SNCC and the Sit-ins

What is a Sit-In?
A

form of direct action that

involves one or more people
occupying an area in protest.
It is a form of a non-violent
protest.

Greensboro, North
Carolina
1st

February, 1960, some college

students held a sit-in at the
lunch counter of Woolworths
Had been denied service because
they were black.
Sparked a wave of college sit-ins.

What happened after?

Across

the country, both blacks

and white black supporters joined
in.
Read-ins in libraries
Wade- ins in swimming pools
Stand-ins in theatres.
People in the North boycotted
segregated companies
Raised money for protestors.

Who were the SNCC?

Student

Non-Violent Co-ordinating
Committee.
Established in 1960 by Ella Baker
Started in North Carolina.
Youth arm of the SCLC.
Inspired by MLKs non-violent
approach to racial equality.
Believed that they needed to retaliate
peacefully to the whites violent ways.

Martin Luther King and the SNCC

King

hoped it would be a youth

arm of the SCLC
Remained independent of King
SNCC and SCLC became at odds
with each other
Still worked together towards the
civil rights movement
MLK describes sit-ins as
electrifying movement of Negro
students.

What was the reaction to SNCC

and the movement?
There

was a lot of backlash

towards SNCC
Met with more violence from the
whites
SNCC officers were sprayed with
bullets or torched.
1963, Bob Moses and Jimmy
Travis shot at.

Achievements of sit-ins
Greensboro

Four spark wave of sit-ins in

the South, picked up by national media
Sets stage for creation of SNCC
Helped to integrate various facilities
Students become active participants in
the civil rights movement
Demonstrate success of mass nonviolent
action, and combining direct public
protest with legal action.
Achieved recognition of NAACP and other
civil rights leaders

Limitations of sit-ins
White

mobs frequently attacked

participants little protection provided by
police despite legality of the sit-ins
Sit-in participants arrested for disorderly
conduct
Nonviolence the participants could not
retaliate to humiliation, heckling, physical
and verbal attacks
First reactions of whites to sit-ins
ridiculed the Greensboro Four with
stares and indifference, crowds would
taunt

Black students sitting at lunch counter.

Whites not impressed by what is going on
Authorities called in
Blacks dont seem to be perturbed by going on
Seemed focused/determined on the task at hand
Trying to hold in anger/ show constraint

 Whites torment and humiliate blacks and white

supporters participating at a sit-in
They are ignoring their tormentors, show constraint and
patience. More focused on the task at hand than the
taunts.
White mob jeering, throwing condiments over the sit-in

Q&A
Do

you think the Sit-Ins were effective?

Why/ Why not?
Who was SNCC?
How did the Sit-Ins influence the Civil
Rights Movement?
What happened in Greensboro, North
Carolina?
The policy of nonviolence was it
generally the way to go or did it pose a
hindrance at times (in regards to sit-ins)?