Mackenna Donnay
English II
Mr. Swanson
Final
Lunch Causes Problems?
Have you ever sat at a table with no one you knew, feeling very uncomfortable sitting with nobody wanting you around? Well, some people have experienced it to an extreme.When a group of African American people sit at a counter in a restaurant and do not move when told to, they start up a giant riot. Even though four college students only asked politely for their services, they enraged quite a lot of people. By segregating, grouping together to stand up for what they believe in, and doing what matters, the story unfolds.
Segregation was and still is a huge problem. People cannot seem to wrap the thought that what color and/or race you are does not actually matter that much
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around their heads. Franklin McClain, Jessie McNeil, Exell Blair, and David Richmond, four college students, decided to take a stand- or sit- for themselves. The four of them were being told to leave because of their color, black. Since they did not leave, this raged a lot of people. Believe it or not, if the white employees let them order coffee, this probably would not have happened the same way it is, if not at all. The four black men already bought some merchandise, such as toothpaste, and there was not much of a problem with that, so ordering coffee is a problem but buying other things is not? This actually caused many “sit-ins” at segregated churches, sleep-ins at segregated motel lobbies, swim-ins at segregated pools, wade-ins at segregated beaches, read-ins at segregated libraries, play-ins at segregated parks and watch-ins at segregated movies (THE GREENSBORO CHRONOLOGY 30) They take seats at the whites-only lunch counter. Denied service, they remain seated (PBS 2). The students resumed their sit-ins, the city adopted more stringent segregation policies, and forty-five students were arrested and charged with trespassing (LOC 2). Following store policy, the lunch counter staff refused to serve the black men at the "whites only" counter and store manager Clarence Harris asked them to leave. However, the four freshman stayed until the store closed that night (Wikipedia 4). All of this fuss is because the students are black instead of white, because of having a different color skin. Some protesters were even beaten, spat on, and had food dumped all over them. Although a lot of people did not agree with what these folks were doing, more did agree with it. After each days pasts, more and more people stand up for them. In just one short week, the non-violent act exploded into a mass protest that gripped the South and revived action in the Civil Rights Movement (PBS 1). On February 5, about 300 students were at Woolworth's protesting. The sit-in movement spreads to almost 40 other cities across the country (PBS 6). By February 6, 1960 about 1000 protesters and observers filled Woolworth’s. on the third day of protesting, sixty three students joined the sit-in. In Greensboro, hundreds of students, civil rights organizations, churches, and members of the community joined in a six-month-long protest (Freedom Struggle 2). More than 70,000 people participated in sit-ins but August 1961, which resulted in more than 3,000 arrests (THE GREENSBORO CHRONOLOGY 30). People of both ethnies became a big group to protest the same thing. Everybody has a definition of doing what matters.
The protesters believed in what they were doing, and decided to get their point across nonviolently. The protesters were peacefully protesting instead of fighting, which actually made certain people more enraged. People kept joining in because they found meaning in this sit-in. This sit-in really sparked the nation, as many other states and stores started experiencing similar events. One outcome of this was Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (LOC 4), which was the act of students going to stores and peacefully protesting. The stores were all bombarded with people of all ethnicities, and that made them lose income, so they started losing money because no one was buying anything, and the people that did want to buy merchandise became too scared to go into the stores and get them because they were intimidated by the enormous crowds of people NOT buying the items. It was just passive resistance, but their point got …show more content…
across. Finally on July 26, 1960, Woolworth’s integrate its lunch counters.
The whole Woolworth became desegregated, even though Woolworth lunch counters in other cities continued to be segregated, the many protests paid off in 1965 (Wikipedia 9). Coffee literally was one of the problems, and coffee is black but would not be served to black people? That means that white people should not be served milk if things were the other way around. It does not make sense that because of skin color people get treated differently. If everyone wore giant bags over their bodies and faces so that people could not see their skin color, the world would be a whole lot nicer. One thing that the Woolworth Lunch Counter Incident symbolizes is that just a few people can make a difference and change the world. That means that just one person can be significant if the world if they make an effort. It does not even have to be a huge effort, it can be as simple as just sitting in a booth. Standing up, or sitting down, for what you believe in can make a change. And it all started with just four college students, sitting down inside a restaurant, trying to get some
lunch.
