being harassed or threatened by servers and other customers. They had every right to be afraid. People of white skin color were ruthless towards people of color, murdering them for simply existing. The next day, a couple of fellow college students decided to join and participate. The four young college students as well as a few supports, were pelted with food or ketchup, heckled, punched, kicked, beaten with clubs, and burned with cigarettes, coffee, and acid. Yet participants of the movement did not retaliate because they “believed that if the violence were only on the part of the white community, the world would see the righteousness of their cause” (“The Sit-In