THE NECESSITY FOR UPRISINGS
COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
MAY 15, 2018


I’VE COME ACROSS A WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT WHICH GIVES A GOOD DEAL OF SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON WHO, WHAT AND WHEN. ALL OF IT IS FAMILIAR TO ME, AND I REMEMBER WELL THE JIM CROW LIFE. I ACCEPTED IT AS BASIC REALITY, BUT NOT AS THE WAY THAT THINGS SHOULD BE. IT WAS CLEARLY GROTESQUELY UNFAIR, AND IN ALL TOO MANY CASES TRULY CRUEL. LIKE MOST YOUNGEST CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY WHEN MORE THAN A COUPLE OF YEARS SEPARATE THEIR AGES, I'VE ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD THE FAIRNESS CONCEPT.

I REMEMBER SIGNS SAYING “WHITES ONLY,” AND HEARING WHITES SPEAKING IN HIGHLY NEGATIVE WAYS ABOUT BLACKS, JEWS, CATHOLICS, GYPSIES, ATHEISTS ETC. ADD TO THOSE THE HOMELESS PEOPLE (BUMS), THE LGBT COMMUNITY (QUEERS, LESBOS, FAIRIES AND DYKES), THE INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED (RETARDS), AND THE PHYSICALLY DISABLED (CRIPS). THAT KIND OF TALK OR EVEN DIRECT HARASSMENT MADE ME SAD AND CONCERNED ABOUT HOW TO STOP THE PROBLEM. WHAT REALLY BOTHERS ME IS THAT A SIZABLE MINORITY OF AMERICANS, MAINLY WHITE, DON’T CONSIDER IT TO BE “A PROBLEM,” BUT GREAT FUN. TO RISK SAYING SOMETHING THAT IS POLITICALLY INCORRECT, THEY’RE LIKE PIGS IN A MUD PUDDLE. THEY JUST CAN'T WAIT TO ROLL IN IT. AS ONE GOOD OLD JOKE GOES, "NEVER MUD WRESTLE WITH A PIG. YOU WON'T WIN AND THE PIG WILL ENJOY IT."

I HAVE FOUND A WAY TO HALT ABUSE THAT IS OCCURRING, WHICH IS TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE BEHAVIOR DIRECTLY TO THE PERSON WHO IS EXHIBITING IT, AND QUICKLY. YOU DON’T NEED A GROUP TO BACK YOU UP TO DO THAT; JUST PERSONAL CONVICTION AND COURAGE. THE BULLIES WILL BE ANGRY, BUT THEY WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY STOP WHAT THEY ARE DOING. ANOTHER WAY IS TO JOIN IN PROTESTS WITH PEOPLE WHO ALSO CARE. AN EQUALLY IMPORTANT BUT LESS OBVIOUS WAY IS TO READ AND OTHERWISE EDUCATE AND DETOXIFY MY OWN MIND ON THE SUBJECT. I, TOO, AM SOUTHERN AND WHITE, AFTER ALL. THIS, ALONG WITH THE VIETNAM WAR, WOMEN’S RIGHTS, EQUAL EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES, WERE THE PRIMARY SOCIAL CONCERNS OF MY COLLEGE YEARS.

READ THE FOLLOWING WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE ON THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF MY YOUNG ADULT YEARS 1960 TO 1963. FOR YEARS I THOUGHT THAT ISSUE WAS FINISHED AND ACCOMPLISHED, BUT HOW NAIVE. THE NEWS STORIES OF TODAY HAVE BROUGHT IT ALL UP AGAIN, AND STIRRED UP THE OLD FEELINGS AS WELL. I HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN A PARTICULARLY GRIPPING NEWS PHOTO FROM THAT ERA IN GREENSBORO, NC, (I LIVED ABOUT TWENTY MILES FROM THERE) OF A GROUP OF BLACK MEN STANDING IN A LINE TOGETHER, FACING ANOTHER LINE OF THREE OR FOUR WHITE POLICE OFFICERS WITH AN EQUAL NUMBER OF GERMAN SHEPHERD DOGS NO MORE THAN FIVE FEET AWAY. THE DOGS WERE STRAINING AT THEIR LEASHES AND SNARLING. I REALIZED WITH A SHOCK THAT THEY WERE “MY PEOPLE.” AN INTERNET TROLL IN THE LAST YEAR OR TWO COMMENTED ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE, "YOU ARE A TRAITOR TO YOUR RACE." I'VE NEVER FELT THAT LOYALTY TO "MY RACE" WAS AS IMPORTANT, IN PEACETIME ANYWAY, AS VALUING AND BEING FAIR TOWARD THE HUMAN RACE. (I WILL ADD TO THAT STATEMENT, TO ALL LIFE FORMS AND THE EARTH ITSELF AS WELL.)

NOWADAYS, THE SOLDIERS ON THE LIBERAL / PROGRESSIVE SIDE ARE AGAIN MAINLY YOUNG, BUT SOME ARE IN THEIR SEVENTIES LIKE BERNIE SANDERS AND OTHERS OF MY COHORT FROM 1960 TO 74. THANK GOODNESS THE LAWS HAVE CHANGED, BUT THERE ARE RADICAL RIGHTISTS AND OTHER TRADITIONALISTS WHO WANT TO WRESTLE EVERYTHING BACK OVER THE LINE OF WHAT I CONSIDER TO BE GOOD AND EVIL.

SO MANY PEOPLE, THOUGH, JUST DON’T GIVE A DARN ABOUT IT AS AN ISSUE, AND HAVE LET THINGS IN THE POLITICAL WORLD ROLL DOWN THE HILL AGAIN. SO, THOSE OF US WHO DO CARE HAVE TO STEP IN AGAIN, AND WORK TOWARD THE REEDUCATION OF THE AMERICAN MIND. THAT’S WHAT I’M DOING EVERY DAY, OR TRYING TO, AND I HAVE SEEN THAT OTHERS ARE DOING IT TOO. THE HUMAN SPIRIT IS ALWAYS MOVING, BUT WE HAVE TO SEE TO IT THAT WE MOVE IN THE CORRECT DIRECTION.


https://www.britannica.com/topic/sit-in
Sit-in
social protest
Written By: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Sit-in, a tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience. The demonstrators enter a business or a public place and remain seated until forcibly evicted or until their grievances are answered. Attempts to terminate the essentially passive sit-in often appear brutal, thus arousing sympathy for the demonstrators among moderates and noninvolved individuals. Following Mahatma Gandhi’s teaching, Indians employed the sit-in to great advantage during their struggle for independence from the British. Later, the sit-in was adopted as a major tactic in the civil-rights struggle of American blacks; the first prominent sit-in occurred at a Greensboro (North Carolina) lunch counter in 1960. Student activists adopted the tactic later in the decade in demonstrations against the Vietnam War.



http://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/gandhi-and-civil-disobedience
Gandhi and Civil Disobedience
PHOTOGRAPH -- Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1947). (Wikimedia Commons)

Mohandas K. Gandhi, often referred to as Mahatma, the Great Soul, was born into a Hindu merchant family in 1869. He was heavily influenced by the Hinduism and Jainism of his devoutly religious mother. She impressed on him beliefs in non-violence, vegetarianism, fasting for purification, and respect for all religions.

In 1888, Gandhi sailed to England and studied to become a lawyer. His first job for an Indian company required that he move to South Africa. The ruling white Boers (descendants of Dutch settlers) discriminated against all people of color. When railroad officials made Gandhi sit in a third-class coach even though he had purchased a first-class ticket, Gandhi refused and police forced him off the train.

This event changed his life. Gandhi became an outspoken critic of South Africa’s discrimination policies. When the Boer legislature passed a law requiring that all Indians register with the police and be fingerprinted, Gandhi, along with many other Indians, refused to obey the law. He was arrested and put in jail, the first of many times he would be imprisoned for disobeying what he believed to be unjust laws.

While in jail, Gandhi read the essay “Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, a 19th-century American writer. Gandhi adopted the term “civil disobedience” to describe his strategy of non-violently refusing to cooperate with injustice, but he preferred the Sanskrit word satyagraha (devotion to truth). Following his release, he continued to protest the registration law by supporting labor strikes and organizing a massive non-violent march. Finally, the Boer government agreed to end the most objectionable parts of the registration law.

After 20 years in South Africa, Gandhi went home to India in 1914. When Gandhi returned, he was already a hero. Gandhi devoted the rest of his life struggling against what he considered three great evils afflicting India. One was British rule, which Gandhi believed impoverished the Indian people. The second evil was Hindu-Muslim disunity caused by years of religious hatred. The last evil was the Hindu tradition of classifying millions of Indians as a caste of “untouchables.” Untouchables, those Indians born into the lowest social class, faced severe discrimination.

