Conclusion
The Greensboro Sit-In was not the first non-violent African-American sit-in, but, lead by four college freshmen, it was the one that served as the spark, igniting the Civil Rights movement among African-American youth. The energy and national news coverage that followed enabled the protests to spread throughout the South, revitalizing the entire movement. Media images of the non-violent, defiant youth withstanding racial slurs, beatings, and general hatred greatly helped their cause by winning over whites around the country. What started in 1960 in Greensboro, NC, continued to build in strength and size eventually leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which prohibited discrimination against any person for any reason. If those four young men had not been courageous enough to stand up for a belief, African-Americans today could still be living under the heavy burden of segregation.
"Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire; what led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation; what led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause. ... Hope is the bedrock of this nation; the belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us; by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is; who have courage to remake the world as it should be." - Barack Obama, speech January 3, 2008 |
Unfortunately, laws and official acts cannot change people's attitudes, and African-Americans continue to struggle for equality.
"Although it is now possible for most African Americans to eat at a lunch counter in most parts of the United States, the extension of these civilities has been accompanied by subtle, yet barbarous forms of discrimination. These forms extend from redlining in the sale of real estate to discrimination in employment to the maladministration of justice. ... The law itself is no longer an obstruction to justice and equality, but it is the people who live under the law who are themselves an obvious obstruction to justice. One can only hope that sooner rather than later we can all find the courage to live under the spirit of the Emancipation Proclamation and under the laws that flowed from its inspiration."
- John Hope Franklin, Professor of History Emeritus
- John Hope Franklin, Professor of History Emeritus
Perhaps one day the words will be true.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
- Martin Luther King, I have a Dream
- Martin Luther King, I have a Dream