The Sit In Movement: Martin Luther King Jr.

Superior Essays
ary 1960, a group of African-American students began what became known as the "sit-in" movement in Greensboro, North Carolina. The students would sit at racially segregated lunch counters in the city's stores. When asked to leave or sit in the colored section, they just remained seated, subjecting themselves to verbal and sometimes physical abuse. The movement quickly gained traction in several other cities. In April 1960, the SCLC held a conference at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina with local sit-in leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged students to continue to use nonviolent methods during their protests. Out of this meeting, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee formed and for a time, worked closely with the SCLC. By August of 1960, the sit-ins had been successful in ending segregation at lunch counters in 27 southern cities.

By 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. was gaining national notoriety. He returned to Atlanta to become co-pastor with his father at Ebenezer Baptist Church, but also continued his civil rights
…show more content…
Years after his death, he is the most widely known African-American leader of his era. His life and work have been honored with a national holiday, schools and public buildings named after him, and a memorial on Independence Mall in Washington, D.C. But his life remains controversial as well. In the 1970s, FBI files, released under the Freedom of Information Act, revealed that he was under government surveillance, and suggested his involvement in adulterous relationships and communist influences. Over the years, extensive archival studies have led to a more balanced and comprehensive assessment of his life, portraying him as a complex figure: flawed, fallible and limited in his control over the mass movements with which he was associated, yet a visionary leader who was deeply committed to achieving social justice through nonviolent

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    There were various prominent groups present during this time such as the NAACP and SCLC which helped these boycotts. Five years after the Rosa Parks incident, four freshmen at a North Carolina college began sit-ins as an act of protest to end segregation on their campus. This action caused the insurgent of a group known as SNCC. The protests of these big groups gained attention of President John F. Kennedy who pushed for Civil Rights bills. Martin Luther King, Jr., had accumulated such a mass amount of supporters that in 1963, he made his famous “I have a dream speech” in Washington DC in front of…

    • 1724 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Did you know that mlk started college at age 15.King being an orator made people think about him. Being a peaceful protester made people notice him. He was also a great leader which let him have followers. And his hard life made him aware of was going on in the world. His legacy helped him become an important civil rights leader.…

    • 1134 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    4) Martin Luther King explained the term of his action called “Civil disobedience”. And it is nothing new. As reference the Bible, he gives the example of the refusal of some Jews to listen the law of Nebuchadnezzar which was unconfirmed to the religious and ethical law. In the same way that some Christians refused to listen to the unjust law to the Roman empire. This civil disobedience leads to the creation of academy freedom a degree due to the civil disobedience of Socrates.…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Sit-in Movements were a series of peaceful protests that consisted of African Americans simply sitting at a white-only counter and waiting to be serviced. On February 1, 1960 four African American students from Greensboro North Carolina began to sit at a white-only counter everyday until they were eventually served.(source 1) This initial protested gained massive attention from the media which helped ignite the movement. Within a day nearly thirty protesters joined the cause with the four and with weeks the movement spread to stores and other discriminatory service areas across the country. Although mobs of white men usually came to harass and abuse these protesters, they almost always kept their nonviolent nature.…

    • 831 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    King Jr Case

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Kings were a Fixture in the Atlanta’s Baptist community especially after Michael Sr. was named a pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1931. It was all in the church and from his Father that Dr. King jr first came to understand of the power of a Ministry in the black community. Though an extremely involved presence in the young King’s life Michael was also involved in some various social causes that Highlighted the economic Inequality of the black’s, illustrating to his son in how the church could both bring comfort to and encourage action amongst its followers. An intellectually curious man Dr. King jr studied at Morehouse College in Atlanta from 1944 through to 1948 intending to become a lawyer instead of the preacher…

    • 293 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther KingJr. , born on January 15,1929, in his grandparents ' home in Atlanta, Georgia. His parents were Martin (Michael) Luther King, Sr., a Baptist minister, and Alberta Williams Kim, a former teacher. Luther King 's father had originally named him Michael, after his father, but Martin Luther King 's father later changed both of his names to Martin Luther, in honor of the 16th-century German religious reformer.…

    • 1542 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Another form of protest the civil rights movement use was called “sit-ins”. These were targeted at diners and restaurants that had segregated lunch counters. The blacks would go and sit at the white counters and wait to be served. The first sit-in was on February 1st, 1960. Four black students went to Woolworth’s store and sat at the lunch counter.…

    • 240 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Greensboro Sit-In were non-violent protests that made a huge impact on the civil right movements by changing the segregation laws of stores, and helping make a differences in ending segregation in the south. The Greensboro Sit-ins helped segregation times because even though times were still tough and people were getting harmed for standing up, it showed there was still chances and places to make a difference. This event is important because it inspired others to make a difference, and help end segregation. The Greensboro Sit-in was on February 1,1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina.…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Martin Luther King Activity – Essay During the same period of Martin Luther King there was another activist in the African Movement. These two historical figures have a lot of things in common but at the same time they have their differences. One of the things they share is that they where brave and didn’t sit back waiting things to happen they fight to change the way of living for better. The goal that they where trying to reach, was ending with the terrible segregation, which was occurring in the middle of the 1900. Their work had a great and successful impact in the United States.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this primary source Dr. Martin Luther King one of few who stood and defended the Student Sit-ins, addressed the student’s sit-in movement in front of the Members of the Fellowship of the Concerned of the Southern Regional Council. Dr. King makes many valid points on what the student movement of 1961 stands for and why he supports it. He also provides historical evidence on why the movement is meant for good and is nonviolent. Different methods are being provided to show the difference in the student movement and those of other oppressed individuals that fought against oppression. Also why Dr. King believes this movement is worth the fight.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Sit-ins and boycotts Sit-ins Trinity Bournes Little Rock - On November 1962, Little Rock's downtown lunch counters experienced a number of sit-ins that convinced businessmen and merchants to desegregate city facilities. Little Rock's story of downtown desegregation is similar to the others in the upper-South cities. A few high schoolers sitting in at a local diner…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    9. Compare and contrast the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s (SNCC’s) 1960 sit-ins with the Congress of Racial Equality’s 1961 Freedom Rides. Which action do you think was most effective and why? a. Although blacks had been struggling for equal rights since the end of Reconstruction, their fight for civil rights picked up speed in the 1950s and 1960s. Both groups, the SCLC, and SNCC were all committed to nonviolence and peaceful means of protesting racial inequality, they used different strategies to desegregate the South.…

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    High school and college students had rose to the forefront of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s. They began capturing the attention of the public’s eye in the development of the sit-ins throughout the South. This act of protest was a precursor to the student movement. The Greensboro Sit-ins in North Carolina received massive media coverage and within days student were participating in sit-ins all around the South. Later came the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which become a staple organization in the movement and would go on help organize black people in the South.…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Both of these acts had similar missions, to end racism and inequalities in society. The sit-ins began in 1960, a time when racial tensions were very high. They performed sit-ins in an attempt to spark the civil rights movement and put an end to segregated facilities such as restaurants, diners, swimming pools, and churches. Protests at the University of Missouri were also created to stop racism. Racial tensions were increased by the use of the “n” word recently on campus.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    This philosophy of nonviolent activism inspired other African American leaders. Sit-ins were another example of the nonviolent protests led by blacks. In 1960, four college students sat down at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Since they were not white, they were refused service at the counter. Yet, the remained seated as a form of protest.…

    • 1851 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays