Civil Rights Movement: The Congress Of Racial Equality

Social movements are one of the primary means through which the public is able to collectively express their concerns about the rights and wellbeing of themselves and others. Under the proper conditions, social movements not only shed light on issues and open large scale public discourse, but they can also serve as a means of eliciting expedited societal change and progress. Due to their potential impact, studying the characteristics of both failed and successful social movements is important in order to ensure that issues between the public and the government are resolved to limit injustices and maintain societal progress.

In the first presentation, I noticed an event called the Greensboro Sit-ins. This was a single event that sparked a nationwide movement and flood of support for the civil rights movement and the issue of business owners withholding service from those who were not white. On February 1st, 1960, 4 students of the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University sat at a whites-only lunch table, requested service, and were then denied and asked to leave. When they left, they went to tell campus leaders what had happened and as a result gained people that wanted to participate in the sit-in. It is said that “the next morning twenty-nine neatly dressed male and female [NCATSU] students sat at the Woolworth’s lunch counter,” the same counter where those first four students sat (NorthCarolinaHistory.org). After this happened, protests occurred each week and hundreds of students were showing up at Woolworth’s. Following this, more and more students from around the US were staging sit ins at segregated lunch counters as a form of non-violent protest against discrimination.

African Americans were able to gain much attention and sympathy through their various protests and they were also able to advance politically and economically with their enactment of civil rights laws. In the 1960s nonviolent protests were prevalent among African American; in 1960 students in North Carolina started the sit-in movement after being denied service at Woolworth’s lunch counter (which was segregated). Thereafter the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was formed to maintain this movement where students would deliberately get arrested for sitting in restricted areas. This movement facilitated the

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) used a form of protest by union workers called sit-ins. After it was successful with CORE 4 African Americans Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr, David Richmond and Franklin McCain suggested a sit in Woolworth department store. They were afraid, but they did it. They entered and bought supplied, then sat at the lunch counter and ordered coffee. The people there wouldn’t service them, but serviced them on the other counter. The four stayed until they closed and said they would do that every day until they were serviced. They left the Woolworth exited and persuaded by what they did. This convinced more and more African American to sit-in and wait until they were serviced. The NAACP and SClC were nervous about the sit-in campaign.

The more people that police arrested, the more there were that protested. In the eyes of the southern whites, having African Americans sit in at white lunch counters was against their unwritten law. In reality, it was the whites that throw and beat African Americans that should have went to jail. Newspapers, unknowingly, showed that

On an early morning in November 1959, the group of students and John would test sit-ins in lunch counters to test if they would actually serve them their food or not. Like the usual, they had to leave the place because due to store policy they could not serve colored people there. After this, they will continue to go to the same restaurant and sit there and here the same words they heard daily. Nothing was going to stop them. Not only were they kicked out but they were called niggers and were told to leave back to Africa. It was these sit-ins that started the march for

Not only did the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins happen, but many other major protesting events happened too such as: Little Rock 9, Freedom Rides, Emmett Till’s murder, The Montgomery Bus Boycott, and many more (Greensboro Sit-Ins). When the sit-ins took place, the 4 black men sat at an all-white lunch counter and asked for coffee. They were told that they could not be served and that they had to leave the whites-only section. As the protests continued, the whites got more violent towards the four men. This pushed the blacks even more so to end racial inequality (Melanie Lacey). This went on for 5 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days. They were determined to end racial inequality and wanted all races to be treated equally (Greensboro

In Fredericksburg in 1960 there was a protest because they still weren't letting African-Americans eat at a restaurant. Here's the story behind this. There were eight students that walked into Woodworths at 1 p.m. They took their seats as quietly as they can and started reading books but did not order. The staff suddenly put up signs saying “This Section is Closed off”. Like what the heck is wrong with those people. They can’t they just let them be peaceful and let them read their books maybe they would’ve ordered if they gave them time. The students went to each store and rotated a lot and as soon as they leave the workers reopened the counters to the whites. Like what is wrong with the blacks? The police took a look at the incident

The 60s were the years were the fight for the civil right for African Americans was at its peak, sit-ins were regularly used by congress for racial equality such as CORE and SCLC. The sit in that occurred on February 1,1960, at Woolworth’s i Greensboro, North Carolina was made by four African American college students, Ezell A. Blair, Jr., Franklin E. McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David L. Richmond, when the sat at a counter lunch, and politely asked for lunch. Their request was denied because the counter had a strict “whites only” policy. They were asked to leave, but the four young adults refused to do so. Even though they were beaten up several times by white people their passive resistance and peaceful Sit-down demand helped ignite a youth led movement to challenge racial inequality throughout the South, and was a contributing factor for the SNCC to be created.

Another significant transformation took place in the Civil Rights Movement in terms of its strategies. In analyzing this facet of the movement, we notice a great shift from nonviolent demonstration to forward, forceful action. Specifically, at the start of the Civil Rights Movement, lunch counter sit-ins were evident throughout the nation, as were Freedom Riders. Starting in Greensboro, North Carolina at a luncheonette called Woolworths, young black citizens would seat

Although states took advantage of the Court’s vague approach, the decision in Brown led to a series of protests by African Americans inspired by Brown. On February 1, 1960, four African American college students at the lunch counter of Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina and asked to be served. When the students’ request was refused and they were asked to leave, they remained seated in silence. Their passive resistance ignited a youth-led movement around the country to challenge the racial inequalities throughout the South. The six month long protest led to the desegregation of the F.W. Woolworth lunch counter on July 25,h 1960. (Edwards, 2010) However, these students faced violence from whites who believed that the students did not

February 1, 1960, four African American freshman from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University sat down at a lunch counter in a Woolworth store but there was a whites only policy at the counter. They were refused service because their color of their skin and when they were asked to move they refused to move a muscle. “ Despite threats and intimidation, the students sat quietly and waited to be served” (Sit-In). They sat there until it was closing time. This was the begin of a non-violent protest, the civil rights sit-in was born. The second day the four men came back but this time they brought with twenty-five other students from the college. And on the third day,

Until the 19th century, no abortion laws existed in the United States of America. By the 1880s, most states had banned abortion except in cases where it was necessary to save the mother’s life. The cause of this shift in attitude can largely be attributed to the American Medical Association, founded in 1847. The organization wanted to stop unlicensed abortions by forcing the people giving them out of business. Religious leaders supported the American Medical Association’s move and worked with them to lead campaigns that would make abortions illegal. It was only in the 1960’s that these strict laws were reconsidered. The civil rights movement seeking equal treatment for black Americans led to women’s rights organizations seeing

White Supremacy isn't a series of attitudes or opinions, it's a structural-systemic-institutional problem. Indeed, most of the activists and writers on the Left treat racism as if it's a personal fault. It's not. It's a structural issue. The difference between individual racism and structural racism is important.

Before World War II, Great Depression affected households throughout the United States. During this period of time, the Civil Rights Movement gained no momentum due to the prevalent issues of poverty. However, the country eventually slowly work itself out of the Depression, and World War II was the final touch that restored the country. Along with the restoration of the economy, came the revival of the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, the Movement could be said to have officially started during this war. World War II was crucial to the advancement of the Civil Rights movement because it increased jobs for African Americans, prove desegregation was possible in the army, and raised awareness for racial equality at home. The war caused the Civil