Greensboro sit-in: A protest that changed history
Greensboro sit-in, probably the strongest civil rights movement in the United States on America kicked off on this day in 1960. It was a movement which sparked a series of protest in 9 US states and led to a removal of the racial segregation policy followed in the US.
The anniversary is being remembered this weekend in Greensboro, where the North Carolina A&T State University students sought service at Woolworth’s on Feb. 1, 1960. It took almost six months before Woolworth agreed to allow African Americans to eat at the lunch counter.
As the world marks the 60th anniversary of the historic event, here is a brief count of what was Greensboro sit-in and what it managed to achieve.
On Feb. 1, 1960, David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan and Joseph McNeil, the four black freshmen at North Carolina A&T State University walked into the downtown Woolworth, sat down at the whites-only lunch counter and demanded service.
The lunch counter manager said no, and the store manager said no, but the students refused to leave.
Thus began a movement.
In the weeks ahead, sit-ins would spread to lunch counters in 54 cities across nine southern states. They eventually shattered one of the more visible racial barriers of everyday life and achieved one of the earliest victories of the budding civil rights movement.
McNeil and Khazan are still living. They attended a wreath-laying ceremony on Friday at a monument honouring the four on the North Carolina A&T campus. The International Civil Rights Center & Museum, which occupies the former Woolworth’s store, also planned its annual dinner and awards gala on Saturday evening at the Greensboro Coliseum’s special events centre. Gov. Roy Cooper is speaking at that event.