Gandhi expected Britain to grant India independence after World War I. When it did not happen, Gandhi called for strikes and other acts of peaceful civil disobedience. The British sometimes struck back with violence, but Gandhi insisted Indians remain non-violent. Many answered Gandhi’s call. But as the movement spread, Indians started rioting in some places. Gandhi called for order and canceled protests. He drew heavy criticism from fellow nationalists, but Gandhi would only lead a non-violent movement.

Gandhi was jailed many times. At one trial he said, “In my humble opinion, non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.” When he was released, he continued leading non-violent protests.

When India finally gained independence, the problem became how Hindus and Muslims would share power. Distrust spilled over into violence. Gandhi spoke out for peace and forgiveness. He opposed dividing the country into Hindu and Muslim nations, believing in one unified India. In May 1947, British, Hindu, and Muslim political leaders, but not Gandhi, reached an agreement for independence that created a Hindu-dominated India and a Muslim Pakistan. As Independence Day (August 15, 1947) approached, an explosion of Hindu and Muslim looting, rape, and murder erupted throughout the land. Millions of Hindus and Muslims fled their homes, crossing the borders into India or Pakistan.

Gandhi announced that he would fast until “a reunion of hearts of all communities” had been achieved. An old man, he weakened rapidly, but he did not break his fast until Hindu and Muslim leaders came to him pledging peace. Days later, an assassin shot and killed Gandhi. The assassin was a Hindu who believed Gandhi had sold out to the Muslims.

Gandhi and others like Martin Luther King Jr. confronted injustice with non-violent methods. “It is the acid test of non-violence,” Gandhi once said, “that in a non-violent conflict there is no rancor left behind and, in the end, the enemies are converted into friends.”

For Further Reading

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma). Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Massachusetts: Beacon Press. 1957.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins
Greensboro sit-ins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960,[2] which was one of the sit-ins that later led to the Woolworth department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States.[3] While not the first sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement, the Greensboro sit-ins were an instrumental action, and also the most well-known sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement. They are considered a catalyst to the subsequent sit-in movement.[4] These sit-ins led to increased national sentiment at a crucial period in US history.[5] The primary event took place at the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth store, now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

Main article: Sit-in movement

While the Greensboro sit-in was the most influential and significant sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement, it was not the first. In August 1939, black attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker organized a sit-in at the then-segregated Alexandria, Virginia, library.[6] In 1942, the Congress of Racial Equality sponsored sit-ins in Chicago, as they did in St. Louis in 1949 and Baltimore in 1952. Also, a 1958 sit-in in Wichita, Kansas was successful in ending segregation at every Dockum Drug Store in Kansas.[7]

Activist’s Plan

Days before the Woolworth sit-ins, the Greensboro Four (as they would soon be known) were debating on which way would be the best to get the media's attention. They were Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond. All were young black students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.[8] They were inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr. and his practice of nonviolent protest, and wanted to change the segregational policies of Woolworth in Greensboro, North Carolina. The plan was simple, but effective: the four men would occupy seats at the local Woolworth, ask to be served, and when they were inevitably denied service, they would not leave. They would repeat this process day in and day out, for as long as it would take. Their thinking was that, if they could attract widespread attention to the issue, Woolworth would feel pressured to desegregate.[8]

Events at Woolworth

The protests took place at this Woolworth five-and-dime store.

On February 1, 1960, at 4:30pm, the four sat down at the lunch counter inside the Woolworth store at 132 South Elm Street in Greensboro.[3] The men, later also known as the A&T Four or the Greensboro Four, had purchased toothpaste and other products from a desegregated counter at the store with no problems, and then were refused service at the store's lunch counter when they each asked for a cup of coffee.[2][9][10] Following store policy, staff refused to serve the black men at the "whites only" counter and store manager Clarence Harris asked them to leave.[11] However, the four freshmen stayed until the store closed that night.

