The Struggle of Four Black Boys for Their Civil Rights - Research Paper Example

 The Struggle of Four Black Boys for their Civil Rights This paper is about the Civil rights struggle of four black boys who stand up for their rights and started peaceful protests as they began to sit in at all white Woolworth’s five and dime store. The Woolworth’s and other stores in the United States had the policy of segregated counters for black and white people. These four boys decided to start protest for their human and civil rights. This paper will provide that how these boys started their protests, the methodology of the protests, timeline of the events and the response of media and government after these protests. This paper will also describe the outcomes and impact of these peaceful and nonviolent protests. LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE PEACEFUL PROTESTS The four students of the black college started to sit in at the all white counter of Greensboro’s local restaurant asking for service. In fact, these four boys did not simply ask for service but they attacked the unwritten rules of society that required black people to stay out of the white owned restaurants, to use only designated drinking fountains and restrooms, to sit in separate part of the center theatre and in separate bleachers during sport events (Fuhrmann, 2009) In 1896, the Supreme Court of United States passed the law of “Separate but Equal” but inherently it was “Separate and Unequal” (Brough, 1982). But after hundred years of the law of “Separate but Equal”, the four boys added a new dimension to the Civil Rights Movement. They decided non-violent protests. They went to the Woolworth’s all white counters and politely asked for service and waited until it was provided but they were refused to serve. This non-violent protest appreciated by other black students and more and more students come and take part in this protest that spread like fire in Deep South. Within six months these Sit Ins had ended restaurant and lunch counter discrimination in the twenty six Southern cities. And it was also become successful against discrimination in public parks, swimming pools, theatres, churches, libraries, museums and beaches. But in some of the cities tension rose between white and black and arrests take into place. Some of the restaurants also refuse for desegregation of their policies, until civil rights law of 1964 was passed. And this non violent struggle becomes successful (Riddle, 2011). METHODOLOGY OF THE PROTESTS On February 1, 1960, four black students, Ezeil Blair, Joseph McNeil, David Richmond and Franklin McCain, from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University started a student Sit In at the restaurant of their local Woolworth’s five and dime store in Greensboro, North Carolina. The store had the policy of not serving black people in the White only counters. (Powell, 2001). They students decided to start non violent protest for their human and civil rights. McCain was one of those four boys and he told in one of his interview that one of his friend said that these protest require a lot of time, effort and support for good results. But with all of the seen and unseen difficulties they decided to start peaceful protests for their rights. They went to the local store and ask for the service and wait until served but they were refused to serve. On the next day, they came again for peaceful protests but they were come with twenty seven other classmates including four women. The newspaper reporters covered this peaceful protest on the second day. The movement for the Civil rights of black people started and day by day more and more people were getting involved with them (Winkler, 1970). This non violent protest also started in other segregated counters in Greensboro and to other towns near Greensboro, including Winston-Salem, Durham, Raleigh, and Charlotte and also in the Out-of-state towns like Lexington, Kentucky. These protest spread in almost every city in the Southern States. As protest spread tension between white and black rose and fights broke out and arrests also take into place. Now tension grew and students started to boycott the purchases from the stores that have segregation policy. These boycotts results in the decrease of sales of those stores so they soon decided to desegregate their policy and started to serve both white and black alike. The Woolworth’s in Greensboro also desegregated its food counters on July 26, 1960, after having lost in 20 percent in its sales (Wright, 1999). Some of the restaurants refuse to desegregate their policies but these Sit Ins become successful in increasing the awareness among most parts of the society that how black community are being suffered because of these unhealthy and immoral discrimination policies. The policy followed by the black community proved the most simplest and effective form of protest. In accordance with Martin Luther King’s idea of non-violent, passive resistance, their sit-ins were peaceful and they continued to emphasize the issue of desegregation in the South. To promote their cause, black students established the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Now, there were four major civil rights groups in the South that are the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), CORE, SNCC, and the NAACP (Pitrone, 2003). Their scope expanded and almost 70,000 