Four young men, Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil, were inspired by Mohandas Gandhi's nonviolent protest tactics, and staged the first sit in at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1st, 1960. They were also inspired to act by the brutal murder of a young black man who whistled at a white woman.
Many people were harassed by whites at the diners, but sit ins were meant to be non-violent. People would attack them, throw things at them, and pour things on them, but participants just sat there and took it. This aspect is what made sit ins so effective. If they didn't fight back, the only people to be punished were the ones who became violent in the first place. The violence connected to sit ins is what really made their presence known.
Sit Ins have a lasting impact on society today. These sit ins were the start of desegregation, and today all public places are open to all races. Blacks and whites weren't even allowed to use the same drinking fountain, and our first African American President just got done serving two terms. Sit ins like these helped fuel the movement, and overall helped end segregation.
You can connect the sit ins from 1960 to sit ins today. In Venezuela, thousands of people are protesting and blocking streets to protest their president Nicolas Maduro. They are protesting in the same, non violent way to show their opposition to the president. They aren't disrupting the peace, but doing daily activities such as picnics in the streets. They are protesting and voicing their opinions while at the same time remaining peaceful.
This picture shows the protesting in Venezuela. I picked this image because it shows that although they are protesting, they are being non-violent, just like people did 50 years ago in the non-violent sit ins.
Works Cited
History.com Staff. (2010). The Greensboro Sit-In. Retrieved April 25, 2017, from http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in?scrlybrkr=e685b892
The Sit-In Movement. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2017, from http://www.ushistory.org/us/54d.asp