The next day, more than twenty black students, recruited from other campus groups, joined the sit-in. Students from Bennett College, a college for black women in Greensboro, also joined. White customers heckled the black students, who read books and studied to keep busy, while the lunch counter staff continued to refuse service.[10]

PHOTOGRAPH -- This 4-seat section of lunch counter from the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth is at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C. The rest sits in its original footprint inside the International Civil Rights Center and Museum Greensboro, North Carolina

Newspaper reporters and a TV filmographer covered the second day, and others in the community learned of the protests. On the third day, more than 60 people came to the Woolworth store. A statement issued by Woolworth national headquarters said that the company would "abide by local custom" and maintain its segregation policy.[10]

On the fourth day, more than 300 people took part. Organizers agreed to expand the sit-in protests to include the lunch counter at Greensboro's Kress store.[10]

As early as one week after the Greensboro sit-ins began, students in other North Carolina towns launched their own. Winston-Salem, Durham, Raleigh, Charlotte, and out-of-state towns such as Lexington, Kentucky all saw protests.

The sit-in movement then spread to other Southern cities, including Richmond, Virginia and Nashville, Tennessee, where students of the Nashville Student Movement were trained by civil rights activist James Lawson and had already started the process when Greensboro occurred. Most of these protests were peaceful, but there were instances of violence.[12] In Chattanooga, Tennessee, tensions rose between blacks and whites and fights broke out.[13] In Jackson, Mississippi, students from Tougaloo College staged a sit-in on May 28, 1963, recounted in the autobiography of Anne Moody, a participant. In Coming of Age in Mississippi Moody describes their treatment from whites who were at the counter when they sat down, the formation of the mob in the store and how they managed finally to leave.[14]

As the sit-ins continued, tensions started growing in Greensboro. Students began a far-reaching boycott of stores with segregated lunch counters. Sales at the boycotted stores dropped by a third, leading their owners to abandon segregation policies.[3] On Monday, July 25, 1960, after nearly $200,000 in losses ($1.7 million today), store manager Clarence Harris asked three black employees to change out of their work clothes and order a meal at the counter. They were, quietly, the first to be served at a Woolworth lunch counter.[15] Most stores were soon desegregated, though in other Tennessee cities, such as Nashville and Jackson, Woolworth's continued to be segregated until around 1965, despite multiple protests.[10][16]

Impact

The February One monument and sculpture stands on North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University's campus and is dedicated to the actions taken by the Greensboro Four that helped spark the Civil Rights Movement in the South.

Despite the sometimes violent reaction to the sit-ins, these demonstrations eventually led to positive results. For example, the sit-ins received significant media and government attention. When the Woolworth sit-in began, the Greensboro newspaper published daily articles on the growth and impact of the demonstration. The sit-ins made headlines in other cities as well, as the demonstrations spread throughout the Southern states. A Charlotte newspaper published an article on February 9, 1960, describing the statewide sit-ins and the resulting closures of dozens of lunch counters.[17] Furthermore, on March 16, 1960, President Eisenhower expressed his concern for those who were fighting for their human and civil rights, saying that he was "deeply sympathetic with the efforts of any group to enjoy the rights of equality that they are guaranteed by the Constitution."[18][19] Also, this sit-in was a contributing factor in the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

In many towns, the sit-ins were successful in achieving the desegregation of lunch counters and other public places. Nashville's students, who were already planning their sit-ins and started them a few days after the Greensboro group, attained desegregation of the downtown department store lunch counters in May, 1960.[20]

The media picked up this issue and covered it nationwide, beginning with lunch counters and spreading to other forms of public accommodation, including transport facilities, art galleries, beaches, parks, swimming pools, libraries, and even museums around the South.[21] The Civil Rights Act of 1964[22] mandated desegregation in public accommodations.

Over 70,000 people took part in the sit-ins. They even spread to northern states such as Ohio and the western state of Nevada. Sit-ins protested about segregated swimming pools, lunch counters, libraries, transport facilities, museums, art galleries, parks and beaches. By simply highlighting such practices, the students can claim to have played a significant part in the history of the Civil Rights Movement.[23]

In 1993, a four-seat portion of the lunch counter was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution.[24] The International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, North Carolina, contains the full rest of the lunch counter in its original footprint inside the store, along with photos of the original four protesters, a timeline of the events, and headlines from the media.[citation needed] The street south of the site was renamed February One Place, in commemoration of the date of the first Greensboro sit-in.[25]

See also
Sit-in movement - list of sit-in's
American Civil Rights Movement Timeline
February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four