One of the first documented incidents of the sit-ins for the civil rights movement was on February 1, 1960 in Nashville, Tennessee. Four college African-Americans sat at a lunch counter and refused to leave. During this time, blacks were not allowed to sit at certain lunch counters that were reserved for white people. These black students sat at a white lunch counter and refused to leave. This sit-in was a direct challenge to southern tradition. Trained in non-violence, the students refused to fight back and later were arrested by Nashville police. The students were drawn to activist Jim Lossen and his workshops of non-violence. The non-violent workshops were training on how to practice non-violent protests. John Lewis, Angela Butler, and Diane Nash led students to the first lunch counter sit-in. Diane Nash said, "We were scared to death because we didn't know what was going to happen." For two weeks there were no incidences with violence. This all changed on February 27, 1960, when white people started to beat the students. Nashville police did nothing to protect the black students. The students remained true to their training in non-violence and refused to fight back. When the police vans arrived, more than eighty demonstrators were arrested and summarily charged for disorderly conduct. The demonstrators knew they would be arrested. So, they planned that as soon as the first wave of demonstrators was arrested, a second wave of demonstrators would take their place. If and when the second wave of demonstrators were arrested and removed, a third would take their place. The students planned for multiple waves of demonstrators.
Sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks in 1955, the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that aimed for the desegregation of the bus systems in Montgomery, Alabama.[i] The organization revolved around the emerging civil rights leader and pastor Martin Luther King Jr. Three years later, King’s method of non-violent protests would inspire four students to begin the Greensboro sit-ins in North Carolina, which is regarded as one of the most significant demonstrations at the time.[ii] Many of the discriminatory practices during this time period stems from whiteness, which is a belief about entitlement and ownership for whites based solely on their skin color. The media utilizes rhetorical devices, such as analogy, polarizing
During the first half of the twentieth century segregation was the way of life in the south. It was an excepted, and even though it was morally wrong, it still went on as if there was nothing wrong at all. African-Americans were treated as if they were a somehow sub-human, they were treated because of the color of their skin that somehow, someway they were different.
Segregation was a big deal in the United States. Most white people believed they were better than the blacks. Water fountains, seating sections, and the bus seats are examples of things that were segregated. Segregation had a major effect as our country was leaving the 1800’s and going into the 1900s. The Jim Crow laws, White Supremacy, and the Plessy v. Ferguson trial were crucial setbacks for blacks in the late 1800s and the early 1900s.
Despite what many may say Segregation is not always associated with a negative connotation. The New Book Of Knowledge defines segregation as the “separateness of two or more groups living within the same society.” However, Segregation could refer to the separation of salt and water. However, segregation can also be derogatory and racist. Throughout American History one would hardly have to search hard to find any civil rights movements that fought for the equality of races. Segregation was used as a way to make people of color seem inferior to whites and keep people of color from rising in an economic or social standpoint. The source of segregation is prejudice felt by a dominant group that feels superior to the other. Segregation usually
On February 1, 1960, 4 black students were wanting lunch. The boys had been refused service so they occupied the seats so the business couldn’t make money. T...
Success was a big part of the Civil Rights Movement. Starting with the year 1954, there were some major victories in favor of African Americans. In 1954, the landmark trial Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas ruled that segregation in public education was unfair. This unanimous Supreme Court decision overturned the prior Plessy vs. Ferguson case during which the “separate but equal” doctrine was created and abused. One year later, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. launched a bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama after Ms. Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat in the “colored section”. This boycott, which lasted more than a year, led to the desegregation of buses in 1956. Group efforts greatly contributed to the success of the movement. This is not only shown by the successful nature of the bus boycott, but it is shown through the success of Martin Luther King’s SCLC or Southern Christian Leadership Conference. The conference was notable for peacefully protesting, nonviolence, and civil disobedience. Thanks to the SCLC, sit-ins and boycotts became popular during this time, adding to the movement’s accomplishments. The effective nature of the sit-in was shown during 1960 when a group of four black college students sat down at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in hopes of being served. While they were not served the first time they commenced their sit-in, they were not forced to leave the establishment; their lack of response to the heckling...
Before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, segregation in the United States was commonly practiced in many of the Southern and Border States. This segregation while supposed to be separate but equal, was hardly that. Blacks in the South were discriminated against repeatedly while laws did nothing to protect their individual rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ridded the nation of this legal segregation and cleared a path towards equality and integration. The passage of this Act, while forever altering the relationship between blacks and whites, remains as one of history’s greatest political battles.
