The Greensboro-Four In The 1950's

Half a decade later, four college students came to the lunch counter of the Elm St. Woolsworth’s and ordered coffee. Their request was refused, and the college students remained in their seats for an hour. Over the next few months, more and more African Americans continued the sit-in, and later that year, the Elm St. Woolsworth’s lunch counter became integrated.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X were two of the most prominent leaders and orators at the heart of

With school boards avoiding integration once again, Greensboro civil rights activists were becoming anxious to desegregate public facilities in order to be successful unlike public schools. Dr. George Simkins pushed for the desegregation of all public facilities in Greensboro, and he even succeeded in doing so for golf courses. Four black students were inspired and tired of the racial inequality they had grown up in, so they arranged a non-violent protest by simply sitting in Woolworth’s Diner and demanding service. The protest tactic grew in numbers as more students, both male and female, endorsed the movement. In response, young white males began participating by verbally and physically assaulting some of the demonstrators, and government officials wanted store managers to arrange for the arrest of protestors before the situation got too unruly. Blacks boycotted the purchase of goods until they were served like their white counterparts, but the protests scared away the white consumers causing the stores and diners’ sales to drop. Diners and department stores worked in accordance to agree on a procedure to desegregate lunch counters. Select department stores refused to desegregate entire facilities, and most people believed that they did not have to because they had already compromised. Certain businesses did not want to segregate and

The legacy of the Greensboro Four radiates in history as one of the greatest nonviolent movements during the civil rights era. The young college students took their frustration and fear and turned it into a means for their voices to be heard. What followed would be changes so great that a nation would see the uprising of marches, desegregation laws, and changes in attitudes. McNeil, Blair, McCain, and Richmond will forever be hailed as the four African American men that came together to uphold the rights for all African

Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King Jr., and Langston Hughes are three well known African Americans. They all have a few similarities, but the one that really brought these three together is the fact that they all faced racism. Their experiences with the racism inspired their dream, a dream that will permanently make America, our country, the great nation it is publicized as.

Malcolm X. These people also made huge impacts in the world but none of this would have happened without the

The discriminating social stratification in 1950’s developed a set of servile behavior on the blacks. They were thought to be inferior to whites, and were treated accordingly. Moreover, different parts of the country had various ranges of sensitivities while dealing with the blacks. For example, in Mississippi things were particularly tense after the Parker lynch case. No black man would dare look into any white man’s eyes in fear of the repercussions. On the bus, a man warned Griffin to watch himself closely until he caught onto Mississippi’s ways. In an extreme case like this, it was vital to learn about their roles and behave accordingly.

Jesse Jackson, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Booker T. Washington, and W.E.B DuBois are all African American leaders. All of these men were leaders in their own time and their own sense, living in different eras with different views, but they all shared common ground. All four were African Americans trying to overcome obstacles and become influential leaders in their society.

This helped to bring awareness of multiple issues in the black communities into the homes of other races, such as Michael Eric Dyson, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Cornel West, and a host of others. Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, and Malcom X paved the way for those scholars, in turn those men paved the way for the next generation of activist.

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

Throughout the Civil Rights Movement, many leaders emerged that captured the attention of the American public. During this period, the leaders' used different tactics in order to achieve change. Of two of the better-known leaders, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., the latter had a more positive influence in the progress of the movement.

Looking back at the civil rights movement one can only infer that had Rosa Parks not shown overt resistance to the racial segregation of public buses sparking the birth of the movement then the stride for racial equality may not have come to fruition. Maybe the Supreme Court would not have found public bus racial segregation unconstitutional in 1956. Maybe it would have been found unconstitutional in 1998 or maybe 2005 or maybe even in 2017. Without Parks' and other leaders' peaceful resistance the government would have allowed the racial oppression of African Americans to continue and possibly increase. Similarly, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had the role of the Freedom Riders and were instrumental in the Supreme Court decision. In pursuit of the destruction of Jim Crow laws and racial oppression as a whole, the SNCC organized sit-ins of businesses. They had food poured on them and were disrespected every day that they sat. However, their perseverance allowed people to realize that racial discrimination throughout society was wrong. The civil rights brought about the ability for the country to change the posture from separate to equal and integrate the minority community into mainstream

On February 1st, 1960, four African American, male students staged a sit-in at a Woolworth’s restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina. Although the store was open to all customers, the restaurant refused to serve any non-white customers. When the four men requested coffee and other services, they were denied. They remained seated at the counter until the restaurant closed. These four students (Ezell Blair Junior, David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil) became known as the A&T Four. In the following days, more students in the area joined them in the sit-in. Their actions inspired hundreds of demonstrations in many cities and towns throughout the United States.

Most of the people known for making a difference is because they stood up for something they believed in and showed their followers to be brave no matter the consequence. They gave people hope through acts of courage, sacrifice, and faith in their beliefs and themselves. One example of this is

During the time of the civil rights movement, thousands of people made an impact on the outcome, but a few notable people were James Farmer, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Jim Zwerg. (Weebly.com) These four people all shared many things in common and had one main goal. Farmer, King Jr., Parks and Zwerg were all civil rights defenders who all fought for equality. (Tippets) James Farmer was one of the founders of the Congress of Racial Equality and made a career fighting for civil rights and social injustice. Rosa Parks was also a strong civil rights leader. Parks was once arrested for not moving out of a “white man’s” seat. Martin Luther King Jr. is another well