The setting was Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina. The day was February 1, 1960.
Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr. and David Richmond were four young men who attended Agriculture and Technical College, and Bennett College in Greensboro.
The four sat down at the lunch counter at Woolworth's that day, just like other patrons. While other patrons came looking for donuts and coffee, these four young men sat down with the expectation of something more.
They were looking for equality in the segregated, "whites only" lunch counter at Woolworth's. They were African-American, and when they sat down at the lunch counter that day, they knew there would be trouble, but that they would not leave without a fight.
McCain, McNeil, Blair and Richmond sat at the Woolworth's counter for more than an hour without service. They were never served; the counter simply closed for the day.
But their effort was not in vain. Within 10 days, lunch counter sit-ins spread to 15 other cities in the South, including Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, Little Rock, Baton Rouge and Nashville.
February 1, 1960 was not the first time African Americans sat at "whites only" lunch counters to protest segregation, but it was the beginning of a movement that would end lunch counter segregation, and which would soon evolve into the burgeoning civil rights movement.
A movement that began in the 1940s and 1950s of "sitting in" at lunch counters, quickly picked up pace after Greensboro.
Soon, tens of thousands of people would be using the sit-in technique to protest segregation in the South.
During this time, whites also participated in many sit-ins at lunch counters throughout the South. Five and dime stores, department stores and lunch counters all had segregated "whites only" areas; African Americans were expected to not enter "white owned" business establishments, and to only use areas designated for blacks, which included specially designated bathrooms, water fountains, stadium bleachers, and sitting in the back of the bus.
Business establishments were far from the only segregated areas in the South. Transportation and education, too, were segregated, but this proved to be a task more difficult than integrating retail establishments.
Nashville, Tennessee became a center for student non-violent workshops. In April, 1960, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (or, SNCC, pronounced "snick") was born.
Students boycotted department stores in downtown Nashville, to protest segregated lunch counter policies.
By 1961, the mayor of Nashville announced an end to segregated seating in lunch counters at department stores.
Soon several hundred lunch counters in Atlanta, Texas, and the border states of the South would be desegregated.
It was a turning point; there was no going back.
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Comments: 46
Thanks for commenting. Hope you enjoy the series.
A lot of time has passed between the 60s and now; a lot of people have been born since then, many of whom may not have even heard of many of the minor details that made up "the 60s."
We need to keep reminding ourselves of what's important.
We need to keep reminding ourselves of what' important, what we were all about, what we were fighting for. And, in some cases, what we still need to fight for.
Human beings are a frightening species.
Felix
I grew up in legally segregated TX and left the state at age 20 long before anyone thought of protesting. My hope is that I'll live long enough to overcome my feelings of guilt for never questioning the system.
I didn't return to TX for 8 years and was shocked, when I did, to see the separate "White" and "Colored" water fountiansetc. I had forgotten.
Good stuff.
Segregation still boggles my mind, as it always did when I was growing up. Here in Massachusetts, when the Irish first settled here in the 19th century, signs were posted everywhere, stating: "Irish Need Not Apply."
Yes, a lot of work left to do.
When I arrived there was only 1 vacant seat at the counter and a black woman was standing. My parents taught me to respect my elders (regardless of race) and so I did the right thing...I insisted that she take the seat. I can still remember the look on her face, pained, startled, and sad. Very sad. No, she said, you take it. I recognised an awkwardness as all the white ladies sitting there glared at me and the black woman dropped her head. Horrified and embarrassed, I sat down and ordered my grilled cheese and all the time I was watching for my mother to rescue me from this strange and awkward situation.
I have never gone into a Woolworths-to this day!- that I don't think of that.
What a travesty. My sense of justice has never wavered. When I got into high school in northern Arizona in the mid 60s we had a large number of Navajo kids who lived in dorms, away from their families. Needless to say, I was the only white girl to befriend a number of them and to this day I cherish the diversity of life.
Thank you getting me fired up once again! It's time I wrote a few stories of my own!
In Boston, we had "IRISH NEED NOT APPLY."