According to the march organizers, the march would symbolize their demands of “the passage of the Kennedy Administration Civil Rights Legislation without compromise of filibuster,” integration of all public schools by the end of the year, a federal program to help the unemployed, and a Federal Fair Employment Act which would ban job discrimination (“The March on Washington” 11). In order for the march not to appear as a war of white versus black it had to be racially integrated so it looked like justice versus injustice. Some organizers wanted to call for massive acts of disobedience across America, but when the Urban League and the N.A.A.C.P. joined the organization of the march, they insisted against it. The march was originally going to be on Capitol Hill to influence congress, but because of a 1882 law against demonstrating there, they decided to march to the Lincoln Memorial and invite congress to meet them there, knowing that they would not.
By the early 1960, another Civil Right movement began, Sit-Ins. Four college students, Ezell Blair, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond walked in to establishments to be served but by the end of the night they were never served. They would later come back with larger group and sit once again. They did so with rules to prevent any trouble from the authorities, just by not talking to anyone, never blocking the entrances and by simply being nice. The movement picked up momentum being done by many throughout the north and south.
One of the most significant issues which the United States has dealt with for decades is the issue of racial segregation. In a post-Civil Rights era, there is a common tendency to assume that racism is no longer a pressing social concern in America due to the gradual erosion of whiteness. During the late 1800s and much of the 1900s, segregation had been a controversial and divisive issue throughout the country. This issue stemmed from the separation of African Americans and whites during a period when slavery was recently abolished and Blacks were still looked down upon. This was the era of repressive Jim Crow laws, where strict segregation was mandated and racial segregation was regulated. After the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of racial segregation as long as it was “separate but equal.” However, most facilities and services provided to African Americans were inferior and substandard compared to those offered to whites. This led to a massive uproar among the African American community, which paved the way for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was created which fought for civil rights among African Americans. Although after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed any form of discrimination and segregation, the topic of segregation and integration still remains a contentious debate in America. Three writers who have opposing ideas on this topic are Daniel T. Lichter, Michael S. Murray, and Danielle Holley-Walker. Daniel Lichter opposes the idea of integration in his article “Integration or Fragmentation? Racial Diversity and the American Future.” He explains the Third Demographic T...
Segregation has played a substantial role throughout American history. Many court cases and different trials in different time periods have proven that a person’s skin color can dictate many things, such as where they go to school and where they sit on public transportation. The struggle to achieve equality was made even more difficult by the legislation of the Plessy vs. Ferguson case.
After the Civil War, America was in a time of separation and segregation due to the southern state’s Jim Crow Laws. “Jim Crow laws restricted the rights of black people and kept them segregated from whites… On buses they had to sit at the rear and had to give up their seat whenever a white rider was left standing.” These Jim Crow laws caused Americans to be divided in the most superficial way possible: by the color of your skin. These laws existed for many years after the abolition of slavery. The problem was that black people had been told that they were being given freedom, but they were still treated like they were slaves. White people were willing to take the money of the black people, but they would not allow them to eat at the same restaurants as white people. “Blacks had to use separate restrooms, eat in separate restaurants, drink at s...
The four students got their idea for the sit in from a handout on tactics on resistance by CORE. The four students were considered hero’s to some African Americans. They were never served food but there sit in caused the shop to close 30 minutes early. When the students returned to their college campus they were greeted by fellow students and they were called heroes. Their idea motivated other students to join in on the sit in so on February 2nd, 24 students took part in a sit in at the same Woolworth’s food counter. Many white people started to realize what they were doing and why and that caused white female students from a North Carolina Women’s College to join the sit in. This sit in began to effect several segregated food counters throughout Greensboro. Later on the chaos of the sit-ins caused the Woolworth’s dinner to be forcefully closed.
The fresh bread smell of the bakery warms the air as people, old and young live in peaceful harmony. All these things can be accomplished without the collateral damage that protests have on cities. Some of these include the destruction it has on a city businesses and livelihood, the distraught citizens left dumbfounded and the counterproductivity placed upon many. We should take the many cities such as Ferguson as a lesson in which we can now act upon behalf of all of the people affected by the Ferguson protests and show them that it doesn’t have to end the way it did. So next time you are asked to participate in a protest think twice about the consequence that could be faced upon you, others and everyone not only in you community, but others as