Sit Ins

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Sit Ins
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The Civil Rights Act of 1957

• Introduced by Eisenhower
• Passed with the help of Lyndon B Johnson
• First national Civil Rights act for nearly 100
  years
• Meant that Black Americans would get support from
  the Federal Justice Dept. if they went to court
  because they could not vote freely
• Commission set up

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The Civil Rights Act of 1957

• This meant Southern states could no longer do as
  they please
• However limited
• any person found guilty of obstructing someones
  right to register barely faced the prospect of
  punishment as a trial by jury in the South meant
  the accused had to face an all-white jury as only
  whites could be jury members

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The Civil Rights Act of 1959

• Did not add a single vote to the voting register

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Pressure for further change

• 1960/61 were a time of change
• Many Blacks were tired of waiting for change
• Some even demanded the right to use armed
  self-defence against whites

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New protest methods

• In 1960 the actions of Black and White students
  put new life into the Civil Rights movement
• Publicity created support for these new methods
• Sit-in campaigns
• The freedom rides
• The protests in Birmingham, Alabama
• The March on Washington

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The Sit In Campaign

• 1st February 1960, four students ordered sodas,
  coffee and doughnuts at a whites-only counter in
  Greensboro, N. Carolina
• They were refused
• They were attacking segregation

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The Sit In Campaign

• The Greensboro four were teenagers
• Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr
  and David Richmond were told to move but refused
• Next day they returned with 80 more Black and
  White protesters

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The Sit In Campaign

• The students sat in all day
• They were attacked and insulted
• The idea of sit-in protests spread across the
  South
• By the end of 1960, 70000 protesters had taken
  part in sit ins

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The Sit In Campaign

• Many people watched in horror as reports were
  broadcast on TV showing non-violent protesters
  being beaten up, attacked by dogs and whites
• All because they wanted Civil Rights

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The Sit In Campaign

• fill the jails was the new slogan to disrupt
  the law courts
• Jails in the south reached bursting point
• Cafes and restaurants were losing business

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Effects of sit ins

• Due to the non-violent protests, TV coverage and
  loss of business by 1960 there were almost no
  more segregated counters in the south

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How successful were the sit ins?

• Encouraged students to take action
• Young Blacks believed they could make a
  difference
• Raised awareness of the race issue
• Others argue that sit ins achieved limited
  success still much more to be done

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Activity

• Go to http//www.pbs.org/independentlens/februaryo
  ne/sitin.html
• and http//www.sitins.com/media_headlines.shtml
  read the news reports
• Describe what happened in Greensboro, 1960

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Activity

• Explain why the sit-in campaign was so important
  to the Civil Rights Movement?(8)