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Black History and Blacks in U.S. History
The 1960's

Sit-Ins

Sit-Ins
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 6 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.45

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    headway, sit-in, theaters, refusal, rebellion, sit-ins, restrooms, colored, reading, segregation, social, happening, fully, reform, civil, protest
     content words:    Topeka Board, Supreme Court, Rosa Parks, Whites Only, North Carolina Agricultural, Technical College, Black Americans, North Carolina, Greensboro Woolworth, Boston Tea Party

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Sit-Ins
By Jane Runyon 		  
1     Events in the 1950's set the wheels of change into motion. Brown vs. the Topeka Board of Education led the Supreme Court to rule against segregation in public schools. By 1960, it was the law that children of all races were to attend the same schools. Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus led the courts to ban segregation on public transportation. These were bold first steps. But segregation still existed. Restaurants, theaters, restrooms, and drinking fountains still had signs reading "Colored" or "Whites Only." Groups such as the NAACP learned early that they would make no headway in gaining civil rights using force or violence.
 
2     In February 1960, a group of young college students decided to make their voices heard in a quiet way. The four attended college at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro. One morning they entered the F.W. Woolworth store in town. Black Americans were welcome to shop in the local Woolworth store. They were not welcome at the lunch counter located in the store. The counter stools in the store were for "Whites Only." After browsing through the store for a few minutes, the four strolled back to the counter and seated themselves at the counter. They looked at their menus. They waited to be served by the attendant behind the counter. They knew there would be no service. They quietly waited. They were completely ignored. They waited until the store closed in the evening. No one had offered to serve them. They quietly left the counter. The next morning they entered the store again. This time there were twenty-five students who seated themselves at the counter. They all quietly waited to be served. Again, they were ignored. Each day the number of students grew. The students fully expected to be arrested for their sit-in at the counter. They were not. Neither were they ever served.

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