people took part in the Sit Ins and they also become successful to desegregate other public places such as museums, public theaters and swimming pools etc. And in 1964, the Civil Right Act passed and the immoral and un-American laws came to an end (Tyson, 1998). IMPACT OF THE NON VIOLENT PROTESTS With all of the difficulties faced by these protesters, they found very positive results from their protests. The peaceful protests received significant media and government support. The peaceful protest of four students spread throughout the Southern states. In the Presidential election campaign of John F Kennedy, 1960, he argued for the new Civil rights and after the election it was found that over 70 percent of the African American vote went to Kennedy. However he failed to fulfill his promise. On March 16, 1960, President Eisenhower showed his sympathy for the students who were fighting for their civil rights and he said that, "deeply sympathetic with efforts of any group to enjoy the rights …of equality that they are guaranteed by the Constitution."(Kirshon, 2010). Within six months students achieved major success, as most of the stores in most of the towns of the Deep South desegregate their policies and start providing service to both white and black alike. After the assassination of John F Kennedy, the new President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, was able to get the legislation passed in 1964. According to the Civil Rights Act 1964, racial desegregation in public places such as public parks, swimming pools, theatres, churches, libraries, museums and beaches is illegal (Pinkney, 2010). In the Civil Rights Act it is also mentioned that Black people should also get equal employment opportunities. In 1993, a section of Greensboro’s Woolworth’s counter was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. The International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro preserves the four chairs from the counter of Woolworth’s, the photographs of four protesters, a timeline of the events and also the headlines from the media. (Kirshon, 2010). In February 2010 three surviving members of the 1960’s Sit In group were honored, during the dedication of the museum, as their action of 1960 helped to change a social system that was Un-American and immoral. CONCLUSION This paper has discussed the Civil Right Struggle of Four black students. The struggle of these black boys paved a way for Government and civil communities to rethink about the unequal segregation policies. Before the Civil Right Act of 1964, there was a law of “Separate but Equal” but it put very negative impact on the black community and they were treated unequally. The segregation policies in public places such as public parks, swimming pools, theatres, churches, libraries, museums and beaches took place in all of the United States and black community treated as lower part of the society. The four students followed the King’s idea of non violent and passive resistance and they stood up for their civil and human rights and made history. The peaceful movement led into the Civil Right Act of 1964 and now there is no segregation on racial basis in the United States. References Brough, James. The Woolworths. McGrawHill, New York, 1982. Web 27 April 2012. Link: http://catalog.wrlc.org/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=8&ti=1,8&Search_Arg=woolworth&SL=Submit%26LOCA%3D-MARYMOUNT%20UNIVERSITY%7C8&Search_Code=GKEY%5E&CNT=25&PID=RAsXW_lNakyHQtEphamHQlWCf8SG&SEQ=20120426023757&SID=1 Fuhrmann, Doug. Business History: F/W. Woolworth Co. The Daily Journal.com, 2009. Web 27 April 2012. Link: http://www.thedailyjournal.com/article/20090301/NEWS01/90331016/Business-History-F-W-Woolworth-Co Kirshon, John. Four Black Students Sit at lunch counter. American history, 2010. Web 27 April 2012. Link: http://john-kirshon.suite101.com/four-black-students-sit-in-at-lunch-counter-a196529 Pinkney, Andrea. Sit-in: how four friends stood up by sitting down (Jane Addams honor book (awards)).1st edition. Little, Brown Books for young readers: 2010. Web 27 April 2012. Pitrone, Jean M. F.W.Woolworth and the American Five and Dime: A Social History. Jefferson, N.C., 2003. Web April 27, 2012. Link: http://catalog.wrlc.org/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=5&ti=1,5&Search_Arg=woolworth&SL=Submit%26LOCA%3D-MARYMOUNT%20UNIVERSITY%7C8&Search_Code=GKEY%5E&CNT=25&PID=RAsXW_lNakyHQtEphamHQlWCf8SG&SEQ=20120426023757&SID=1 Powell, P. K. Remembering Woolworth’s: A Nostalgic history of the World’s most famous Five and Dime. 1st edition. St. Martin’s Grifin: 2001. Web 27 April 2012. Link: Riddle, Lyn. On remembering, and moving on. Journal watchdog, 2011. Web 27 April 2012. Link: http://www.journalwatchdog.com/blog/2011/06/on-remembering-and-moving-on/ Tyson, T.B. Black Power, and the roots of the African American freedom struggle The Journal of American History. 85.2 (1998). pp.540-570. Winkler, John K. Five and Ten: the fabulous life of F.W.Woolworth. Freeport, N.Y. 1970. Web. April 27, 2012. Link: http://catalog.wrlc.org/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=9&ti=1,9&Search_Arg=woolworth&SL=Submit%26LOCA%3D-MARYMOUNT%20UNIVERSITY%7C8&Search_Code=GKEY%5E&CNT=25&PID=RAsXW_lNakyHQtEphamHQlWCf8SG&SEQ=20120426023757&SID=1 Wright, Gavin. “The civil right revolution as economic history”. The Journal of Economic History. 59.2 (1999): 267-289. Read More